Performing Rights Group Hits L.A. for TV, Movie Talent.

L.A. music writers and publishers looking to maximize their cash flow now have another group in town to represent them in negotiating licensing fees with film, TV and radio producers, as well as owners of restaurants, bars and other venues where their music is played.

The vast majority of such deals until now have been negotiated by the industry giants - the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI).

But the smallest of the three major performing rights groups, Nashville-based SESAC, has just opened an office here.

SESAC's new Santa Monica digs will be devoted to expanding the group's representation of film and television composers, as well as popular music writers.

"If you want to play for the Yankees, you have to go to New York," said Pat Rogers, vice president of writer and publisher relations at SESAC. "If you want to play ball in the film and television world, and the pop world as well, you have to come to Los Angeles, and those are all areas where we are looking to increase our visibility and our market share."

SESAC currently represents 3,500 music writers and composers, with Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan as two of the biggest names. BMI is the largest group, with 200,000 members, and ASCAP is second, with 80,000 members.

"The presence of SESAC in L.A. will spark a major recruitment effort on their behalf that should have ASCAP and BMI looking over their shoulder," said Adam Sandler, vice president at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a former music editor at Variety.

The move was long overdue and represents the group's desire to be more aggressive in its recruiting efforts, Rogers said.

As part of her duties to manage membership, Rogers has been visiting Los Angeles more and more frequently over the past two years, due to initial efforts to sign television writers and composers.

Strong draw of TV

SESAC in March announced deals with three prime-time television composers, including Emmy-award-winner Christophe Beck, whose credits include "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Practice."

Considering the increased prominence of music in television, SESAC's focus on this growing area is appropriate, others said.

"It's growing for a lot of reasons," said Todd Brabec, executive vice president of membership for ASCAP. "You've got the traditional networks, the "new" networks, Fox and WB, and all the original programming being produced for local TV stations throughout the United States. People need product, and that means they need background composers, theme writers."

Brabec added, "There's definitely a lot more opportunities. It's still a small field, but there's a lot more opportunities."

Film and television composers are very well known in the entertainment industry, and the best among them may work on several separate projects each year.

"The composer angle gives them instant cachet," Sandler said "If they can get a Michael Kamen or Danny Elfman, these guys work all the time. If they can land two of the top five cast in town, they can be a major player."

But SESAC has its work cut out for it.

Founded in 1930 and originally known as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, the group once represented foreign composers' interests in the United States and long ago turned its focus to domestic music writers and publishers as well. The association was family-owned and kept purposely small until 1993, when a new owner took over and began implementing plans to expand the group.

Efficient payment processing

One way SESAC has been able to win members like Diamond and Dylan is that it began keeping track of royalty payments with the same Broadcast Data Systems technology used to compile Billboard's music charts. In addition to facilitating more-accurate payments, BDS's fast turnaround of results allows SESAC to process information faster, meaning writers and publishers may receive their payments six to nine months faster than they might at the other groups, Rogers said.

"We've been around since 1930, but I still meet people who say, 'You're new to this,"' she said. "As our repertoire grows, and people become more and more used to hearing our name and that we are a viable alternative, I think it will be easier for us to go forward."

Besides focusing on film and television, Rogers plans to add more pop artists to the group's significant number of country and urban artists.

"They're still pretty much David in the land of Goliath," Sandler said, "but they have the checkbook, they've made some smart moves and they're getting some attention."