After witnessing how quickly new technology has changed the music business in just the past five years, it’s a safe bet that no one can know for sure what awaits the music industry in the near future. Still these predictions for the music industry by leading industry professionals are interesting, insightful, and inspiring. Read more.
Songwriters – or more correctly, copyright holders – have always been compensated for the use of their songs, whether it was via traditional radio or new streaming services. With the rise of more and more new outlets for music consumption, master rights are an essential asset to leverage for artists and labels to earn money. Read more.
Who are the buyers for your original music? The short answer is they are incredibly diverse, and include everything from video game production companies to late night TV variety shows. And while the enormous range of buyers is encouraging, they mainly operate in a closed loop of industry contacts, so gaining access can be difficult. That why knowing the ground rules and how value is perceived by the buyers is crucial before attempting to break in to the loop. Read more.
When striving to understand how the music licensing business operates, one key fact is that the music licensing marketplace determines value on a daily basis. What this means is that to make any money licensing your music, your songs must have value in the eyes of the marketplace. The following qualities will help determine a piece of music’s relative licensing value. Read more.
To develop an adequate understanding of the path to earning money with your original music, four essential areas make up the key foundational knowledge, and we’ll explore them in three posts. In this first post, we’ll look at the different copyrights and the basic blueprint for how revenue is generated by licensing your music. Part two will address creating value and earning income through licensed music. In part three, we’ll explore the diversity of buyers for original music, and the all-important connections you will need to develop to begin to make money from your original music. Read more.
Musicians getting in trouble with the law – well, that’s nothing new. What’s a good music resume without a couple of arrest reports to fill out the career dips? But what about that YouTube “take down” notice you just received for the video you posted of your band covering “Freebird?” You got a mechanical license to release the song on your CD (right?), and the video turned out awesome, so you owe it to the world to post it online. But did you get a sync license for your online videos of cover songs? Read more.
The Future of Music Coalition just released the results of a research project they conducted where over 5,000 US-based musicians were surveyed about how they earned money. Here is the list with their findings. 1. Publisher advance. Bulk payment to songwriter/composer as part of a publishing deal. 2. Mechanical Royalties. Royalties generated through the licensed reproduction of recordings of your songs — either physical or digital. Read more.