ROYALTIES

UNDERSTANDING ROYALTIES


So....in everyone's best interest, let's not over complicate this! I'm going to do a brief over view of the different royalties and who collects them. Know your rights and don't leave money on the table!

WHY DO I NEED A P.R.O.?

Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) collect performance royalties. PROs such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC negotiate licenses for public performances and monitor their usage. They also collect and distribute the royalties to the copyright holder(s).

To collect public performance royalties, register with a Performance Rights Organization. Note, the songwriter and publisher split these royalties 50/50. You will have to register as both the writer and publisher to receive 100% of the performance royalties.

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PUBLIC PERFORMANCE ROYALTIES:

Paid to either the songwriter, publisher or both whenever songs are performed in public. Public performance royalties generate music income for copyrighted works performed, recorded, played, or streamed in public. This includes terrestrial radio, television, bars, restaurants, clubs, live concerts, music streaming services, and anywhere else your music plays in public.

MECHANICAL ROYALTIES:

Paid to songwriters or publishers. Songs can be licensed for audio products, including CDs, digital recordings, vinyl or even cassettes. No sell no CD's? No make no mechanicals...ya dig?

Mechanical royalties generate music income for the physical or digital reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works. This applies to all music formats such as vinyl, CD, cassette, digital downloads, and streaming services.

For example, record labels pay mechanical royalties to songwriters every time they press a CD of their music. A copyright owner can also collect mechanical royalties from a digital music distributor service if they are independent.

SYNCHRONISATION ROYALTIES:

Whenever your audio is accompanied by another form of media You will earn syncronization royalties. If your music is used in audio visual media like TV, film or video games, the producer of the media must purchase a license to use your song.

Synchronization royalties generate income for copyrighted music paired or ‘synced’ with visual media. Sync licenses grant the right to use copyrighted songs in films, television, commercials, video games, online streaming, advertisements, music videos, and any other visual media.

However, a syncronization license does not include the right to use an existing recording with audiovisual media such as a YouTube video. A licensee will need a master use license before using copyrighted music with a new audiovisual project. This is an agreement between the master recording owner, such as a record label, and the person seeking permission to use the recording.

Any use of protected music in an audiovisual project will need a master use license and a sync license. It doesn’t matter if it’s a full song or short sample. For example, you need both a master and sync agreement before syncing up the latest Jazz track with your wakeboarding video on YouTube.

DIGITAL ROYALTIES:

Syncronization royalties are also digital now and you can claim royalties if someone uploads your music in a video. YouTube creators often use background music in their videos. You can make a lot of bread if your music happens to be in a video that goes viral.

PRINT ROYALTIES:

Songwriters and composers can print and sell their music or lyrics. Not only sheet music but where certain song lyrics are used on merchandise as well. If the music has been printed as sheet music and sold in a songbook or downloaded digitally, royalties can be collected.

Print royalties are the least common form of payment a copyright holder receives. This royalty applies to copyrighted music transcribed to a print piece such as sheet music and then distributed. Additionally, the copyright holder pays out these fees based on the number of copies made of the printed piece.

NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS:

Neighboring rights are also known as international performance royalties. A global hit will generate royalties at different rates across the world. This can vary depending on where in the world your song has been played or performed. International royalties can be collected by your local collection society or P.R.O.

SAMPLING ROYALTIES:

If another artist wants to use a second or more of your existing sound recording in a song, once they sample it, they must get your permission as the owner of the sound recording copyright and you can charge a fee for it.

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TO BE CLEAR:

When you make a song you become the owner of two different copyrights: the sound recording (or “master”), and the underlying composition (the melody, chords, whatever makes the recording unique).

When an artist records a composition they have written, it creates two copyrights. They in turn require different forms of administration to make sure you actually get them.

To make sure you receive all three revenue streams, you need the services of the following : a distributor, a performing rights organization (or PRO), a publishing administrator.

Distributors like TuneCore or DistroKid submit your tracks to streaming platforms all over the world. Then they collect royalties generated from streaming or the use of your sound recording. These royalties are artist royalties or master royalties.


LIST OF DISTRIBUTERS (unsorted):
TUNECORE
AUDIAM
DISTROKID
AWAL
DITTO
CDBABY
ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION ALLIANCE
CAROLINE INTERNATIONAL
INGROOVES
THE ORCHARD
ABSOLUTE
BELIEVE DIGITAL
DITTO PLUS
IDOL
REDEYE WORLDWIDE
STEM
SYMPHONIC DISTRIBUTION
CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT
SONOSUITE
FUGA
HORUS MUSIC
iMUSICIAN DIGITAL
LANDR
LEVEL MUSIC
ONERPM
ROUTENOTE
SOUNDDROP
SPINNUP
UNITED MASTERS
AMUSE

SUMMING IT ALL UP:

The music business is evolving and royalties are not just aquired by your P.R.O. anymore. They still collect the ones they always have but now with streaming and digital downloads you need the distribution companies to aquire those other royalties on your behalf.

Copyrights can get pretty complex so I will do my best to continue to update this page and add as much helpful information as possible.

As things progress and we migrate to web 3.0, a savvy artist might keep their eyes on the blockchain and those smart contracts.......seriously.

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