How To Properly Release Music

How to properly release music

After talking to a few artists about releasing music I realized that most of them had no idea about PRO’s (Performance Rights Organizations). So I wanted to take the time to break down exactly what you need to do after you purchase beats.

Whenever you do purchase beats from me or any professional producer, you are always provided a contract. In the contract it will let you know about the spilts for royalties, publishing, and album points. For example whenever you purchase from me (Epikbeats.net), the spilts are 50/50 for both royalties and publishing. Make sure to ALWAYS READ YOUR CONTRACTS!

“….but how do I add the splits?”

Once you have purchase the license, recorded the song, and completed the mixing and mastering; its time to register the music. In order to make sure that you and I (the producer) are paid properly you need to register the music with a PRO ( Performance Rights Organization).

Most artists make the mistake of distributing the music first with companies like Distrokid, CDbaby, or Tunecore and think thats registering the music but its not. Lets say a song does blow up! If its being played on the radio or being performed at shows, you and I will miss out on the royalties. This is where the PRO’s come in .

What are PRO’s?

PRO’s are organizations who collect performance rights royalties for songwriter and publishers for music used in radio, tv shows, commercials, or live performances. So every time your song is played on the radio, orgs. like ASCAP , BMI, or SESAC will collect the royalties and will cut a check for you and I or any collaborator.

How do I register?

All you need to do is head over to ASCAP or BMI and register as a songwriter and publisher. I believe SESAC is a invited only organization which is why i didn’t mention it. There is a one time fee of $100 to register as a songwriter and publisher with ASCAP. Its free to register as a songwriter with BMI but they do charge $150 to register as a publisher and $250 if you are a company.

Whats next?

Now that you are signed up, all you need to do is “add the work”. I currently use ASCAP, so here’s what it looks like to add the spilts on the backend.

HERE A QUICK REVIEW

  PURCHASE BEAT LICENSE FROM EPIKBEATS.NET

: RECORD THE SONG

HAVE IT MIXED AND MASTERED

REGISTER WITH A PRO – ASCAP OR BMI

DISTRIBUTE With DISTROKID

Secure The 💰

If you have any questions or concerns, drop a comment below to me know. I hope this helps!

What are Royalties and Publishing?

Royalties and publishing

Whether you are independent or signed it is vital to your future to understand royalties and publishing. You don’t want to be like R Kelly and have the rights to your music taken from you due to your ignorance. Heres a basic understanding of royalties and how you are paid.

What are royalties?

Royalties are a percentage of a wholesale price. For example, if you have 10% royalties and your album sells for $10,  then your royalties are $1 per album.

Theres a few type of royalties every artist needs to understand.

  • Mechanical Royalties for artist
  • Mechanical Royalties for songwriter, composure, and publisher (Know as “Publishing”)
  • Performance rights royalties
  • Synchronization Royalties
  • Print Royalties

Whenever you record a song in the studio, the original file is consider your “masters”. Each recording has two components; the sound recording and the composition (melody/ lyrics). No one can copy that record without a license called compulsory license. Once they obtain the rights to distribute copies of the master file in the form of cds, vinyl, etc, you are paid out mechanical royalties. Pretty much mechanical royalties are monies paid to the copyright holder for reproduced songs.

recording-from-stem
recording-from-stem

Mechanical royalties for the sound recording are paid to the performer (artist) and the copyright holder which is usually the label. If you are not signed to a label then you would receive your full percentage. If you are signed then your percentage is based off your deal. (example approve)

Mechanical royalties for the composition are paid out to the songwriter, composure, and publisher. These mechanical royalties to the songwriter (50%) and publisher (50%) are usually called the “Publishing”. If you have registered as a publisher then you would receive both percentages.

Performance rights royalties are paid out to the writer anytime the record is performed publicly .This includes nightclubs, radio stations, streaming services,  live events and even elevators. These royalties are collect through performing right organization (PRO)  such as ASCAP,  BMI, and SESAC.

Synchronization royalties are paid out to the songwriter and publisher anytime a song is in the background for movies, tv shows, and commercials.

Print royalties are paid out to the songwriter and publisher whenever sales are made on printed music sheets.

Understanding royalties and publishing can be confusing but I hope this information helped. If you would like to dive deeper into understanding royalties and the music business , I would suggest reading, “All You Need to Know About he Music Business” by Donald S. Passman. 

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