What the new Mechanical Licensing Collective means for songwriters In official music biz terms, the MLC is a new U.S.-based Mechanical Rights Organization (MRO) designated by the U.S. Copyright Office … Continue reading
Music Rights
Making the complicated details of music rights easier to understand for independent musicians. Make sense of important issues like copyright law and music royalties.
Are you REALLY monetizing your music on YouTube?
How to know if your artist channel is eligible for monetization through the YouTube Partner Program. Are you really monetizing your music on YouTube? That might seem like a silly … Continue reading
How to Legally Clear Samples to Copyrighted Music
Can I sample copyrighted music without permission if it’s less than 6 seconds of audio? [Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer. Just sayin’… ] Is sampling legal? Let’s be honest: Sampling … Continue reading
Royalty splits for remixes: How to pay your remixer
How should you compensate a remixer? Music rights management comes down to two questions: Who owns what? Who’s owed what? In many musical collaborations, things like copyright and publishing splits … Continue reading
CD Baby client Cienfue appears in the latest installment of The Game Plan
Spotify’s instructional video series features independent artist Cienfue. CD Baby is happy to see one of the artists we distribute, Cienfue, appear alongside Sheryl Crow and Matt & Kim to … Continue reading
Get your songwriting splits right, or you might not get paid at all
Why accurate songwriting splits are crucial when paying music publishing royalties. Our friends at ASCAP just made a fun little animated video that explains why it’s so important to get … Continue reading
CD Baby Publishing reaches 1,000,000 songs!
We’re now helping 160,000 songwriters in over 50 countries collect all the publishing royalties they’re owed worldwide. CD Baby Publishing reached a big milestone recently: ONE MILLION SONGS. That’s how … Continue reading
What are all these different YouTubes (and is my music earning money there)?
A breakdown of the various YouTube brands and properties. YouTube has launched (and re-launched) several similar-sounding products over the years, so here’s a quick breakdown of those different services, what … Continue reading
Should My Producer Get Publishing and Songwriting Credit?
If you create original music and haven’t signed your publishing rights away, YOU are your own publisher and YOU own your publishing. You are owed publishing royalties for the usage … Continue reading
Publishing Rights: How Do They Get Split?
If you’re a songwriter, a composer, a lyricist, or anyone else who creates original music, and you’ve not signed a deal with a music publishing company — YOU own your … Continue reading