You’ve written and recorded your music. You’re putting on shows. You’re out there in the world living your dream! But as any artist will tell you, creating diversified streams of revenue is important, particularly as an independent musician. One important facet of earning money is through royalties. Royalties are the money earned on the works that you own based on how it’s used in a particular setting.
Royalties come in different shapes and forms, but today we’re going to focus on performing rights royalties. Performing rights royalties are collected anytime there is a “public” performance of your song. A public performance can mean anything from your actual live performance, a recording of it being played in a public space, or a recording of it being played on radio or TV. As the songwriter, publisher, and/or copyright holder, you are entitled to earn your percentages.
Who collects those royalties? You yourself aren’t going to talk to every radio station that’s playing your music, venue you perform at, or TV network and online streaming service broadcasting a show with your cues. Performance royalties are collected through performing rights organizations or PROs – a society or entity that works on the behalf of artists affiliated with the society’s catalog. A PRO basically functions as the intermediary to collect the money made from public performance of a work and distributes it to the artist and the publisher. The PRO distributes the calculations of the percentages and helps you get what you deserve from your intellectual property. There are different PROs and societies with varying specializations, but they basically do the same job of collecting royalties.
As part of its collecting process, a PRO can offer blanket licenses of their catalog to businesses in order to cover the royalties of any songs being performed in a space. For example, a venue that hosts live music cannot possibly negotiate every single song being performed by the house band every night, particularly if it’s a cover band, so a blanket license would cover them in terms of being able to perform a particular song in that PRO catalog. There are rules to determine if a space needs a blanket license, but in general, if it’s large enough, and playing any music that requires payment of royalties, the space/business must pay a fee to be clear of any legal liability – otherwise they might be liable to future fines and fees. The fees collected from blanket licenses are split and distributed to artists in the catalog at the PRO’s discretion.
An artist can only be affiliated with one PRO at a time. But as a publisher, you are allowed to maneuver between different societies in order to cover all your artists. Take a little time to consider which PRO fits your needs. Some PROs are by invitation only, but if you aren’t qualified for those, know that there are others who consider you eligible if you have any piece of media with your original composition whether it’s a recording, a live performance, or piece of sheet music. There is sometimes an initial application fee to join, but once you do and you register your works, you will be provided with an IPI number which identifies who you are internationally as a songwriter, composer, or publisher. From there on out, you can sort out your deals and percentages, get on distribution platforms with ease, and keep track of your works. Joining also allows you access to any of their member-exclusive tools.
Here is a list of PROs in the United States and a little information about them.
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a non-profit organization that is open to everyone. Their main focus is on performing rights royalties.
American Society of Composer, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a non profit organization run and governed by its own members.
Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC) is an invitation-only for-profit organization that specializes in film and television.
Global Music Rights (GMR) is an exclusive PRO that specializes in blanket licenses for their library that includes some of the most famous songwriters in the business.
AllTrack, founded in 2017, is one of the newest PROs focused on new and independent creators and streamlining their services in the global digital age.
If you’re not from the States, here’s a tiny taste of organizations from different countries. Check out which one might be right for you:
Canada: SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada)
United Kingdom: PRS For Music
France: SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique)
Israel: ACUM (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel)
Sweden: STIM (Swedish Performing Rights Society)
Denmark: Koda
South Korea: KOMCA (Korea Music Copyright Association)
Japan: JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers)
Germany: GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs)
Singapore: COMPASS Composers and Authors Society of Singapore
Now that we’ve covered PROs, how does TuneReel fit into all of this? TuneReel is a platform that specializes in sync licensing. A sync license is particular to film or TV, where a song or musical piece is placed and “reproduced” or “synchronized”. If you’re an artist who has applied and been approved, you can upload your submission easily through our portal. From there, we review your tracks and tag them properly (for more information on tagging, visit our blog on Tagging and Describing Your Music). A user will sift through our library and if they decide to license your track, they pay for the right to use the track through TuneReel’s interface. Then, the production of that user’s project must submit a cue sheet with songwriter and publisher information to the correct PRO in order for the PRO to distribute any future earnings from the production, outside of the initial sync licensing fee for use. With this information, the different broadcasting companies are able to pay the songwriter/composer and publisher through the PRO which at that point, does not involve TuneReel.
Whichever PRO you decide on, getting your music properly accounted for elevates your possibility for income revenue. It allows you a seat in the industry and easier access to whatever potential earnings your music can make. Go out there and make your dreams happen!
If you’re an artist who’d like to join TuneReel, feel free to send us an application at https://artists.tunereel.com/apply!
