Mechanical rate freeze has led to inflation-induced decline in creator income
From an artist’s standpoint, it would be best mechanical rates increased with inflation, but that is not happening here. Read more to learn how inflation is changing the way artists are making money.
If you follow economics, you probably have heard the expressions “real wages” or “nominal wages” or “real” versus “nominal” wages. This isn’t a Cartesian metaphysical discussion–it’s about the effect of inflation on what they tell you you’re getting paid. Nowhere is this truer than with the statutory mechanical royalty rate. The rate will inevitably decline over time due to the rot and decay of inflation. Inflation is like having a cavity in your tooth that you don’t fix. It doesn’t go away. It may not hurt yet but it’s going to.
Why it is important to practice songwriting
Writing songs is not a skill you are born with, like many other types of artistry, it takes repetition and practice to improve. Here are some ways you can refine your songwriting, no matter how long you have been doing it.
When you first learned music, practicing your instrument was probably a daily struggle. Whether it was dealing with the pain on your fingertips from playing guitar or learning how to master the embouchure on the trumpet, it’s safe to assume you spent months learning the basics of your instrument and years honing in your technical skills. The world knows how hard it is for someone to sound truly great on an instrument and that musicians can’t excel without thousands of hours of practice. Unfortunately, musicians and non-musicians alike often don’t see songwriting the same way. Many musicians and non-musicians alike have the idea that songwriting is a talent that can’t be developed with years of practice. They’re wrong.
How To Support Your Music Career with YouTube
It’s no secret that YouTube is a huge platform with major potential for artists. Whether you post behind the scenes content or show off your latest music videos, content on the platform can reach a huge audience, help you grow your fanbase, sell more tickets, and so much more. Looking for some inspiration? Here are some of the best ways to support your music career with
YouTube…How To Support Your Music Career with YouTube
5 Song Rhyming Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Few listeners would be able tell you where rhymes most often occur in songs. But after a lifetime of listening, they can sense something is wrong when the rhymes are not in the expected places. While there are no rules in songwriting, most popular songs incorporate rhymes in specific places. Let’s start with a refresher of rhyme schemes — the places rhymes are most commonly heard in popular songs.
All the reasons that labels refuse to release an artist’s music
Sometimes an artists will write songs and even whole albums that they cannot release of their record label. Keep reading to discover some real-life examples and why this happens.
Popstar Raye has recently made headlines after claiming that after 7 years with Polydor (which is owned by Universal), she is unable to release her debut album.
“I’ve done everything they asked me”
Best Music Distribution Companies – Full Comparison
Chart
This is the most comprehensive and accurate digital distribution review comparison for your music on the web.
DistroKid vs. TuneCore vs. CDBaby vs. AWAL vs. Amuse vs. Ditto Music vs. FreshTunes vs. Horus Music vs. LANDR vs. ONErpm vs. RouteNote vs. Songtradr vs. Soundrop vs. Spinnup Music vs. Stem vs. Symphonic Distribution vs. UnitedMasters.
It’s worth noting, that this comparison is for standalone music distribution services that primarily cater to independent musicians – not labels.
How To Improve Your Holiday Marketing Emails
The holiday season is coming in hot! (or cold… if you’re anywhere other than Florida.) Regardless, the end of the year means it’s time to amp up your email marketing strategy. Want to increase your engagement and make more sales? Here’s how your emails can do just that…How To Improve Your Holiday Marketing Emails
3 creative ways to use a fan membership
Here, we look at three way fan memberships can be used to strengthen the connection between you and your fans, as well as provide you with a steady, reliable income.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you had a built-in monthly income that you could rely on that came solely from your music?
Picture it. Every month you get to show up to your most loyal, excited, enthusiastic fans, giving them a sneak peek into your life (and maybe a few extra goodies along the way) and in return, you could see a paycheck ranging anywhere from $50 to a few hundred, or even a thousand dollars a month?
How Spotify Royalties Really Work
Recently there’s been a lot of chatter about songwriters’ battle, represented by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), with Spotify over the negotiations with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). Spotify has proposed a lower payment for songwriting royalties which as understandably upset the songwriting community. However, I thought it would be good to write this article with a detailed explanation of how Streaming payouts work and who is getting what, so that we, as the music industry, can better understand how we can improve the remuneration for artists, songwriters, and producers.
What Tracks Are Eligible for Content ID?
YouTube’s Content ID is a digital fingerprinting system that content creators like you can use to easily identify and manage your copyrighted content on YouTube. However, whether or not your music is eligible for Content ID is up to many different factors. To make it easy, this video breaks it down and tells you everything you need to know. Check it out right here…What Tracks Are Eligible for Content ID?
What Are Music Royalties (and How Can You Collect Yours)?
Music royalties are confusing. Most of us are not trained music lawyers. We’re musicians trying to make a living.
And you probably just want to know how to earn the royalties owed to you. So in this post, I’ll cover the four main types of organizations that collect the several different types of royalties generated when someone uses or streams a song you wrote and/or recorded.
But first, let’s cover the basics.
How to change your mindset to maximize productivity as a musician
Al musicians have their artistic blocks, so here are a few ways to get out of a funk and get the creative wheels turning again.
What’s really important for you? How can you decide what is? Are you too busy to even think? Are you dissatisfied with your work, but working bloody hard at it – those crappy gigs, with musicians who don’t pull their weight, playing songs that don’t quite nail it, trying to get somewhere, wherever that is.
How much do music streaming services pay artists in 2021?
Ever wondered how many streams it takes for an artist to make money? Read on to find out this year’s pay rates for artists on popular streaming
plattforms. According to ex-Design Ethicist at Google Tristan Harris, “We all ‘live in a city called the attention economy.’” Digital service providers, a.k.a. music streaming service, thrive on the attention economy. While they enable artists to reach global audiences without touring or direct advertising, these platforms often make headlines for their payouts.
But how do their payouts work? And how can artists get the most out of
DSPs?
Music listening fell 10% in last 8 years as
podcasts, spoken word audio grew
In its third year, The Spoken Word Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research documents how news, podcasts, audiobooks and talk radio’s share of audio listening is at an all-time high. The 2021 report also reveals how young and diverse listeners are consuming spoken word content at rates never recorded before.
WAX ON, WAX OFF: UNBLOCKING THE GREAT VINYL LOGJAM
The rebirth of vinyl, for some at least, seems to be a wonderful licence to print lots of delicious money – except the problem is that no one can print it, or the discs, fast enough.
Demand is massively outstripping supply. Everyone knows this. Pressing plants are buckling under the strain and labels are being told to get their orders in at least six – preferably 12 – months in advance.
How Spotify royalties actually work
While many in the music community believe that Spotify royalties should be larger, the specifics of how they are calculated aren’t always well understood. Here, we clear the fog.
Recently there’s been a lot of chatter about songwriters’ battle, represented by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), with Spotify over the negotiations with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). Spotify has proposed a lower payment for songwriting royalties which as understandably upset the songwriting community. However, I thought it would be good to write this article with a detailed explanation of how Streaming payouts work and who is getting what, so that we, as the music industry, can better understand how we can improve the remuneration for artists, songwriters, and producers.
