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Uploading your music to DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, or another distributor does not mean you have everything covered.
A distributor gets your music onto services such as Spotify and Apple Music. That is important, but distribution is only one part of the music business.
If you want to put yourself in position to collect royalties when your music is played, you need to understand who collects what.
1. Join a Performing Rights Organization
If you write your own music, you should consider joining a Performing Rights Organization, also called a PRO.
One example is ASCAP.
ASCAP represents songwriters, composers, and music publishers and helps collect performance royalties when their compositions are publicly performed.
After joining, make sure you properly register your songs. Simply having an account is not enough. Your music needs to be registered correctly so ASCAP knows which compositions belong to you.
2. Register With SoundExchange
If you are a recording artist or you own your master recordings, you should also look into SoundExchange.
SoundExchange handles a different type of royalty.
It collects digital performance royalties for sound recordings played through eligible non-interactive digital services, including webcasters and satellite radio. These royalties are for featured recording artists and sound recording copyright owners.
Registration with SoundExchange is free. Once registered, artists can search for and claim their recordings and manage their catalog.
3. Your Distributor Is Not the Same Thing
This is where many independent artists get confused.
Having your music on Spotify does not mean everything is registered everywhere it needs to be.
Think about it like this:
Distributor: Gets your recording into stores and streaming services.
PRO: Deals with performance royalties connected to the song and its writers and publishers.
SoundExchange: Collects certain digital performance royalties for the actual sound recording and pays eligible featured artists and sound recording copyright owners.
These organizations have different jobs.
4. Send Radio Stations Something They Can Actually Play
When submitting music to a radio station, do not send only a Spotify or YouTube link.
Those links can be useful for listening to your song, but the station may need an actual audio file to put your song into rotation.
Unless the station says otherwise, be prepared to provide a high-quality MP3 or WAV file along with basic information such as
Artist Name
Song Title
Album or Single Title
Record Label, if applicable
Release Date
Contact Information
Also follow the station's submission instructions. Every station may have different requirements.
5. Do This BEFORE You Start Chasing Airplay
Do not wait until your song starts getting played to ask:
"Where are my royalties?"
Radio stations do not set up your artist accounts for you.
Take care of the business side of your music before sending your records everywhere.
Nobody should care more about making sure your music business is handled correctly than you do.
Making the song is the creative part.
Protecting it, registering it, and putting yourself in position to collect what you may be owed is the business part.
Learn both.
By. Charles M. Withers
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