When it comes to music for major studio films, most composers\u2019 first choice is to record in Los Angeles and London. But independent films with smaller budgets and video-game producers tasked with creating many hours of gameplay music, two sectors that have been unable to strike a deal with American musicians\u2019 union officials, have been taking their business elsewhere and making a show of it.<\/p>\n
Tennessee state officials recently made a pilgrimage to L.A. to pitch the country-music capital as an American alternative. The state\u2019s Visual Content Modernization Act, passed in May and signed by Gov. Bill Haslam, contains provisions for recording music in the state regardless of where the project originated. The idea, Tennessee
\nEntertainment Commission executive director Bob Raines says, is a cash rebate for producers, likely to be 25% (details are still being worked out). So a project that spends $100,000 on recording can expect $25,000 back \u2014 a substantial savings.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n
\u201cIt closes the gap in costs between Eastern Europe and other places,\u201d says Steve Schnur, worldwide executive and president of music for video-game company Electronic Arts, which frequently records in Nashville<\/a>. \u201cLondon and L.A. are comparatively expensive. In Eastern Europe, it\u2019s less quality but comparatively cheaper. Nashville has some of the best musicians in the world, and because of the composers who are going there regularly, the quality bar has gone up.\u201d<\/p>\n While cities like Prague; Budapest; Bratislava, Slovakia; Skopje, Macedonia; and, more recently, Vienna have become attractive alternatives to higher-priced recording locations, Nashville is now out to replace them. The History miniseries \u201cTexas Rising\u201d was recorded there; so was music for TV\u2019s \u201cFargo\u201d and \u201cOutlander\u201d series. Several \u201cCall of Duty\u201d games and one \u201cStar Wars\u201d game recorded in Nashville, as did the movies \u201cShow Dogs,\u201d \u201cMother\u2019s Day,\u201d \u201cThe Star\u201d and \u201cAcrimony.\u201d Says Jeff Russo, an Emmy winner for his \u201cFargo\u201d music: \u201cI loved working there. It\u2019s a different feel from anywhere else in the world, and it certainly feels like making records.\u201d<\/p>\n Austin Wintory, who used a Nashville orchestra for the game \u201cAbzu,\u201d says: \u201cWe were all just blown away at the caliber of musicianship. One of the nagging problems of recording in Eastern Europe is, even when the orchestras are good, the quality of the physical instruments they\u2019re playing on is not as good.\u201d<\/p>\n And while Nashville is inevitably more expensive than overseas \u2014 sources say one hires players in Nashville for $75 an hour as opposed to $25 or $30 an hour in Eastern Europe \u2014 Wintory says bang for the buck must be considered. \u201cThe challenge is reconciling the per-player rate with the speed at which one can move,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf you pay a little more for Nashville but you can go twice as fast, it might be cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n Tennessee is a right-to-work state; you don\u2019t have to be a union member to perform in the studios. That\u2019s attractive to producers who aren\u2019t interested in signing union agreements that tie them to later residual payments (the primary reason so much recording work has left California).<\/p>\n Says Alan Umstead, a top Nashville contractor for recording dates: \u201cMost of my clients went to Eastern Europe but were not happy with the quality of work. Then they realized that they could come to Nashville and get quality and a nonunion buyout at a reasonable price.\u201d<\/p>\n The drawback is that Music City only has one recording studio that\u2019s suitable for film, TV and game work: Ocean Way, located in a 100-year-old church, and it can comfortably accommodate only about 75 musicians. Composers needing a larger orchestra generally record strings, brass and woodwinds separately and then mix them together later. There is talk of building a larger studio to accommodate the growing demand.<\/p>\n Says Raines, \u201cWe see ourselves as a state of content creators and storytellers. This is a way for us to help sell the state on our quality and efficiency and utilize our unique competitive advantage.\u201d The pool of money available for the scoring<\/a> rebate is expected to be $5 million, which, if it were all used, says Umstead, \u201cwould translate to $20 million worth of scoring work \u2014 a nice little incentive.\u201d<\/p>\n But American Federation of Musicians Local 47 president John Acosta tells Variety<\/i> that companies going to Nashville are taking advantage of the right-to-work laws to exploit talent. \u201cThey know that they can get these musicians cheaper by not having them under a union agreement,\u201d he says. \u201cThey don\u2019t have healthcare, or retirement benefits, or Social Security contributions or unemployment insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n Prague contractor James Fitzpatrick has a different take. He notes that the competition for scoring has become worldwide. \u201cWith ever-tightening music budgets, more alternative venues and musical ensembles are on offer than ever before,\u201d he says. \u201cSurely that is a good thing for all musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n https:\/\/variety.com\/2018\/music\/news\/nashville-scoring-destination-1202876071\/<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ========================<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n III. MEMBER COMMENT<\/p>\n “I appointed the girlfriend of a head of a players conference as the new pension trustee. Are you not entertained?”<\/p>\n Gail Kruvand Joins AFM-EPF Board of Trustees<\/p>\n IV. SONGWRITER SUES SAG-AFTRA \/ AFM<\/p>\n Grammy-nominated songwriter and record producer Kevin Risto<\/a> has filed a class action lawsuit against SAG-AFTRA, the American Federation of Musicians<\/a> and the trustees of the Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, claiming the unions violated their fiduciary duty to session musicians and backup singers by taking a 3% service fee on all royalties they\u2019re owed.<\/p>\n Risto, who has written and produced songs for Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, 50 Cent and Frank Ocean, claims that SAG-AFTRA collected more than $1.7 million in service fees in 2016 that it was not entitled to \u2013 and has been collecting similar fees since 2013. The suit (read it here<\/a>), filed June 22 in Los Angeles Superior Court, wants the union to repay the money and stop collecting it in the future.<\/p>\n The suit notes that federal law grants the owner of a copyright in a sound recording the exclusive right to perform and reproduce it publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. Sound Exchange, an affiliate of the Recording Industry Association of America, is the sole U.S. entity authorized to collect royalties due from these songs. It then turns the performers\u2019 share of the money over to the fund, which was established by the unions to distribute the royalties to members and non-members alike.<\/p>\n The suit states that prior to its merger with SAG in 2012, AFTRA distributed these royalties without ever collecting a service fee, but that after the merger, the fund\u2019s trustees \u2013 all of whom are officials or members of the unions \u2013 approved granting the unions a 3% service fee on the royalties they distribute.<\/p>\n The suit claims that the defendants \u201cwere trustees of the Fund, but were acting with deep conflicts of interest to the benefit of the unions, by which they were employed. This service fee reduces the amount of capital in the Fund and therefore reduces the amount of money available to the beneficiaries of the Fund.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the suit, \u201cDefendants violated their duties to the Trust when authorizing the service fee and diverting funds away from the Fund and to the unions. The service fee is purportedly paid to the unions for the provision of certain data and representation of \u2018Fund interests.\u2019 However, all of the obligations conferred on the unions in the service agreement were activities that the unions were already performing as a benefit to its members. No new consideration was provided by the unions in exchange for the service fee.\u201d The suit also alleges that the defendants violated the terms of the service agreement by paying the trustees\u2019 expenses.<\/p>\n Risto, who is not a member of either union, is represented by attorneys Paul Kiesel and Neville Johnson of Kiesel Law LLP In Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n