Anytime Rick Carnes is out and hears a song played as someone's ringtone, well, it's like music to his ears.
Carnes, a songwriter for nearly three decades, laughs when he considers that his work is more valuable as a ringtone--just a few seconds of his music--than a full version of one of his songs downloaded from the Web.
"Where's the logic in that?" asks Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America.
Until last October, music publishers were able to pocket 10 percent of the retail price for a song, according to Steve Gordon, a copyright attorney. This meant that for a $2.99 ringtone, the publisher could make 30 cents and typically split half with the songwriter.
But the labels are now threatening to choke off that extra income. Record companies claim songwriters and music publishers charge too much and want prices restricted to a rate of 9.1 cents per song.
The labels argue that they are entitled to the extra money because music publishers pay nothing of the large upfront costs associated with producing master recordings, according to Gordon.
Carnes, 57, who has written songs for Alabama, Reba McEntire and Dean Martin, said that all the songwriters want is to be allowed to negotiate the price of their music.
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