Chris Robley, Author at DIY Musician Blog « Page 2 of 71 DIY Musician Blog

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Music Publishing Royalties Explained: What is a Mechanical Royalty?

May 8, 2013{ No Comments }

How does a songwriter earn money? —— [Insert your own punchline here.]

But the real answer is… music publishing!

There’re a number of different kinds of publishing royalties you can earn from the usage of your original music.

One of the big sources of publishing revenue you’ll earn as a songwriter is performance royalties. But an even bigger revenue stream (at least for the music publishing industry at large) is mechanical royalties, which we’ll talk about in this article.

Mechanical royalties and independent songwriters

Wikipedia says:

The term “mechanical” and “mechanical license” has its origins in the “piano rolls” on which music was recorded in the early part of the 20th Century. Although its concept is now primarily oriented to royalty income from sale of compact discs (CDs), its scope is wider and covers any copyrighted audio composition that is rendered mechanically; that is, without human performers.

In a nutshell: every time a song you’ve written is manufactured to be sold in a CD, downloaded on a digital music retail site, or streamed through services like Spotify and Rdio, you are owed a mechanical royalty.

Music Publishing Made Easy: the In-Depth CD Baby Pro Interview

May 8, 2013{ No Comments }

Music publishing and CD Baby Pro: an interview with Justin Kalifowitz of SongTrust

Music publishing is arguably the most confusing — and important — aspect of the music business. In episode #121 of the DIY Musician Podcast (that’s right, we’re finally back in the swing of things), CD Baby’s Kevin Breuner talks with Justin Kalifowitz of SongTrust, experts in the world of independent music publishing.

Some of the topics they discuss include:

* What kinds of royalties are you owed as a songwriter?

* Which royalties do performing rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI collect for you? What WON’T they do for you?

* Why is it so hard for independent artists to collect some of the money they’re owed?

* How does music publishing differ from country to country?

* Is CD Baby Pro for me?

In this podcast, Justin answers all these questions and more — plus, they talk about how CD Baby Pro solves many of the publishing-related problems independent artists face today.

Listen or download the podcast now for free on the DIY Musician Podcast website or on iTunes.

CD Baby Exclusive: Watch “DIT: Do-It-Together” Before It Premiers Later This Month

May 7, 2013{ No Comments }

How to Record, Design, Mix, Master, Manufacture, and Promote an Album in One Week — for FREE!

Last fall, I interviewed American singer/songwriter Eric Eckhart about his experience making an album from start to finish in one week’s time, in front of a live audience, and without spending any money.

Working out of a former supermarket in Berlin, Eric and his artist collective “A Headful of Bees” pulled it off: recording, mixing, mastering, design, manufacturing, and the release itself. In the process, they ended up creating their own “alternative, open-source music industry.”

Now there’s a short documentary to tell the story too, and you can watch it before it premiers in Berlin on May 24th.

* Click this link: http://vimeo.com/64897625

* Type in the password “together.” (The video is privacy protected until it’s official release date, but you can watch in now by using that code.)

Should You Wait to Sell Your Music on Spotify?

May 6, 2013{ 2 Comments }

Why your music should be available on streaming services like Spotify and Rdio

In the Internet Age, EVERY musician is a global act; your audience is everywhere.

With the popularity of YouTube, blogs, on-demand streaming services, download retailers like iTunes, and social networks, you never know how or where you’ll find your next fan — or more accurately, how they’ll find you. Hell, you could become an overnight sensation in a country you’ve never even been to before.

As an independent artist, you can’t afford NOT to make your music available digitally (as both MP3 downloads and streams) — because when something you’ve created goes viral, you need to be ready to capitalize on that splash.

Avoid “windowing” strategies for your music release

A windowing strategy is when you make your product available to the world in stages, according to certain windows of time. Read more »

Music Publishing Royalties Explained: What is a Performance Royalty?

May 2, 2013{ No Comments }

Music publishing is one of the most important revenue generators for an artist that writes original material.

To read about the various kinds of publishing royalties you can generate through the usage of your music, click HERE.

But in this article — we’re going to talk about one of the big ones: performance royalties.

Some industry experts claim that the amount of performance royalties distributed to songwriters and publishers each year accounts for as much as 30-35% of the total available publishing royalties — so there’s big money to be made.

What ARE performance royalties anyway?

A performance royalty is owed to the songwriter and publisher of a particular song whenever that composition is “broadcast” or performed “in public.”

These instances include:

• plays on terrestrial and satellite radio (Sirius, KEXP, etc.)

• usages on network and cable TV, film, commercials, games, etc.

The Art of Tasteful Boasting : How to Write a Great Band Bio

May 2, 2013{ 2 Comments }

The folks at Presskit.to recently invited me to be a guest on their webinar about writing great band bios and taglines. It was called “The Art of Tasteful Boasting” and featured 3 panelists: Julia Rogers, Editor in Chief at Musiciancoaching.com; Jem Bahaijoub, Founder of imaginePR; and… me.

Some of the band-bio topics we discussed:

* How do you get started writing a band bio?

* How do you deal with writer’s block?

* How do you find your narrative voice? 1st Vs. 3rd person bios?

HostBaby’s Best Web Tips for Musicians: April, 2013

May 1, 2013{ No Comments }

Web tips and best-practices to smarten-up your online music marketing

Checked out The HostBaby Blog lately?

Every week, we post new web and social media tips for musicians. You’ll learn how to grow your email list, how to get fans to engage with your online content, how to draft newsletters that convert to sales, how to optimize your site for search, and more.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping tabs on the HostBaby Blog…

Here’s a recap of April’s HostBaby Blog articles:

1. Is Your One-Page Website Hurting Your Career?

2. How to Add Google Analytics to Your HostBaby Site Builder

3. Does Your Website Reflect Where You Are in Your Career?

4. Essential Third-Party Widgets for Your Band’s Website

Read more »

8 Ways to Make the Most of Your Next Digital Release

April 30, 2013{ 4 Comments }

How to promote your digital music

When you’re getting ready for your next album, EP, or single release party, it’ll be easy to forget about promoting the digital side of things. You’ll have all those beautiful CDs and vinyl records sitting there in boxes just waiting to be purchased by fans, mailed to bloggers and critics, and given away to a few lucky friends. Compared to those tangible musical artifacts, things like on-demand streams and MP3 downloads can seem very… virtual.

But the steps you take to promote your music digitally are just as important as the things you do to sell CDs. Your digital music promotion should be anything but virtual.

Here are a few tips to help you sell more downloads, encourage more streaming, and capitalize on every digital release:

1. Run an iTunes pre-sale for up to 30 days before the official release of your music. This gives you a month to build buzz AND capture sales from your early promotional efforts. As a bonus, all your pre-sales will be counted as sales on the official release date, increasing your chances of ranking on the iTunes charts.

2. Use Spotify playlists to encourage fan interaction. Include your music in mixes for certain moods or occasions. Ask your fans to make their own playlists using your music (creating a “greatest hits” or a set list for your next show).

Read more »

What is a Performing Rights Organization?

April 29, 2013{ 9 Comments }

A Performing Rights Organization (or P.R.O.) helps songwriters and publishers get paid for the usage of their music by collecting one of the most important forms of publishing revenue: performance royalties.

As a songwriter, composer, or lyricist, you’re owed what is called a “performance royalty” any time your music is played on radio stations (terrestrial, satellite, and internet), used on TV shows or commercials, or performed in live venues.

Those performance royalties are paid by radio stations, venues, and TV networks to Performing Rights Organizations like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SOCAN (in Canada) who then distribute the money to their affiliated songwriters and publishers.

This Is Why Artists Are Missing Out On Music Royalties

April 24, 2013{ 5 Comments }

Independent artists have been missing out on songwriting royalties for far too long. As music is used in more and more diverse ways, there are more and more revenue opportunities opening up for songwriters.

Many artists don’t even know they can claim these royalties.

To rub salt in the wound, when an independent artist does not claim their royalties, the leftover money often gets divided up amongst the major label artists and big publishing houses.

Signing up with ASCAP or BMI is not enough

Many artists think that affiliating with a Performing Rights Organization like ASCAP or BMI is all they need to do to collect royalties for their songs. But the fact is, signing up with ASCAP or BMI is just the beginning.

Every single song needs to be registered

Artists often wade through the paperwork needed to affiliate with a Performing Rights Organization and then neglect to register each and every song they release. We get it; the song registration process is a pain and takes time. But if you don’t register your songs, you don’t get paid.

(Luckily, CD Baby Pro makes that same process simple and quick — but more about that below.)

Music Promotion for Independent Musicians