NOTE: The CD Baby Pro Publishing service was discontinued as of August 8th, 2023. Any paid release which was signed up for CD Baby Pro Publishing prior to August 8th, 2023 is considered a Legacy Pro release and will continue to receive Pro Publishing services. CD Baby now offers a new expanded suite of revenue amplifiers called “CDB Boost” instead.
What’s the most exciting thing about putting out new music? Planning the album release party? Booking a tour? Shooting a music video? Capturing great band photos? Launching a PR campaign and lining up reviews and interviews?
Sure, sure. That’s where all the glory is. But there’s some other stuff you need to do —paperwork, basically — that is equally important when it comes to building and sustaining a life in music.
I know, filling out web forms and managing files isn’t fun, but you’ve worked hard to get your music ready for release; why WOULDN’T you want to do everything you can to make it a success?
So plant yourself in front of a computer for a couple hours a night, put on some tunes, and I’ll see you in a week. Don’t worry. This will all be over soon.
10 boring things you should absolutely do before you release new music
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Register your copyrights
You own the copyright to your music the minute it’s set down in a fixed format (sheet music, scribbled on a napkin, recorded, etc.). It’s important to REGISTER that copyright, though, in order to fully protect yourself in the case of infringement. Earlier this year I registered the copyrights for my latest album via the Library of Congress’ online portal. It was fairly painless and didn’t take any longer than 30 minutes, if memory serves. Plus, there’s an easy way to simultaneously protect your compositions AND sound recordings with a single form. HERE’S HOW.
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Affiliate with a PRO
Performing Rights Organizations (or PROs) such as ASCAP and BMI will help you collect performance royalties whenever your original songs are played on the radio, in venues, etc. This is the kind of revenue stream you want to be set up to collect BEFORE one of your songs takes off so you can capture every publishing dollar possible. Get affiliated as a songwriter, and then be sure to register all of your songs with that PRO, or…
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Seek out a publishing administration deal
A publishing administrator such as CD Baby Pro can take care of your PRO affiliation for you; we register all your songs; PLUS we collect publishing royalties that PROs don’t, such as mechanical royalties for international downloads and global streaming activity (this is money that’s impossible to collect on your own). With a publishing admin deal, you know you’re prepared to capture all the revenue your music is generating. Check out CD Baby Pro HERE.
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Register with SoundExchange
If you’re the owner of your own sound recording, the primary artist on the recording, or a member of the band, there are additional digital performance royalties you’re owed whenever your music is played on internet/satellite radio. But since it’s associated with the recording and not the song, these are not considered publishing royalties — so your PRO can’t collect them. That’s where SoundExchange comes in. They collect that money and distribute it to labels, artists, and players. Register with SoundExchange today.
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Set up worldwide distribution
This is probably the most obvious item on the list. Your music is ready to be heard, so you’ve got to get it out into the world. With CD Baby distribution your music will be available on all the popular digital platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, etc.) and your CDs or vinyl will be made available to over 15k record stores worldwide. Get set up with global distribution today!
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License your cover songs
Got any cover songs on your album? If not, skip to #7. If so, you need to secure the proper licenses to sell those songs or else you could get into big trouble down the road. Sounds complicated, but CD Baby’s cover song licensing partners make it easy. GO HERE for more info.
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Create a comprehensive press page on your website
If you want people to review your album, play your songs on the radio, or book you for quality shows and festivals, you’ll need to have a simple place where they can get all the info: a press page! It’s basically an EPK (electronic press kit) that you host on your own website. What does this press page need to have? GO HERE FOR DETAILS. Don’t have your own website yet? That’s step one, and you can start HERE.
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Upload your album to SoundCloud as a private playlist
Many bloggers, journalists, talent buyers, and DJs will ask for a SoundCloud link to hear your music, particularly if you’re trying to line up premieres for your songs. Of course you don’t want your music to be available to the public until the release date. So upload your album to SoundCloud, set the playlist to private, and share the private link with those music industry contacts.
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Put your songs in a sync licensing catalog
One of the best ways to make new fans and earn money from your music is through sync licensing. This is where your songs are used in conjunction with moving images (thus “synchronization”). If your song gets synced, you’ll be paid for the right to use your sound recording AND your composition. And, depending on the usage, you also stand to earn performance royalties. If you want your music to be used in film, TV, commercials, video games, corporate presentations, and more, you’ll need to enter your songs into a reputable sync licensing catalog. Check out CD Baby’s sync licensing program HERE.
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Submit your music to Pandora
Pandora is one of the best music discovery tools out there, so you definitely want your songs to be available on the popular radio platform. But, unlike with the other items on this list, your music needs to be available for purchase before you can submit to Pandora, so this is something you’ll want to take care of as soon as your album comes out. Then cross your fingers, because the truth is you might not get accepted to Pandora. They have a team of musicologists who listen to all the music submitted, and make decisions based on their current needs and tastes. It’s worth a try though, so follow the steps listed HERE and hope for the best.
All finished? Nice. Now you can start booking that tour or shooting that video. Did I forget any crucial album-release paperwork? If so, lemme know in the comments below.
Chris Robley is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and award-winning poet from Maine.
His Beatlesque indie-pop and milltown Americana songs have been praised by The Associated Press, No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, Boston Globe, NPR, American Songwriter, and others.
His poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, and more.
Robley has received a Maine Literary Award in Poetry, Boulevard’s Emerging Writers Prize for Poetry, and in 2016 was selected by former US-poet laureate Robert Pinsky as a finalist for the Dorset Prize.