So you’ve started your first band, recorded your first few songs, have played a handful of shows, and now you want to take the next step. Where do you start? From copyright to branding to networking, we’ll go over it all to prepare you as you begin to navigate through the music business.
MUSIC COPYRIGHT LAWS AND LICENSING
UNDERSTANDING COPYRIGHTS & ROYALTIES
In order to understand the copyrights and royalties you’ll need to make it in the music business, we need to decipher all of the parts of a song. A song consists of two parts - the underlying song and the master recording. The underlying song (the lyrics, melody, and chords) is created and owned by the songwriter(s), which may or may not include the artist. The owner of the master recording (the original recording) is typically determined by the artist’s recording contract if signed to a label. Independent artists are the owners of their masters until they enter negotiations for a recording contract, which will determine if the artist or the record label owns the master recordings.
The term “master recording” may sound familiar to you if you’re a Taylor Swift fan, as she’s been re-recording her past work in order to own her master recordings.
Regardless of whether it’s the underlying song or the master recording, the moment that there is a tangible piece of work (a recording of a voice note or written out lyrics and chords), you own the copyright to your underlying song and are now protected.
Knowing what rights you have depending on whether you own the underlying song and/or the master recording is important for determining royalties and permissions to distribute your work.
If you are part of the team that owns the underlying song, you receive the following rights:
- Synchronization Rights: Having sync rights allows you to receive royalties when your music is played alongside a film, commercial, TV show, etc.
- Mechanical Rights: Having mechanical rights allows you to receive royalties when your music is streamed on Spotify, if someone buys a CD with your music, or downloaded digitally.
- Performance Rights: Having performance rights allows you to receive royalties when your music is played in a restaurant, on the radio, performed live, etc.
If you are part of the team that owns the master recording, you receive the following rights:
- Synchronization Rights
- Reproduction (or Distribution) Rights: Similar to mechanical rights, but the royalties that get paid to the owners of the master recording are usually determined through a negotiation between the rights holders and the service provider.
- Performance Rights
As the rightsholder of either the underlying song or the master recording, you have a say in how your music is used.
If you, as the artist, have contributed to the underlying song AND the master recording, you’ll receive royalties from both parts of the song. When collaborating with other songwriters, producers, musicians, etc., make sure you’re taking note of which part of the song they contribute to and how much they contribute. By taking note of this, you can create what’s called a split sheet which lays out exactly who contributed to what and what percentage of royalties they’ll be owed once money starts coming in.
BRANDING IS KEY
Creating an established brand is one of the most important things you can do as an up-and-coming artist. Once you have a clear brand, understanding how to perform on stage will help you bring it to life. Having a unique image, high-quality content, and creating a voice for your music business will help you stand out. You should create an image based on what feels the most authentic to you and your music. What sets you apart from other artists? Lean on whatever the answer is to that question when creating your brand.
Create a visual identity and identify what voice you want to present to the world. What does your brand look like? Does your image call for bright or dark colors? Should your logo include vintage or modern-style text? Ask yourself these kinds of questions to develop the visual identity that feels most authentic to you. Then ask yourself what kind of voice you want your brand to have. Your voice should reflect who you are and what you stand for at your core as an artist. Keep all of these components consistent across all platforms - social media, websites, interviews, etc.
Remember that your visual identity and voice are what people will notice about you instantly. Have fun with your branding, but make sure to present yourself professionally.
CREATE A RELEASE PLAN
When releasing music, you want to make sure to plan it out strategically. It’s important to distribute your music across multiple platforms to maximize its accessibility to a wider audience. In order to distribute your music, you’ll need to look into using a distributor to get your music into the ears of potential fans. As you start gaining traction, knowing how to get a record deal could be a valuable step.
Your distributor is more than just a platform to get your music onto streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and more. It’s also a place where you can manage your copyright and handle publishing administration. Common distributors for beginner musicians are DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby. Streaming services like SoundCloud and Bandcamp are great to use if you’re an up-and-coming artist as well. These platforms allow for more direct distribution to fans and are a popular resource for beginner musicians.
Now that you’ve found a distributor, it’s time to create a release strategy. At the beginning of your career, your goal is to continuously capture your audience’s attention. Consider starting out by releasing singles every 6-8 weeks. Make sure that you’re creating a strong social media campaign, booking gigs, and being proactive about marketing your music in between each release.
When it comes to releasing music, there’s no equation or exact timeline you need to follow - when you have your own music business, you create your own timeline. See what works and what doesn’t work and adjust accordingly. Set attainable goals for yourself and measure your progress as you continue to release music.
COLLABORATE & CREATE
Collaborating with other artists is important for networking, but also important for your growth as an artist. By working with other artists, you’re exposing yourself to different mindsets and talents that can rub off on you and your creative process. Work with artists who thrive in genres you might not know much about and allow them to teach you the nuances of those styles.
There are tons of opportunities for you to meet other artists that you may want to collaborate with:
- At a gig! Talk with the other artists on the lineup and see if they want to feature on a song of yours that fits their vibe. Not only is this a great networking opportunity, but it’s a great marketing opportunity as well since you’ll reach their fanbase too.
- Join songwriting camps! Songwriting camps are when a group of songwriters get together over a longer period of time to collaborate and create together. There are official songwriting camps run by labels, but you can also create your own with the network that you have.
- Produce for artists in new genres! If you’re into beat making and production, try producing for artists in genres that you haven’t tried before.
Bonus tip: If you make beats, utilize sites like BeatStars World and Trackstarz to submit beats you don’t have a track for to other artists who might be able to utilize them!
DON’T FORGET TO PROMOTE
Promotion of your song prior to release and after release is incredibly important as a beginner musician. When releasing music through a distributor, one asset you’ll get is a link that allows fans to pre-save your song, usually on Spotify. When a fan pre-saves your song, they automatically follow you and save the song to their library. This helps you get on more Release Radar playlists on Spotify and gets your song in the ears of new fans!
Take the extra time to pitch your song to user-generated playlists that have a large amount of saves. Find music blogs that frequently write about and share music by independent artists and reach out to them to see if they’ll listen to your song. Create a universal email template for pitching your music, including a link to your latest release, some basic information about you and your brand, and any additional materials (one-sheet, videos, etc.) that help sell your music to a first-time listener.
Don’t forget to create engaging content and leverage social media platforms to promote your new music business. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube offer many opportunities for emerging artists to connect with fans and attract new listeners. Leverage strategic use of hashtags, collaborators, and targeted ads to enhance visibility and expand your reach.
You will inevitably come across some scammers along the way. Never pay money for social media followers, for streams, to perform a show, to get signed to a record label or “be discovered,” for reviews, or for playlists. These are all typical schemes to take advantage of young musicians.
DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS
Having the talent and the brand is only a small part of creating a successful music business. Creating strong relationships with the people you meet along the way can help boost your career to the next level. To expand your knowledge beyond the performance side of music, explore what it takes to succeed as a songwriter.
The most accessible networking opportunity you have right now is to talk with the other artists that you perform shows with. Get to know their musical journey, ask them questions about hardships they’ve faced in their career, and seek advice from them - especially the ones that have been part of the music scene longer than you. By networking with these other bands, you’ll quickly learn things like who the best promoters to be in contact with are, what studios they record at, and what other connections they may have that they might be able to connect you with.
Some of the industry professionals that they could connect you with could be people like managers, booking agents, publicists, producers, and more. Once you start to gain a fanbase and have more opportunities coming to you, you’ll want to consider creating a team of these professionals for support.
Attend music business forums or conferences, join networking groups on social media, or attend industry events to meet these professionals. Keep in mind that you don’t want to overly promote your music when meeting these people for the first time. Get to know them and what their purpose is in the music industry and find out about their career path. Develop a relationship with them before asking them to be part of your team.
In the early stages of your music career, much of your decision-making will involve trial and error. Be sure to embrace this process, explore what resonates best for you, and build upon those experiences. Remember, failure is inevitable, so don’t be afraid to fail because failure is just another opportunity to learn and grow your music career.
About the author
Emily Case is the general manager of School of Rock Parsippany.