Should you “officially” copyright your music?
In our second video about music copyrights and royalties, Disc Makers’ CEO Tony van Veen talks about registering your song for copyright. Should you do it? Read the post.
Music Companies
Understanding music rights and royalties
Disc Makers’ CEO Tony van Veen has started a new video series aimed at answering your questions about copyrights, how you’re paid for them, and what you need to do to collect your royalties. Read the post.
How to avoid music business scams
There are tons of legitimate music services, but the scammers are out there, too. Use these four questions to evaluate any service you’re thinking of using and avoid getting suckered into something you’ll regret. Read the post.
How to get your music on streaming music stations
There’s a universe of streaming music stations to explore where you can get your music played to grow your fanbase and get coverage of you and your music. Read the post.
How Much Does Streaming Pay?
When you analyze the money you can earn from streaming, you’ll find it’s difficult (at best) to earn enough to support yourself as an artist. But streaming is still valuable: it can be a gateway to discovery and other means of monetizing your fan base. Read the post.
Music trends in 2018: hip hop, music streaming, and live concerts
As the music industry continues to evolve, I’ve identified three music trends to keep an eye on in 2018 that are helping to reshape popular music. Read More.
Are high-res audio and $60 CDs the future of music?
Not all music purchases are motivated by low price. Blue Coast Records’ development of Extended Sound Environment recording has created a new niche for the audiophile market through high-res audio streams and CDs. Read More.
Music streaming 2016, Part 2: the complex revenue equation
A big part of the revenue blurriness in music streaming is because many record deals were made before the advent of music streaming, using a model of selling a physical product. It’s time to tackle the job of drafting contracts to account for the fact that there are no manufacturing costs with streaming or download sales. Read more.
Music streaming 2016, Part 1: the current streaming landscape
2015 was marked by a number of high-profile artists continuing to speak out against the music streaming business model while excluding their music from providers like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and many more. Mainstream artists have challenged whether streaming can ever be profitable for artists. Read more.
The ABCs of music libraries
Everyone wants to know how to make a little extra cash with their music, and music licensing is an appealing option for many independent musicians. There are measurable differences between the different levels of music libraries – finding the ones for you depends on your experience and business model. Read more.
How to pitch your music for video games
Game composer Tom Salta and music publisher Jake Versluis advise hooking up with a quality music publisher if you can – or making a strong pitch directly to game-makers if you can’t – but how do you approach either sort of party and get taken seriously? Here’s advice on how to pitch your music for video games. Read more.
Music for video games: advice from a top music publisher
While you may find success placing music in smaller-scale video games, music publisher Jake Versluis (Director of A&R Creative for Position Music) says you need a long-term plan, a big-time work ethic, and really great music to land your work in the big-league titles. Read more.
Music publishing: music industry insights
In the broadest sense, a music publisher looks for music initially like an A&R rep at a label would. We’re searching for the best talent. We do differ in one significant way: talent alone can sometimes entice an A&R rep to sign an artist. With music publishers, that is rarely the case. Read more.
Music business terminology
With every industry comes a set of terms that is specific to that field; the music business is no different. Check out this quick list of compiled definitions and music business terminology so you can learn to speak the language of the music industry. Read more.
How to find, land, and work a music publishing deal
Updated August 2017. A music publishing deal can be an additional revenue generator for a songwriter, and we’ve got advice on how to prepare your material and get into the mix. Read More.