Why We Exist
Hit Song Earning Potential
The #1 song of the year can generate a $2 million writer and publisher payout. A successful TV-series theme song can generate revenue in excess of $1.5 million over a 10-year period. The background score of a top box-office film can generate well over $2 million in performance income during its copyright life.
Based on the current statutory rate of 9.1¢ per song for mechanical recording royalties, a million selling single would be worth $91,000 in combined royalties to the publisher and writer. If an album sells between one million and ten million copies, the aggregate writer and publisher royalty would range from $910,000 to $9,100,000. Although most writers never achieve this level of success, it’s helpful to know what is possible at the top end.
Copyrights and Inventory Synopsis
For compositions written on or after January 1, 1978, the basic term of protection is life of the last surviving author, plus 70 years. STORYinSONGtm presently owns 61 songs registered with the Copyright Office in this category, another 17 have recently been submitted for copyright registration, and about 150 are in various stages of development and are protected by common law copyright.
STORYinSONGtm has 2 songs in its inventory that are protected until the year 2070 based on extensions granted under the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act.
