Making Money from Your Music on YouTube: What You Need to Know!

By Chris R. at CD Baby
February 1, 2012{ 113 Comments }

article3 Making Money from Your Music on YouTube: What You Need to Know!

[Click HERE for full details about CD Baby's sync licensing program]

Did you know that you can now earn money from your music on YouTube? The video streaming giant is fast becoming one of the most popular music-discovery platforms, but it’s not only a great site for PROMOTING your music; YouTube has also turned into an essential vehicle for driving independent artist revenue.

With CD Baby’s sync licensing program, you’ll can get paid for the usage of your music on YouTube– and not just in your own videos; over 60 hours of new video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s a lot of people who need good tunes to match up with the cuddly cat videos and wedding slideshows they’re posting. Our partnership with music licensing firm, Rumblefish, will make your music available for these new income-generating opportunities on YouTube. We have two sync licensing options at CD Baby (All Media and MicroSync), both of which give you have the ability to get in on the action.

Since there can be some confusion when dealing with a few companies at once (for example: CD Baby partners with Rumblefish to collect money from YouTube on your behalf) we thought we’d prepare this little guide for you. It’s intended to help you understand how it works so you don’t inadvertently (and temporarily) screw up your ability to get paid. Read more »

Are You Waiting Around to Get “Discovered?”

By Chris R. at CD Baby
February 10, 2012{ No Comments }

iStock 000016538783XSmall Are You Waiting Around to Get Discovered?Don’t feed the sharks. Be a majority stakeholder in your own career!

In the “olden days,” musicians only had to worry about 10% of their careers. It was a simpler formula for success– get good, get discovered, get signed; that was about all you COULD do. A few gatekeepers controlled ALL the outlets for production, distribution, and promotion. You had to impress one of these gatekeepers and sign your life away in order to present your music to the world. Even then, you were a carefully managed product, from your style to your sound to your artwork. Sure, someone else was worrying about this stuff FOR YOU, but they held the reins tight and kept most or all of the profit. 

Over the last decade, the music industry has done a complete 180. Now 90% of your career is in your hands, and you have all the tools you need to make it happen (from affordable recording and video production technology, to simple physical and digital distribution solutions, to  easy social media/blog/marketing solutions).

Major labels play the safe bets.

Record labels are no longer in the business of guessing or taking chances. They only sign artists who’ve already proven they can be successful on their own. As Alan Elliott says, “A record label used to be able to look at a tree and say, ‘That would make a great table.’ Now all they can do is take a finished table and sell it at Wal-Mart.” Read more »

Licensing Revealed: The Little Secrets of Music Licensing

By DIY Musician
February 10, 2012{ 1 Comment }

iStock 000018703254XSmall Licensing Revealed: The Little Secrets of Music Licensing[By Cheryl B. Engelhardt, CD Baby Member. The following contains excerpts from her e-course “In The Key Of Success: The Five Week Jump-Start Strategy.” You can get your copy with a killer 70% discount using the code CDBABE.]

Figuring out all the different ways to get paid has taken me years. This article is meant to consolidate and summarize some of the big concepts, and to get you to a point to where you can have a conversation with a publishing house, licensing library, or music supervisor, and be “in the know.” The main ideas to understand are:

1. the difference between Publisher’s share and Writer’s share;
2. what master, mechanical, and sync licenses are referring to;
3. who pays what, and how you get your cash.

1) The difference between Publisher’s and Writer’s share

One song is broken into two equal parts, or “shares”:

Writer’s share

• “Writers” include anyone who contributed to the song, specifically lyrics or melody (which are usually split 50/50), and occasionally a song-defining element (like the bass line in the White Stripes hit “Seven Nation Army”). This needs to be decided and in writing before you register the song with your PRO.

Publisher’s share

• “Publisher” includes anyone the songwriter has assigned to hold the copyright of the song. The Publisher’s share can be split between your publishing company and anyone else, including another publishing company, a music library, or a music supervision company.

2) What mechanical, sync and master licenses are referring to Read more »

Blogging 101 for Independent Musicians, Pt. 2

By DIY Musician
February 9, 2012{ 1 Comment }

iStock 000015752726XSmall 300x225 Blogging 101 for Independent Musicians, Pt. 2[The following is an excerpt from Guerrilla Music Marketing Online by music marketing guru Bob Baker of www.TheBuzzFactor.com. Friends and clients of CD Baby get a 20% discount if you’d like to purchase the whole book. To buy now, click HERE, add the book to your shopping cart, and then type “CDBaby” into the coupon code field during the checkout process.]

Publish Your Own Blog to Engage Fans and Help Search Engines Find You 

So far we’ve covered what blogs are and how they work, along with some simple ways to get exposure for your music on other people’s blogs.

If you really want to be effective in marketing yourself online, you really should publish your own blog and add new content to it on a weekly basis.

Why? Here are seven things a blog can help you accomplish: Read more »

CD Baby’s 2011 Annual Stats [Infographic]

By DIY Musician
February 8, 2012{ 14 Comments }

Growth remains strong in independent music!

2011 was a banner year for indie music releases, and we’re pleased that CD Baby has continued to be the leader in independent music distribution.  Click on the image to see the full size infographic of our key stats for 2011.

CDBaby 2011 Stats Infographic 339x650 CD Babys 2011 Annual Stats [Infographic]

 Sell your music on iTunes, Facebook, Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody, CD Baby, and more!

CD Baby Loves You More: Smart Music Distribution with Heart

By Chris R. at CD Baby
February 7, 2012{ No Comments }

TEMP Image 6 1 CD Baby Loves You More: Smart Music Distribution with Heart

Get 50% off when you switch to CD Baby from Tunecore or Reverb Nation

Soon we’ll celebrate St. Valentine’s day, giving out tokens of love and dressing up in pink and red clothing (or “amorous array” as Leonard Cohen might say).

To show our appreciation for independent artists everywhere, we’re continuing our “CD Baby Loves You More” campaign, giving musicians 50% off  the price of an album or single song submission when they switch to CD Baby from their current distributor (Tunecore, Reverb Nation, etc.)

Why CD Baby is the smart choice for independent musicians:

1) No annual fees! (and no cancelation fees)

2) Sell your music in over 60 digital stores (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc.)

3) Worldwide CD and vinyl distribution (to over 2000 brick and mortar record stores)

4) Sell your music on Facebook with our new MusicStore app.

5) Sell direct-to-fan (vinyl, CD, mp3, on your website or blog)

6) Make money when your music is used on YouTube!

Click HERE to get 50% off when you switch your distribution to CD Baby.

Screen shot 2012 02 06 at 2.17.51 PM 650x172 CD Baby Loves You More: Smart Music Distribution with Heart

 

 

 

 

Blogging 101 for Independent Musicians, Pt. 1

By DIY Musician
February 6, 2012{ 4 Comments }

iStock 000007981117XSmall Blogging 101 for Independent Musicians, Pt. 1[The following is an excerpt from Guerrilla Music Marketing Online, by music marketing guru Bob Baker of www.TheBuzzFactor.com. Friends and clients of CD Baby get a 20% discount if you’d like to purchase the whole book. To buy now, click HERE, add the book to your shopping cart, and then type “CDBaby” into the coupon code field during the checkout process.]

Musicians: Tap Into the Blogosphere 

One of the best ways to interact with your fans (and make new ones) is by blogging. It’s easy, affordable, and particularly well-suited for creative people like you who love to express themselves.

Here’s a quick primer on blogs and how you can use them to promote your music … Read more »

How to Make More Money from YouTube: host a video contest where fans use YOUR songs

By Chris R. at CD Baby
February 3, 2012{ 4 Comments }

iStock 000013321886XSmall How to Make More Money from YouTube: host a video contest where fans use YOUR songsWith CD Baby’s sync licensing program, you earn money whenever your music is used on YouTube. So, one of the obvious ways to boost your YouTube income is to get people to make more videos using your music!

Consider hosting a series of contests where fans upload videos with your music as the soundtrack, including:

1) Fan-made music video contest-

Enlist your fans to make a music video or slideshow FOR you. Let them pick their favorite song, give them creative license to interpret the song their way, tell them to post it to YouTube, and then choose your favorites.  Give out prizes– like free CDs, free house-shows, custom-written songs, etc. Create a YouTube playlist for all these entries.

2) Personal/family videos contest- Read more »

4 Income Streams from Music Licensing

By Chris R. at CD Baby
February 2, 2012{ 2 Comments }

iStock 000017638849XSmall 4 Income Streams from Music LicensingThis may seem obvious to some folks, but it’s worth mentioning that when you license your music, there is more money to be made than just that initial sync license.

Here’s a quick list of potential revenue streams related to music licensing:

1) The initial sync licensing fee- When a producer, programer, or other content creator wants to use your music in the soundtrack to their TV show, commercial, film, or game, they have to pay you for that license.

If your song is placed in a SuperBowl commercial, that could mean big bucks. If you’re helping your best friend make his low-budget indie short about subterranean vampires, maybe you let him use your music on the cheap. But either way, you control the terms and cost of acquiring that sync license. Read more »

The 9-Step DIY Fan-Funding Checklist

By DIY Musician
January 31, 2012{ 19 Comments }

Cheryl New 9 300x200 The 9 Step DIY Fan Funding ChecklistThe following is an excerpt from the e-course “In The Key Of Success: The Five Week Jump-Start Strategy” by Cheryl B. Engelhardt. You can get the rest of the course here to jump start your career today (scroll down for CD Baby discount).

The next opportunity I want to suggest to you is asking your fans to pay for your new album. From June 2010 to March 2011, I raised over $25,000 in fan donations to fund the production of my record ONE UP. It’s possible, people. But no one will give you a dime if your campaign is “I really really want to make a record- please give me money!” You need to create an opportunity for your fans that will inspire them to participate. Read more »

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