Record labels and music publishers perform different jobs. A label may control the master recording while the artist retains their songwriting rights. That means a label receiving streaming money does not automatically mean the songwriter’s…
Tag: music rights
There are millions of recordings sitting on CDs, tapes, hard drives and old download stores that have never reached modern streaming platforms. For artists and labels, digitising that catalogue can create a new long-term asset.…
A mixtape made in 2011 may contain samples that nobody worried much about when it was a free download. Putting that same project onto commercial streaming services changes the situation. Before distribution, audit every track.…
You distribute a song. Spotify pays your distributor. The money arrives. It is tempting to assume that means every royalty generated by the song is being collected. It doesn’t. A normal music distributor primarily collects…
If someone uses your music in a YouTube video, you may be able to get paid for it — even if they uploaded the video to their own channel. The main way artists and rights…
AI makes the word “ownership” surprisingly complicated. You might type the prompt. The platform generates the recording. You download it. Who owns the song? There are really several different questions hidden inside that one question.…
UK songwriters, composers and music publishers are set to keep more of their royalties. PRS for Music has announced reductions to several of the administration rates it deducts before distributing royalties to members. The changes…
A music catalogue can be an asset. If songs reliably generate royalties, a buyer may be willing to pay several years of expected income upfront to own those future cash flows. But there isn’t one…
You do not need to be signed to a major label to appear on a Billboard chart. Independent music can qualify. But distributing a song does not automatically guarantee that every stream or sale will…
Music publishing agreements contain a word artists should pay attention to: Exclusive. Publishing administration often requires an administrator to have exclusive authority over specified works during the agreement. But not every music-rights service operates exclusively.…
