Posted: May 21, 2018

Category: Licensing

alternatives instrumental versions licensing live recording recording budget synch the legit musician

**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.

"If you are trying to license your music then you really need to think about alternative versions. Especially, instrumental versions of your songs."

Posted: May 22, 2017

Category: Licensing

copyright cover songs derivative work donna kay licensing royalties weird al yankovic

**Guest post written by Donna Kay of Donna Kay & The Carousers.

"After the time and expense of recording, mixing, designing the cover artwork, and launching the CD, I had two tasks: Copyright the CD, and obtain the licenses to release (for sale) and perform our version of “Minor Swing”...I had to obtain two permissions to use the song: One from the owner of the publishing rights, and after submitting their permission in writing, the Easy Song standard licensing fee to record and perform our version of the song. This took a full month of digging, e-mailing, getting responses and finally finding two brothers in NYC who run a publishing company and own the rights the song."

Posted: Feb 27, 2017

Category: The Musician Business

copyright distribution dozmia licensing performing rights organization royalties sound exchange soundscan trademark

**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

"Releasing music requires a huge amount of work, which makes it easy to miss something important. In addition to promoting your new release – sending it to radio stations, getting bloggers to write about it – there are some important things to take care of on the administrative side. Here’s a checklist of all the boring things you should take care of when releasing new music..."

Posted: Oct 31, 2016

Category: Licensing

licensing musictransparency performance data performing rights organization radio stations soundstr

**Guest post by Brian Penick as featured on the SOUNDSTR Blog.

"Editor’s Note: This infographic is intended to visualize the world of General Licensing and how proposed changes could affect songwriters and music licensees."

Posted: Oct 24, 2016

Category: Licensing

aris take digital music news film licensing sync placements tv

**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Digital Music News.

"I’ve been lucky enough to have my songs placed about 30 times over the past 6 years in TV shows, films and commercials. Well, luck really had little to do with it. There’s very little luck involved in the music industry. Lazy people like to say that it’s all luck. That’s just plain ignorant. There’s no such thing as a “lucky break.” There are little victories. There are opportunities. There are people working their asses off behind the scenes..."

Posted: Aug 8, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

film kenny babyface edmonds keys to success licensing movies nomad stageit the career guitarist touring plan tv

**Music Director and guitarist for Kenny Babyface Edmonds, composer, artist and author of: The Career Guitarist.

"1) What does the term "Career Guitarist" mean? Typically when speaking of a musician who solely earns their money from music, we refer to them as a professional musician. I just simplified it and coined the phrase Career Musician, then narrowed that down to Career Guitarist which is the embodiment of what I’ve done throughout my career in the music industry, which includes..." 

Posted: Jul 26, 2016

Category: Performance Rights Organizations

ascap bmi consent decree department of justice licensing musictransparency performing rights organization sesac soundstr

**Guest post written by Brian Penick as featured on the SOUNDSTR Blog.

"What is the Consent Decree, and why are people talking (and so upset!) about it?...For songwriters, one of the least discussed (yet most important topics) is music licensing. But major changes to the consent decree – the federal agreement that governs how ASCAP and BMI operate – is bringing this topic to the surface. The truth is, these changes could be the biggest in the music industry in 75 years and greatly impact your career."

Posted: Mar 28, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

commercials ep vs album licensing live performances make money movies music libraries mystery loves company publishing singles tv video games

**Guest post written by Carlos A. Machado of Mystery Loves Company.

"With almost 200 shows and multiple music conferences in the past two years, Maddy and I have learned a ton about the current music industry. For those wanting a career as singer-songwriters, here are a two things we think are worth keeping in mind..."

Posted: Mar 21, 2016

Category: Licensing

commercials independent music promotions licensing movies music libraries performing rights organization sync placements synch tv video games

**Guest post written by Matt Bacon, originally featured on IndependentMusicPromotions.com.

"I’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks learning about music licensing for a friend I’m helping on a project...It’s been a pretty interesting experience for a variety of reasons – but mostly because before the beginning of the month I didn’t really know what music licensing was. Since then I have learned quite a bit, spent countless hours pouring over articles and have gotten to explore what it means to engage in this potentially highly lucrative segment of the music industry."

Posted: Jan 25, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

career goals gigging keys to success licensing live performances los colognes making it masters music business practice publishing sync placements

**Guest Post written by Jay Rutherford of Los Colognes.

"Like millions of other morons out there, I'm attempting to make music both the primary joy and primary financial security in my life. My band Los Colognes has achieved marginal success, just enough to get mom and dad off our backs, so to speak. Without further adieu, here’s me convincing myself I have achieved some wisdom, when in reality I have no psychological control over any of it yet. Pretend this is the Old Ben Kenobi version of me, from somewhere in the future..."

Posted: Dec 14, 2015

Category: Licensing

box.com disc makers jake versluis licensing sync placements video games

**Guest post written by Michael Gallant as featured in the Disc Makers' Echoes Blog.

"Think your music is ready for games, TV, and film? Here’s advice on how to pitch your music for video games and how to optimize your chances of getting placed..."

Posted: Nov 2, 2015

Category: Marketing

branding community support cover songs fan engagement indie artists licensing marketing plan

**Guest post written by Matt Bacon, Senior Campaign Manager at Independent Music Promotions.

You look out on the crowd after a high powered set opening up for one of your favorite bands – and then instead of playing another song off your latest release you instead pull off a killer cover of Just Like Heaven...People love artists who pay tribute to their influences.

Posted: Feb 23, 2015

Category: Sponsorship

brand partnerships fan engagement identify companies know your audience licensing look the part make money marketing plan promotion sponsorship

**Guest post written by Anelka Argiro, VP of Brand Partnerships for Wind Up Records.

A good song just isn't enough [to break through the clutter] these days...Enter your new best friend -- brand partnerships.

Posted: Nov 17, 2014

Category: Licensing

exclusive vs. non-exclusive licensing make money music business music libraries pyragraph

**Guest post written by Jennifer Kes Remington, composer and filmmaker, as featured on Pyragraph.

"So in my quest to throw multiple things against the wall and hope that money comes out of it, I’ve been licensing a lot of my music to library companies...I asked a few other composer friends if they knew of any library companies offhand. On their initial recommendations, I started entering my music into a couple music libraries, and waited and watched as the royalties came in..."

Posted: Nov 4, 2014

Category: Marketing

blogging have a story indie artists licensing make money marketing plan online presence social media website improvement

**Guest post written by Brandon Seymour, musician, SEO analyst, web designer, and social media marketer.

"I know - I'm not the first genius to point out that the music industry is dead. I'm also not the first person to point out that artists have been complaining about this for a very long time. I just can't help but wonder if maybe - just maybe - the music industry needed to die..."

Posted: Aug 4, 2014

Category: Licensing

aris take licensing make money movies publishing synch tv

**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. It originally appeared on Ari's Take. 

"There is no one way to get music placed on TV (or in film). In addition to how I've gone about it, I've spoken with many of my musician friends who make livings on song placements about this." So what is their advice?...

Posted: May 5, 2014

Category: Licensing

licensing live performances make money music business publishing synch

**Guest post written by Mallory Zumbach, Sr. Director of Creative at Round Hill Music.

"You might be wondering what exactly a company like RHM looks for when they’re signing a songwriter, artist, or band with the goal of having significant synch success with them. First and foremost, of course, we want to work with tremendously talented people. The music has to make us sit up and take notice the first time we hear it—if it does, we know that people in the synch world will take note, too..."

Posted: Feb 24, 2014

Category: The Musician Business

diy entrepreneurship licensing make money marketing plan music business

**Guest post written by David Priebe of Green Room Music Source, a full time agent/artist manager and also part time instructor of music business at the Institute of Production & Recording in Minneapolis.

"It official- it’s now impossible to make money in the music industry." There are scads and scads of articles and commentary that sound a lot like that statement. What you hear much less about are the people who completely disagree with that sentiment. I’m in that camp, and I’m going to tell you why...

Posted: Jan 20, 2014

Category: Licensing

cover songs howtorunaband licensing limelight youtube

**Guest post written by Chris "Seth" Jackson, a bass guitarist and composer and founder of HowToRunABand.com.

"My band is recording a cover song, Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot. Since it’s a cover song, I need to get the rights to use it. I found a really easy and affordable way to license the music! But, I also found a giant and annoying snag in regards to YouTube. A snag so big it makes me a bit resentful of the music industry’s antiquated ways."

Posted: Nov 11, 2013

Category: Fundraising

crowdfunding fundraising licensing make money marketing plan raise funds raise money royalties youtube

**Guest post written by Dae Bogan, Music Industry Insider For The Indie Artist, of Dae Bogan Music.

"What do you do when you don’t have a label underwriting your career and you have to choose between paying your personal bills and paying a studio engineer, publicist, or rental van company? You fund raise!" But how...

Posted: Oct 30, 2013

Category: Renman Music & Business

jody gerson licensing publishing sony/atv music publishing

We often hear that music publishing is a lucrative side of the music business, but it's a difficult one to define. Luckily for all of us, Jody Gerson quickly breaks down the nuts-and-bolts of music publishing and tells us that it's a "pennies business, but those pennies add up." Did you know that music publishing is involved every time you hear a piece of music in the elevator, at the movies, on the internet, and on a CD? For a real life example, watch this video to find out how one artist was a smash success for Sony/ATV publishing, but a complete bust for the record company.

Posted: Sep 25, 2013

Category: Renman Music & Business

advertising film licensing music x-ray position music publishing taxi tv

Making a living as an indie musician is difficult, but there are ways to generate money with your music if you're smart and persistent. In this clip, A&R for Position Music Publishing, Jake Versluis, talks about the gatekeepers of the publishing industry and the best ways to get music in front of them. Jake also reminds us that personal relationships are the biggest deal makers in the publishing side of the music business.

Posted: Aug 6, 2013

Category: Renman Music & Business

advertising film licensing position music publishing tv

Making your music is the fun part, but if you can turn it into some money that makes it even more fun! A great way to do this is to use a music publisher and a music supervisor to help place your music in TV, Film, and Advertising! Supervisors and publishers are always looking for new music and in this clip Position Music's Jake Versluis walks us through five pieces to have prepared before submitting to supervisors and publishers.

Posted: Jul 9, 2013

Category: Renman Music & Business

licensing pretty lights producer sampling

Using samples in music poses a problem for young producers unaware of the legalities and obligations that go along with it. In this clip, electronic producer Pretty Lights, aka Derek Vincent Smith, discusses the ramifications of using unlicensed music in a track, what he did to fix the problem, and the potential pitfalls if a producer is not careful.