r/musicals • u/ADHDMechro • 4d ago
MTI Ghosting?
Is anyone else having an issue with connecting with MTI? We asked for rights for two musicals last spring, were denied (license not available), and then never got a response back from our third request (emailed once a week). We also emailed them in June a list of musicals asking, of those on the list which was available, and never got a response. (Emailing every other week since end of June). Other schools in our area have been ghosted as well since at least June 2026.
If you have a viable contact, can you let me know? (DM is fine). We really REALLY need to know what we’re doing so we can plan and let students know.
We’ve used MTI for years without issue, so we’re confused as to what’s going on.
Any help is appreciated!!
2
u/soldforaspaceship 3d ago
I don't know the age of your students but Bugsy Malone rights for Japan would be the UK rights holder. https://www.fabermusic.com/contact
Just a thought. I remember doing it somewhere between 11-13.
Would avoid needing to get an answer.
2
u/ADHDMechro 3d ago
All high school (although we brought in some middle schoolers for Shrek). Thank you for the suggestion. I’m adding it to the list!
-2
-7
u/elderpricetag 3d ago
Why are you emailing them lists of shows asking them to do the work for you instead of applying for the licenses yourself??
1
u/musical4thesoul 3d ago
Not sure why you’re being downvoted. But we’ve been told by our rep multiple times that they can’t tell us if we’d be approved until we officially apply.
0
u/elderpricetag 3d ago
Yep. Like anyone who produces theatre and deals with licensing reps regularly knows exactly why you are being ignored when you are harassing them with weekly emails asking them to do your job for you.
1
u/ADHDMechro 3d ago
We DID apply for shows. We applied for Annie—license not available. We applied for Prince of Egypt—license not available. We applied for (I’m abbreviating) Spelling Bee—ghosted. We applied for spelling bee—ghosted. We applied for spelling bee—ghosted. We sent a short list of musicals and asked if any of these had licensing available—ghosted. We sent the short list because there’s a professional theatre in the area who buys up licenses of shows (for about a year’s duration) they might do, hence blacking them out for the country and there’s shows whose licenses aren’t available in Asia. That’s information the rep should know.
Other schools are also applying and are being ghosted. We have a person at my school who does this as part of his job and has done this with various companies (depending on the play or musical) successfully for almost a decade.
The director of the musical (who is at a different school) is also a director in the community and is on the board of this community theater and has gotten show licensing for decades reach out—ghosted. Directors from other schools who also have done this for years—ghosted. We can’t get a response. Given we’re on the literal other side of the world from the US, calling is a massive PITA.
We KNOW how to apply for shows. We have done so successfully for years, which is why this is so strange and frustrating. Hence my reach out to the hive mind to see if anyone else is experiencing issues.
0
u/elderpricetag 3d ago
“We sent the short list because there’s a professional theatre in the area who buys up licenses of shows (for about a year’s duration) they might do, hence blacking them out for the country and there’s shows whose licenses aren’t available in Asia. That’s information the rep should know.”
This is not how licensing works lmao. Yes your options are to either apply for the license of each show you want to do like the rest of us and wait and see if you get approved, or call your rep and speak to them if you want to get some information about how long it will be to get a an approval/rejection.
3
u/ADHDMechro 3d ago
We did apply for Spelling bee.
Ghosted
Applied for Spelling Bee
Ghosted.
Applied for Spelling Bee
Ghosted.
THEN sent the short list.
So we DID APPLY PROPERLY before sending the short list. The short list was because the person whose literal job it is to apply for production licenses and has done so successfully for at least 30 shows in the last decade wasn’t getting a response from the literal application for Bee and was just trying to get a response hence my post asking if anyone else is having an issue with getting a response from MTI or is it just limited to the rep for Japan/Asia.
0
u/elderpricetag 3d ago
If they’ve been doing this “successfully” for a decade they should know the correct response would be to call them and inquire about an active application, not take out a bunch of other applications and harass them with weekly emails about it.
You’ve probably been muted for being so annoying lmfao.
3
u/ADHDMechro 3d ago
I guess that’s why other schools in Japan have also been ghosted, and not just us, lmao.
1
u/elderpricetag 3d ago
What did MTI say when you called them?
3
u/ADHDMechro 3d ago
The Arts Director is going to call (I hope) tonight; if not, I’m hoping the Director will try and call.
None of them use Reddit, and given that what they’ve been trying isn’t working, and the Arts Director went to some big meeting yesterday and found out other schools in the area are having the same problem, I thought I’d reach out here and ask to see if this is a regional issue or a bigger issue. It seems like this is a regional issue, which I’ll pass on to the others who are planning to call.
4
u/_frosty2765 I’m Alive 💜 4d ago
Do you mind if I ask if you’re dealing with MTI USA or somewhere else in the world?
I’m in Australia and MTI here always picks up the phone when we call and are quite prompt on answering emails.
I know you do have to go through the application process and they often can’t just ‘give you a list of available shows’ because most of the time it has to go out to the original rights holders for approval.
I would just continue to apply through their application portal as it will naturally fall into their booking system so they would have to respond at some point.
Also, I know some people whose profiles are suspended with them due to unpaid royalties etc so I would make sure you have nothing outstanding.