I was talking to a long time client who is preparing to release an album which a friend in a big name act will tweet about. He said he didn't know anything about releasing an album and asked about DistroKid (which I release through). I then went on to write him a long email filled with multiple things he should be doing, from selecting a PRO to setting up social media accounts.
I realized that in learning this myself, it took some time to research, but being self-taught and learning by googling and reading others (like Ari's Take), I feel I have a good enough grasp to draft an unofficial guide for those with no clue what to do. But, again, I similarly had no clue at one point, and certainly want to get the opinions of others who surely are more knowledgeable on the subject.
So, here it the list I provided him:
1. PRO (Performance Rights Organization) - ASCAP or BMI are the ones in the US, I personally like BMI. They handle getting you your royalties from any broadcast or performance of your music (TV/Movies, Radio, cover bands performing your songs live, and also from your own performances at supported venues). It breaks down to two categories, the publisher and the artists. The publisher gets a share, while you define for each song in your repository who wrote the songs and what portion. If you are self published, you simply claim both shares.
The PRO is protecting your songs compositions, not your recordings - you don't even submit your audio to them, just register song titles, lengths, and credits.
Typically, only the songwriter(s) and lyricist(s) are listed for receiving royalties, and this often means that the drummer isn't listed as standard rhythm percussion is not normally considered "musical". Again, this isn't about the recording as much as the composition of the song.
2. SoundExchange - Digital PRO - similar to ASCAP/BMI, except they track digital music usage and pay out royalties for such.
3. Digital Distributor to get your releases in to web stores - DistroKid, CDBaby, TuneCore, etc.
There is a lot of back and forth on Reddit about CDBaby vs. DistroKid. It boils down to this:
- CDBaby cost more per release, but is perpetual. They also take 9% of sales.
- DistroKid takes nothing, you get 100%, you pay a reasonable subscription fee annually, and if you stop paying, they may take down your music. There is no costs for additional releases, unlimited releases for the artist. They offer a perpetual release service for about $50 per release, but there is some hinky stuff concerning the subscription. If you cancel your subscription, you nullify your perpetual releases, but if you let your card expire and never update the payment option, they will remain intact.
Outside of the shifty perpetual releases that DistroKid offers, they are what I suggest. You can manage your releases, submit them or remove them from stores, and upload singles, albums, whatever and never pay a cent more.
There is an upgrade for "Youtube Money", but I suggest against it, as you already get the Youtube money from any videos that they upload, just not videos someone else uploads. Instead, set up an account with Audiam or AdRev for Youtube Content ID matching and ad revenue. DistroKid charges about $15 per release +20% fees for this upgrade which actually just uses Audiam, but Audiam is a free service (+20% fees or 30% prior to sign up) so just sign up directly with them.
DistroKid also offers Shazam service as an add-on, which is about $1 a song per year.
4. SoundScan - Tracks sales of physical media and digital services for reporting for Billboard and such lists, hard to get an actual Nielson account set up but not necessary. Googling "soundscan" will lead to a form for registering releases, and "soundscan isrc" will lead to a form for registering individual songs.
5. Audiam or AdRev - "digital reproduction collection agencies", they will scan Youtube for anyone using your music and place ads and collect for you using the Youtube Content ID system. DistroKid offers the "Youtube Money" option for $14.95/yr per release + 20% of ad revenue, and that actually is using Audiam to collect. Best to skip the optional fee and set up an account directly with either Audiam or AdRev. Audiam pays by direct deposit, AdRev pays by PayPal only. Both offer whitelisting, but Audium require that you email someone, while AdRev gives you a way to add via your account.
6. Pandora is very selective about what gets listed. There is a way to get most things listed on Pandora Premium, which requires creating and account with Music Reports Inc. (musicreports.com).
7. Almost every store and music service has their own system for adding and managing artists and their bios. You will need to visit all of these and claim your artist (after the first release is available) before you can update bios. Apple Music is the worst for this, I've been waiting forever to have my claims verified.
Spotify -
https://artists.spotify.com/c/ Apple Music/iTunes -
https://artists.apple.com/a/ Google Play -
https://play.google.com/music/publish/ AllMusic* -
https://www.allmusic.com/faq/topic/submitbio Shazam -
https://www.shazam.com/artists DistroKid users: Deezer, Tidal, Napster -
https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new *AllMusic manages bios and photos for Shazam, iHeartRadio, others
Every one of these has different requirements regarding image sizes and shapes. Be ready to have band artwork which is flexible and can be cropped in many different ways while maintaining usefulness.
8. Youtube - While VEVO is a service for big names, you can also create your own band channel which will have it's own URL. You will not, though, get any money from anything you post there until you have 1000+ subscribers and maintain a certain amount of hours of viewing each month. Only then will you be eligible for Youtube monetization. Alternatively, you can just let Audiam/AdRev collect on your official releases until you are eligible for Youtube monetization.
9. Social Media - You'll have to set up profiles on Facebook (Facebook page), Instagram, Twitter, etc. so that your fans can connect through their chosen social media platform. This also blocks someone else from stealing your name on each platform.
10. Oh, and a band website.
This is just a portion of the stuff you should do. There is also advertising that can be done (like Youtube video ads) and such. Shooting a eye-catching video would be needed for that.
11. Publisher or Publishing Admin - Publishers take ownership of your song copyrights and seek out placements which will generate income for both of you, while handing things like collecting mechanical and publishing royalties. Publishers can be a part of your success, in one case, some friends of mine had their music used as a TV theme song thanks to their publisher. Publishers that are established have an existing network to work with, so they constantly work to push content that they control (which may or may not be your works).
Publishing Admins like SongTrust do not take ownership of your copyrights, but they do handle collection of the publishing portion of royalties due from not just one country, but many (40 different PROs). They do not, though, do any of the placement work, so for DIYers, SongTrust can help get all the royalties due.
The whole publishing/publishing admin has costs, so depending on your goals, it might be best for some to remain self-published and ignore the publishing royalties until your works generate enough to cover the costs associated with signing a contract with a publishepublishing admin.
It's a complicated world, but those are the basics above.
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