So, you’ve come up with a new song, and here’s the main question: what should you do next? First, you need to understand what music copyright and publishing are. In this article, we will break down these burning aspects.
What You Need to Do Before Releasing Your Music
Actually, there are three types of organizations that deal with music ownership, licensing, and royalties in some ways:
- Performance Rights Organizations (PROs)
- National Copyright Office
- Publishing Administrator
You may not care about any of them until you want to get paid all the potential royalties that you may earn one day.
You can upload your music directly to music distributors and get placed on all streaming platforms. If you already have your music on Spotify or Apple Music, you can still register your copyright.
Copyright
Copyright is the most important asset for you as a musician as it protects the ownership of your creative work. Once your song is no longer in your head and is recorded for other people to see and hear it, you own that copyright (it doesn’t really matter if it's a rough track or some lyric lines written on the napkin). You own that copyright whether you register it or not.
However, if you register your copyright, it will be better protected if someone wants to steal your work or try to claim they wrote that melody first. Moreover, if someone wants to make a cover of your song, they would owe you royalties.
You can register your copyright with the National Copyright Office in your country.
Types of Copyrights
When you record a song, you own two copyrights:
- the copyright of the recording
- the copyright of the song itself
The copyright of the composition generates mechanical royalties. These are paid when your music is reproduced or distributed, through CDs, vinyl, or digital downloads.
You also get other types of royalties:
- Performance royalties — earned when your music is played or performed on the radio, TV shows, or during live concerts.
- Sync royalties — earned when your music is synchronized with visual media in films or TV shows.
Music Publishing
The concept of copyright is closely connected with your musical career and earning money. On the other hand, publishing is the commercial use of music by songwriters and composers, and getting them paid for that. Publishing can be done either by representatives (publishers) or musicians themselves.
Speaking about publishers, they fall into the following categories:
Administrators — Small and individual companies that provide services for small commissions by handling aspects of registration, licensing, and commercial processes.
Note: They typically do not pay advances and don’t offer creative services.
Independents — They offer the same administration services, take higher commissions, and provide creative services
Note: They typically work with mid-level artists, talented songwriters, and producers.
Major publishers — These are companies working with real big stars (Sony, Universal, Warner Chappell, EMI, and others). They offer higher commissions and pay millions of dollars in advances as well as provide creative services.
Why Do You Need a Music Publisher and What Do They Do?
Music publishers are responsible for the following areas:
- Song registration
- Licensing
- Royalty Collection (performance, mechanical, or sync royalties)
- Creative Matters
Song registration and licensing allow publishers to collect royalties from all sources. Publishers receive a share of the copyright or control over it. This share may vary across the countries. Publishers are also engaged in pitching new songs to advertising agencies, music supervisors in film, TV shows, and video-game producers.
Performing Rights Organizations
You may have heard of BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC as the biggest PROs in the USA.
What these organizations do:
They collect royalties from your music performed in public places — in bars, venues, on radio or TV. To be able to receive these royalties, you need to register in PRO. You don’t need to register for all of them. Choose one that works well for you.
Quick Recap
Music publishers ensure that songwriters and composers receive payment when their creative works are used commercially. They make a publishing contract, where a songwriter or composer "assigns" the copyright of their composition to a publishing company. That company licenses compositions, monitors where music is used, collects royalties, and distributes them to the musicians.
Final Word
Copyright protects your ownership, so you need to register it as soon as possible to officially protect your ownership of creative works. By registering with PRO, you get the chance to collect performance royalties on your behalf. When registering with a publisher, you get all the royalties from your music played in public. So, first, register with a PRO and then with a publisher. Once you sign with a publisher, they register each new song with your PRO automatically.
Would you like more tips? Recently, we’ve shared information about Apps and Software for Developing Ear and Rhythm. Feel free to check it out!
On our website, you can also explore a big collection of musical instrument accessories, skill development tools, and custom instruments.
Here you can take advantage of our limited-time offers and make your purchase at the best prices.
Sources:
Music Publishing Explained | Music Publishing 101
The 1st Thing To Do Before Releasing Your Music | ASCAP? BMI? Songtrust? Copyright Registration?
https://kgumusic.com