Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: MovieTunes

This is topic MovieTunes in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006577

Posted by Gary Davidson (Member # 2198) on 09-16-2004, 04:58 PM:

How does MovieTunes make their money?

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-16-2004, 05:19 PM:

By billing their customers. [Big Grin]

I believe they charge record companies to feature their music, and I think theatres may have to pay for it (Movie Tunes), rather than a license.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-16-2004, 06:14 PM:

It's free to theatres.

They also make money by selling those stupid COMMERCIALS which drive me nuts because they are always advertising for stores we don't have locally, like Best Buy and the like, thereby hurting our local (small) businesses. So I keep the volume low.

Posted by Greg Davis (Member # 2687) on 09-16-2004, 06:42 PM:

I want to know who chooses their music. Polyphonic spree? egads!

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 09-16-2004, 06:53 PM:

Mike, you could just pay ASCAP their yearly fee, or not run any pre-show music at all.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-16-2004, 08:53 PM:

When we first started playing MovieTunes about 3 or 4 years ago, they made a big deal of the fact that they had NO COMMERCIALS. It wasn't long before they started back-announcing songs this way: "That was the new hit by the Craptastics....pick up their new CD at Best Buy after the movie!"

Then it was only a few more months before actual commercials (still read by the same lame announcer) appeared. So really we should all be suing them for breach of contract or something.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-16-2004, 11:35 PM:

Regal just started a new program in colaberation with Disk Marketing. It's called "Widescreen Radio". It has front and back announced songs from mostly independant artists I haven't heard of before. It has no direct advertising other than for Regal Gift Cirtificates. The announcer tries his very hardest to sound like Kris Eric stevens of MovieTunes fame. It plays after the feature tails out, but before the 2wenty.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 09-17-2004, 12:49 AM:

When a theater I worked at started getting Movietunes a few years ago, the contract mentioned that it had to be played at "Foreground level"- we just kept the non-sync volume where it always was though and nobody ever checked- I think it even got turned down a few times when customers complained about it.
MY theater's intermission music will be played from a Quadraphonic 8-track tape player- you haven't lived til you've heard Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops playing the Greatest Hits Of The 70s in 4-channel! [Big Grin]

Posted by Steve Anderson (Member # 364) on 09-17-2004, 12:37 PM:

We bought an XM radio for our theatre...it kicks ass!

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 09-17-2004, 01:29 PM:

After experiencing the 3 Days of 3D festival in Suffern NY, I'm convinced that all theaters should install pipe organs.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 09-18-2004, 11:35 AM:

so mike b., why on gad's green earth are you still using movietoons? you own your theater, right? you rightly hate m.t., and gain nothing from it. there are people who stay far away from theaters that run movietunes. (i'm sure i'm not the only one.)

carl

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-18-2004, 12:07 PM:

Because we don't want to pay the ASCAP/BMI fees. I am willing to spend money for things that make sense, but paying hundreds of dollars a year in order to play music that is basically just background noise for 30 minutes a day doesn't make sense.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 09-18-2004, 12:18 PM:

I know a couple of theatres that have played their local softrock radio stations as pre-show for almost 20 yrs. Never paid ASCAP a dime. And the stations appreciate it.

I would much rather NOT play anything preshow than to make customers "suffer" with movie tunes. [puke]

It should be banished from the earth.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 09-18-2004, 01:00 PM:

hyperbole aside, my sentiments exactly.

carl

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 09-19-2004, 11:07 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
They also make money by selling those stupid COMMERCIALS which drive me nuts because they are always advertising for stores we don't have locally, like Best Buy and the like, thereby hurting our local (small) businesses.

If you don't have a Best Buy locally, than how can can the ad possibly hurt local small businesses? It would hurt them if you DID have a local Best Buy.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-20-2004, 12:41 PM:

Simple - People leave town to shop.

We know it would happen ANYWAY, ad or no ad, but the less encouragement people get, the better.

Posted by Richard Cockrum (Member # 2417) on 09-20-2004, 05:18 PM:

We play a local soft rock radio station. You have to be under a certain size to do that without paying fees, though, around 2000 square feet or so I think.