Found Money

Susan Goodman Jackson smelled a scam. Are you kidding me? she asked when I told her the music industry had a royalty check for her.

I half expected Jackson to hang up, but I kept her on the line long enough to explain that I work for SoundExchange, a nonprofit agency that collects and distributes royalties to artists for the use of their recordings on webcasts, satellite radio, and other digital media. It is my mission as an outreach consultant to find lesser-known or long-forgotten artists.

Jackson, a childrens recording and jazz artist who lives in Northfield, checked out my story and called me back several days later. Like many performers, Sooz (as she is professionally known) does not sell enough recordings to make the pop charts, but she is a hit on satellite radio. And that spells cash under a twelve-year-old digital-minded provision in U.S. copyright law.

SoundExchange will collect in excess of $150 million in royalties this year; the number has been growing by leaps and bounds since Internet and digital radio use began to soar. (Only $6.3 million was collected between 1996 and 2000.) Artists are paid quarterly, but the first-time checks can be whoppers. Superstars like the Garden States Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi have seen six-figure checks. Jackson is more typical. Once registered, she received an initial check of about $2,700.

For some artists, a check from SoundExchange marks the first time they have been paid for their music in years, even decades. But those artists can be hard to find. Often they do not have managers or are no longer signed to a record label.

Some do not even have websites, like the revered 83-year-old crooner Jimmy Roselli, who is often called the other great singer from Hoboken. Roselli and his wife Maria sell his recordings through distributors and by mail. They did not know about SoundExchange, but they knew his music has been getting satellite radio play. I figured there might be royalties somewhere, Maria said when she got my call.

I tracked down the founder of DeLacy, whose 90s club music hits are getting play. De Lacy Davis, a retired East Orange cop, is now a charter school principal and community activist in Newark. He welcomed my call. Its always nice to hear from somebody who says youve got money coming, he told me.

Ive contacted quite a few other New Jersey artists, such as sax master Don Braden, who lives in South Orange, and singer-songwriter John Gorka, who grew up in Colonia. Ive talked to the heirs of the legendary drummer-bandleader Art Blakey and studio guitar ace Tony Mottola. The heirs live in Weehawken and Montclair, respectively.

New Jersey has long been a hotbed of musical activity, and no doubt there are many more Jersey artists on the SoundExchange unregistered artists list. Its easy to find out at soundexchange.com. No kidding.