I was with ASCAP and SoundExchange, and so far Songtrust collected $322 for me that I wouldn’t have otherwise received. ; Creator Reps Managers and lawyers connect with the most extensive, accessible publishing network in the industry. We have entered into a license with Facebook in the USA and have various licenses in other territories as well. Thanks……Ron. The no upfront fees or any cost whatsoever is super nice about AWAL. Your email address will not be published. Thank you for the info, and I signed up here as well. I want to have a contract with the artists that offers a complete pipeline (distribution, royalties and even revenues from their music and music videos) which would make them interested about joining me. Otherwise you’re potentially leaving 50% of your royalties on the table. Thanks! None of these numbers are very big for me, and cover the peace of mind and simplicity I’ve had with DistroKid. Just want to say Kudos to you sir. Oh and about CDBaby: if you sell less than 100$ a year, CDBaby is a good deal, ’cause you pay 9% instead of a yearly 10$ fee, but if your track does well and you make say 1000$, CDBaby takes 90$ instead of the 10$. Thanks for this candid, well-written article. I’ve used it for 8 months with projects requiring several collaborators needing both sound recording and composition splits. I see my tracks are all $0.99. The International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC) is an 11-character alphanumeric code or international identification system cataloging individual compositions (usually songs), rather than recordings. I am not a musican – just a writer. This can be done by Selecting “Payment Information” from the “Profile” section on the left hand side of your ASCAP account. Sounds like someone didn’t read the article. Songtrust currently offers direct affiliation to ASCAP, BMI for U.S. writers and SOCAN for Canadian and non-U.S. writers. No conflict whatsoever. I hoped maybe Songtrust would dig some of that up. However it seems the same counts for Songtrust, why isn’t this mentioned: If that is the case, does HFA take their 11.5% for licensing fees and Songtrust takes their 15% as well? Thank you so much for this article Brian!!! Hi buddy… Due to the earthquake in Ecuador (2016-04-16), some famous ecuadorian singers are gonna publish a real good song to earn money to help victims. I do too! It turns out that retroactive mechanicals are hard to uncover. Could you explain me this? Artist definitely come out on top. I’m skeptical of DistroKid. Songtrust. Here’s my input…..I already have a few singles (3 to be exact) that I released over the last 2 months (I’m new to the game), and I released them through CD Baby AND TuneCore. Since they’re not your songs, IMHO that’s even less an issue! If you’re regularly receiving royalties from your PRO as a writer, and don’t want to set up a vanity publishing company, then you should absolutely join Songtrust. . I’m registered as a writer in France with a PRO (SACEM) and registered as my own publisher in the US with ASCAP, so what will be the difference if i’ve join to songtrust? Click here to login, The ability to reply to and create new discussions, Access to members-only giveaways & competitions, Interact with VIP industry experts in our guest Q&As, Access to members-only sub forum discussions, Get INSTANT ACCESS to the world's best private pro audio, Promote your eBay auctions and Reverb.com listings for free. But he wrote a 3000 word essay on it. I am switching from what i feel is a BOGUS Distributor (DITTO MUSIC) to a better choice. I was granted a 25% discount off their top tier plan at the time, which was $250 per year for global collection, with no commission. It sounds like you haven’t released a lot of material. https://help.songtrust.com/customer/en/portal/articles/217607-can-i-join-if-i-already-have-a-publishing-deal-, https://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-free-zone-shoot-the-breeze/1207709-spotify-notice-intent-obtain-compulsory-license.html, Joe Conyers III (Songtrust, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer), https://www.songtrust.com/estimate-your-streaming-royalties, JOE CONYERS III (SONGTRUST, CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER). I’m pretty sure you can use Songtrust for songs you’ve written for others, but I’ll ask them to clarify. If so, it’s much better to sign directly with Songtrust…, I’m just wondering as I want to distribute my music via CD Baby and sign with their publishing service, but I’m not sure if they take an additional cut after Songtrust take theirs. This is tricky stuff. If 10% of your streaming earnings is more than 15% of your publishing royalties, you’ll probably come out ahead with Songtrust. Hi Brian and thanks for this post, like most of already do. What about on year five, when you have to decide whether to pay your annual TuneCore fees or pull the release? Please share your experience in the comments! I joined Songtrust a few months ago. There’s a catch though: TuneCore requires that you work with them exclusively for licensing. Thank you for your article. Why Songtrust; Who Uses Songtrust. It is unique in that it's controlled entirely by the composers, writers, and music publishers that make up its membership. You have to pay 10$ for each 10 following tracks, so it’s actually not a one time fee as with Tunecore. Okay, it’s a total mess. As a publishing administrator, we're authorized to register your works and collect money on your behalf - you still own and control 100% of your copyright. Content ID isn’t worth the trouble IMHO, and not worth the pennies I like to let people use my music in their videos, and whitelisting the permitted URLs is a hassle. Have you tried Songtrust, CD Baby Pro, or TuneCore publishing? I know for a fact that I should be due a lot more than 20 cents, for example one song I own the master and publishing rights to has over 24,000 streams on Spotify alone. You might also say that we have more companies advocating on our behalf to collect money that we otherwise wouldn’t see. I’ve heard great things about them from Pete Byrne of Naked Eyes. Otherwise I’d be wondering if there was a pot of gold waiting for me at the end of the rainbow. Wow, that doesn’t sound like them at all! Fantastic! I say complex because there seem to be many hands now dipping into the music of the independent artist. The key is, with Songtrust you’re entering into an exclusive publishing ADMINISTRATION deal. Cd Baby is a hero to many members but as far as I’m concerned I’m working closely with countless verifiable documents taken from CD Baby’s own emails spread out on a large desk in full view of another kind of PRO. Fortunately, Songtrust more than made up for it by collecting an additional $322 for me that I wouldn’t have otherwise received: $73 in international performance royalties; $212 in US mechanical royalties; $27 in international mechanical royalties This is separate from your Payoneer account and Songtrust, and must be done in your ASCAP account. The tone I believe has a lot to do with why people listen. Why Songtrust; Who Uses Songtrust. If I already have a PRO ASCAP both for Writer Share and my own Publishing (ASCAP) (which I register all songs myself), Distrokid, and SoundExchange–why would I need something like SongTrust? There would undoubtedly be co-writers involved in any finished article. And, again, you have to import your setlists. If you browse through my articles, you’ll find plenty of lukewarm to mildly negative reviews with affiliate links. Personally, I don’t want to have to decide when to pull a release based on slowing sales. I definitely don’t consider myself an expert in this stuff, but I’ll do my best! Thanks for all the info. Last I checked, Audiam and AdRev were YouTube Content ID collection services only. On top of that Songtrust has a higher setup fee of 100$ (25$ higher than tunecore), a 15% cut (tunecore 10% & 20% for active) and while it seems with Songtrust you can only submit a maximum of 15 songs for the setup fee. I think people that are out-going enough can really make a difference. Thanks Brian for all the information and responses to and from people on here. Obviously, the sooner you get on it, the better! thanks Brian! True I don’t make a lot of money on cdbaby but I have a lot of streams. Songhunters.com will let you know all who are looking for a certain type of music and all I have to do is send in every song I have that fits what they want, the only problem is I have to send in 15 dollars for each song. Music Reports!! For me, setting up a publishing company was super easy. I didn’t think that was even possible! I’d love any advice in this regard. After cdbaby having probably 3 owners since I joined, I haven’t received on iTunes a payment that represents a “sale” as compared to “streaming”. I’m surprised to hear you were rejected by AWAL. Anyone with a percentage of ownership on the composition of a song can register that split with Songtrust (as long as another publisher doesn’t represent your share already). I’m hoping someone from Songtrust will jump in, but at first blush, I don’t see how you your situation is different than mine. Are your songs showing up as registered in the dashboard? I hope this is accurate, and that Brian or someone will confirm or clarify if not. But royalties never appear like magic. If Songtrust is representing a writer as the writer’s administrative publisher, how did Songtrust not know about the 24K on Spotify and subsequently pay him? The breakdown is in the article. Appreciate the thoughtful analysis. After attempting to register earlier, I discovered the discount code was not working for me either. I really have appreciated your feedback. SongTrust vs ASCAP/BMI/SESAC Can someone please explain what is difference of using a resource like Songtrust vs Direct registration with the P.R.O.'s. Hey I just ran across this article while reviewing Songtrust, liked what I read, (very informative) and crossed my fingers that the code was still active. Worse, they can get a copyright claim after you told them it was okay to use the track. Anyway, I think I have recorded loads of far more engaging music, all sat on a hard drive, and I am going to have a shot at getting work as a staff writer. pretty bad honestly…. What's the Difference Between Songtrust and Audiam? Seems like a win/win situation for Songtrust. I wrote this article almost three years ago and haven’t looked into it since. Please let me know if I’m wrong, or perhaps whether you imagine a UK writer is better to stay with a UK company like Sentric. After I joined Songtrust I started getting performance royalties and mechanical royalties from Spotify and Youtube. I’m not sure there’s any difference in functionality. ), but it sounds to me like it’s just another way of saying you’re free to pitch your stuff for sync placements with whoever you want — Songtrust only handles administration. Most pay “zero” or .0004 etc. Songtrust use a payment company called payoneer to handle payments, and charge 2% for transferring into a GBP UK account from America! You do indeed need to be with both. Good to know Kayda! Now that I’m using Symphonic for distro, I’m deciding whether do sync/content id with a company directly instead of via my distributor to avoid their extra commission. If so, have you tried them? Songtrust doesn’t have any sort of separate registration for publisher accounts. I’m not a lawyer (I think you’re supposed to say that, right? They have to pay people to listen, after all. There is both a performance and mechanical/sync royalty. What publishing outfit would you recommend i use being that i am neither american, canadian or from the UK and how do i go about it. And SoundCloud through Premier monetization. Maybe what I did was overkill, but we’ll see. As to whether or not it’s a good idea, I suppose the same guidelines apply. Now for the next decision – Distrokid vs CD Baby (standard)…. The difference is, with CD Baby Pro you have to pay by the release. Always enjoy your answers. See more. Is that a good idea? I’m not familiar with MCPS, so I’m afraid I can’t be of much help. I use Songtrust and they only collect the Publisher's share of my royalties. On a historical basis(2015-2018) 200-250k streams may be more likely to hit the $117.56 you need to recoup your $100 signup fee. I’ll give it some time. So, factor in that although sentric say 20 and songtrust say 15%, if you are a UK citizen being paid in the UK, you have to use payoneer and so it’s almost closer to 17%. The site stated $100 to join, and they would take 15%. With CD Baby Pro, royalty collection is bundled with digitial distribution. As for SoundCloud, I have no idea. They’ll even pitch your songs for film, television, and video game opportunities! It shows 50% going to Songtrust. I’ve used Tunecore and CD Baby in the past and moved over to Distrokid a year ago as I’m realising singles every month and an album once a year – I am starting to get a litte frustrated as the more collaborations you add, the more it costs. Secondly i am in a music group and also a solo artist (for eg. Why Songtrust; Who Uses Songtrust. looks like a good book. I understood that SongTrust collected royalties far beyond what a PRO would do, so I thought I needed to be with both. Songtrust exists to help you collect the money you’re owed, but you aren’t generating any yet. A little odd to me. We are something like vevo. All we had at the time was a six track demo EP though, which they transferred over from CD Baby fairly easily. As of this writing, CD Baby doesn’t yet contract with TikTok, so just wondering how to collect from there. Thanks for the kind words Joni! Whether we are composing music underscore directly for films and TV shows or we are licensing music into Films and TV shows through music libraries and publishers, there are never any mechanicals. Songtrust is an additive service to being registered with ASCAP. . But then I see mention of soundexchange. They are actually one of three mechanical licensing agencies in the US, alongside Music Reports (MRI) and MediaNet. With Sentric, you keep £8. It still is the songwriter pays the industry where it should be the industry pays the songwriter. Thank you Brian, CJ, and Joe for the replies! At Songtrust, we have invested a lot of time and resources into developing working relationships with over 50 societies and pay sources around the world, so that whenever you have a stream, radio play, live performance etc somewhere in the world, if your song is registered with Songtrust, we can collect the royalties due to you. Hi. They are really just to let you know that the song is on Spotify. Thinking I probably won’t register with Songtrust since I’m already on ASCAP as both a writer and publisher. Songtrust is saying they pay the writer directly, so I’m really confused what HFA’s involvement is and how they are holding the purse strings. I wouldn’t worry about the mix-up. I am an artist from Nigeria, i have released about 4 song and they are all available online for download and streaming, am also about to release another one. That combined with the fact that they have my credit card on file (I used it for the initial $100 registration fee), I fear if I cancel know, they'll charge my card. Launched:1939 Membership Size:800,000 members Official site: BMI.com Socials: @BMI Location: USA About:BMI is one of the biggest and well known Performing Rights Organizations in the United States. As for all the “grabbing hands,” it really depends on how you look at it. I saw the discount, and that made taking this decision much easier Thanks for that! Well, from your PRO or your admin publisher. Lets assume you wrote the song, recorded it, own rights to the master, embedded the isrc yourself, etc.) You also don't have to after you distribute your music through us. I have also created my own publishing company, but would like to know what the disadvantages/advantages are with registering my own publishing company with BMI and with a publishing admin at the same time ? Thank you very much for writing. We signed up with AWAL last year and really like their whole operation on balance. I’m a songwriter and artist, and have recently set up my own corporation as publisher/label so that I can manage other artist as well as myself in the future. The plan is to go to a record company and try get a deal to write exclusively for them. We reached the limit on threading replies! Step 1 : Sign Up For Direct Deposit with ASCAP Direct deposit is a requirement to submit set lists to ASCAP. The tradeoff is it’s 15% commission vs 9% for CD Baby. I will pitch them some of my unreleased demos, which are instrumentals. Thanks for sharing your experience with DistroKid. Creators Songwriters, producers and creators collect royalties globally from your songs while keeping 100 percent of the rights. Songtrust look great but with 15% commission and a 2% fee to deposit funds seems a bit steep. I’ll edit the article to make that clear right now. I know that HFA does have free non-affiliated accounts but I’m trying to better understand which firm is better on the global scale, as I’ve read that HFA is primarily more focused on North American royalty collections. If it really bothers you, I guess the next step is to contact your PRO and/or Harry Fox, but I don’t see any point in pursuing it. Quickly? According to Songtrust, that’s approximately the point at which they collect enough on your behalf to cover the setup fee and commission. It doesn’t feel secure in mine either. SongTrust vs ASCAP/BMI/SESAC Can someone please explain what is difference of using a resource like Songtrust vs Direct registration with the P.R.O.'s. I’ve nagged them a few times over the years and always gotten a prompt response, usually through the pop-up on the site. They are collecting your publishing, so that makes sense. Luckily, Songtrust has a network of these performing rights organisations (PROs) in North America, or collective management organisations (CMOs) in Europe. A client of mine had a terrible experience, and when I read stuff like “in stores 10-20x faster than any other distributor, at a fraction of the price” it’s hard to take them seriously. ; Creator Reps Managers and lawyers connect with the most extensive, accessible publishing network in the industry. Can I Join if I Already Have a Publishing Deal? I’ll do my best, but keep in mind I wrote this article three years ago and haven’t made a point of keeping up. Most of the people in this forum write music specifically for TV and Film where there is no mechanical royalties. ; Businesses Get complete song performance insights and new ways to collect revenue. Of course if a coffee shop has the AM/FM radio playing, and if you’re with ASCAP, you (most likely) won’t get paid when your song is played there, because ASCAP most likely won’t be conducting a survey of that radio station at that exact moment, but if the shop has Pandora or SiriusXM on (or other piped-in Muzak services), this is tracked and you will (eventually) get paid on the plays. For most of us, that’s difficult if not impossible to forecast. I was told the mechanical royalties from YouTube were in a different classification from regular mechanical royalties (maybe because they are microsync? Thanks for your time and look forward to your response. Thanks! I think 15% commission is worth it if they earn their keep by getting you on playlists. If not, when so? I’m a member of the norwegian PRO Tono (www.tono.no). The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a not-for-profit organization. My understanding is that you need publishing administration to collect mechanical royalties on international Spotify streams. If I were you, I’d wait until you’re more established to bother with publishing administration. It sure would be easier if it could be handled by the aggregator. Launched in 1914, ASCAP is … It’s hard to trust a “review” where you make money if people sign up to them through your link. And lastly, If i were to sign with SongTrust, is it possible to receive royalties via direct bank deposits/VISA from Africa? I’m lucky to see $10 a quarter these days. Just to clarify, it doesn’t look like they collect any more than other distribution services like DistroKid. Some instrumental I think from watching you on YouTube.com. Hey there, Just wanted to say thanks for the Songtrust code (remember to use the capitals). That’s really nice of you to offer! My goal for this article is to share my experience with Songtrust, and help you decide if it’s for you, without getting into the weeds. After that, they are redistributed to their members or blackboxed to cover operational costs. You’re in the same boat I was in when I signed up. It will have to be done manually, so you’ll need to email [email protected]. Songtrust, will collect overseas stuff so I’ll be signing up with them as well. Thank you for answering everybody’s questions and sharing your experience and knowledge. I might be wrong, but this seems to be the case. like most of already do. I’ve added both ISRC’s to our licensing document we send over monthly to HFA to make sure those works get licensed and paid out ASAP.”. I wouldn’t worry about it. I believe that you collect mechanical royalties from YouTube through their ContentID system, which you can access through most distributors, or Songtrust. I think I got $26 last quarter from Songtrust. Your insight is amazing thanks a bunch! As a newbie, I didn’t know better when I signed up with CD Baby AND TuneCore. When with CD Baby, they did this via Rumblefish. If you’ve racked up 150K streams of your music (across all platforms), you should probably join Songtrust. Also, thanks for making this the article that has helped so many (and continues to help so many!). I am Non-US and i am wondering (1)if I can register with BMI Publishing then with Songtrust for Publishing also. First I always had a bunch of “sales” which paid about “67” cents each year. If you’re not already affiliated with a Performance Rights Organization – ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, IMRO, or another PRO – you can affiliate for one directly through your Songtrust account. I suppose if you’re releasing an album every year, even $35 isn’t bad. I thought the distinction was US vs international, not downloads vs streams, but I could be wrong! Brian Hazard is a recording artist with over twenty years of experience promoting eleven Color Theory albums, and head mastering engineer and owner of Resonance Mastering in Huntington Beach, California. The comment dates help, but not ideal. I have my first single that I’m trying to release in the most efficient yet thorough way, which is why I ask this. I see two things that I seem to missing but I was hoping you could clarify. MCPS is £100 and the commission rate is much lower than this – my PRS performance royalties are 0% commission and they pay me directly to my bank account free of charge. My iTunes sales are down too. This is a complicated subject, as you’ve seen! But the avenue I’m looking to, eventually, go down is music libraries. Why Songtrust; Who Uses Songtrust. I am now signed up with Songtrust. No mistake! So, now that you’ve got a look at the PRO landscape, the big question is: which is the best? 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