‘Tis The Season (To Sell CDs)

November 4, 2013March 7, 2016 Disc Makers

The holiday season, especially the golden month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is the most lucrative time of the year for retail sales. As an independent musician, it can be a time for you to move a ton of product – professionally manufactured CDs, merch, and more. There are many ways to take advantage of this time of the year, and our new guide answers questions about how to prepare your order and make your new release something special for the holidays.
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Retaining your master rights is smart business

April 16, 2013November 6, 2018 Keith Hatschek

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.

Making Money With Music Licensing – Part 3: Who’s Buying and How to Connect

February 8, 2013May 19, 2016 Keith Hatschek

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.

Making Money With Music Licensing – Part 2: Creating Value and Income

February 7, 2013May 19, 2016 Keith Hatschek

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.

Making money with music licensing – Part I: Copyrights and revenue

February 6, 2013September 12, 2017 Keith Hatschek

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.

Practice Safe Sampling – Copyright, Licensing and Your Music

January 7, 2013May 19, 2016 Michael Gallant

“Don’t infringe on copyrights!” If your forte is creating beat-driven masterpieces that use other people’s work as source material, how do you ply your craft and share your art without getting in trouble? Let’s dive into the murky waters of legality and copyright ownership. Read more.

Music licensing and leveraging your songs

September 11, 2012September 12, 2017 Keith Hatschek

If you are an aspiring songwriter, the promise of earning a steady stream of music royalties from the use of your songs is just that – a promise. Assuming that you’ve written songs that have the potential to attract an audience, and likewise a potential user of your songs (a licensee), understanding the numerous avenues available to license your original song is the next step on the road to earning money from your compositions. Read more.

How Bands and Co-Writers Divide Percentage Shares in a Song

April 29, 2011April 4, 2018 Bobby Borg

What does copyright law say about your rights when an original idea is formed between two or more people? Here’s how some co-writers divide percentage shares in a song. Read the post.

Public Domain and Copyrighted Works: Mechanical Licensing for Silly Love Songs

February 14, 2011February 20, 2017 Alex Holz

Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs … and what’s wrong with that? If you’re planning to use a previously written composition in your efforts, though, you may want to ask: “What constitutes a public domain composition?” Read More.

Get paid when you get played

September 30, 2009September 12, 2017 Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan

No musician can afford to miss out on a potential source of income. So if you’re a songwriter, and not a member of a Performance Rights Organizations (PRO) like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, or SOCAN (Canada), you could be leaving money on the table. It’s not difficult to join one of these organizations, and as an independent, there are ways to enroll that allow you to maximize your royalties and double what you might think you’re eligible for. Read More.