The best music distribution strategy for 2023 includes a mixture of sending music to:

The music industry continues to evolve with ever-faster technology developments. It’s important that your music distributor is reaching where most people consume music.

Digital Service Providers

The platforms your music is expected to be on:

Also, include more niche music platforms such as SoundCloud and Bandcamp. Music is distributed to these platforms directly on the platform.

It is likely that digital music distribution will also evolve to include music distribution to games, but that’s not a reality (just yet…)

Downloads

The mass market mainly uses streaming platforms to consume music. However, that’s not to say there’s not a market for downloads.

If you make electronic music, for example, you will want to submit to sites that DJs use to download music. Examples include:

Some distributors will have partnerships with these stores. If so, they’ll deliver your music to them. If your distributor does not work with them you will need to submit directly.

Other music genres, such as those that appeal to older audiences, may want to download music. This is usually covered by your digital music distributor to stores such as Amazon.

Additionally, there are beat marketplaces such as Gemtracks you may want to consider sending your music to if you are looking for an alternative business model to traditional digital distribution.

Physical

ONJ loves the best music distribution platform

Beyond digital, there’s also a vinyl revival happening.

It won’t be a good idea for everybody to release music to physical formats such as vinyl. But, there are some indicators of when it might be a good idea:

What is music distribution?

Music distribution is the service between the seller and the stores and platforms that sell or stream it.

Traditionally, a music distributor would develop relationships with stores in multiple locations. They’d increase the presence of records on the shelves to expose the release.

Record labels would have a distribution partner they trusted and would work closely with them to maximize sales.

Digital Music Distributors

Nowadays, digital music distribution companies deliver music to streaming platforms (DSPs). Additionally, they send music to digital download stores.

They have less personal relationships with the stores than they would have done in the old days. However, they do have to have a solid infrastructure to manage quality control and high volumes of tracks.

If you’re an artist wondering how to submit music to Spotify or other DSPs without a record label, you must use a distributor.

Vampr Pro gives unlimited distribution to all major stores and streaming platforms. Importantly, 100% of the royalties are paid to the artists! The best music distribution deals consider how important it is for artists to keep their royalties.

After you’ve signed up for Vampr Pro, you can go directly to the distribution portal on a computer. Then, send your music to stores and streaming services, like Spotify and Apple Music.

Once you have a presence on Spotify, you can then sign up for their Spotify for Artists services. This provides detailed analytics about the performance of your song, as well as listener demographics.

The Difference Between a Music Distributor and a Music Publisher

A music publisher and a music distributor solve two very different problems for songwriters and artists.

Music publishing is the business of protecting and exploiting musical works assets. These are intellectual property comprising composition and lyrics.

Music streaming distribution is the business of distributing recorded music to music digital service providers.

Therefore, you don’t “publish” your music on Spotify (as sometimes it is confused).

Side note: However, because the music (not the recording) itself is also being used, publishers are entitled to a mechanical royalty. This would be paid to you or your publisher via a performance rights organization.

Publishers and distributors work completely separately from one another. The best way to understand this concisely is to properly understand music licenses.

Record Labels

Traditionally, it would be record labels working with distributors, not artists themselves.

Record labels would be responsible for producing, manufacturing and marketing a record. They would also be responsible for managing the relationship with distributors and therefore stores.

Now, it has become much more common for artists to submit music directly to distributors.

The role of record labels is ever-changing. The decision of whether to work with a record label is now assessed on a case-by-case basis. Some things to consider that record labels do in 2021 include:

What Does a Digital Music Distributor Do?

Digital music distributors receive music from record labels and artists. They process the music and metadata ready to deliver to:

They collect royalties earnt from plays, streams and downloads. They also manage payments to record labels and artists.

Digital music distributors do not help with marketing, promoting or pitching. However, some distributors offer this as a separate service, known as artist services.

Vampr Distribution allows you to send your music to:

…and many more!

Distributors will pay you master royalties for music played on streaming platforms.

Some distributors will charge per release, some per month and many take a percentage of your master royalties to use their service.

Vampr pays 100% of royalties earned from streams across all platforms and stores. Digital music distribution is free with a Vampr Pro subscription!

How to Distribute Your Music with Vampr

Getting Started

  1. Sign up for Vampr Pro
  2. Click here and enter your email address to sign in.
    You will be sent a unique login ID to your email address every time you log in. This authenticates your identity.
  3. Click the ‘Create a release’ button on the Vampr Distribution home page.
    Create a release button

Release Name & Cover Art

  1. Enter the name of the release – whether it’s the single, EP or album title.
    Do not use ALL CAPs or your release will be rejected by the DSPs. Click ‘Create Release’
    Create a new record release
  2. Upload Cover Art.
    Click on the image to upload your cover art. Follow the instructions and formatting guidelines outlined.
    Upload record release cover art

Metadata

  1. Indicate Version.
    You will only need to fill this field in if you are releasing a remix or other version other than the original. If this is the original recording, leave this box blank.
    Remix release
  2. Fill out Artist(s).
    Write the Primary artist’s name in the field and click the ‘Add artist’ button. There can be a little delay as the system adds the artist to the database. So, please be patient before clicking the button again if needed. If the Primary artist has written the song, produced and performed it, there is no need to add them as other credits. However, if you need to credit other collaborators in the release, such as a composer, arranger, remixer, producer or featured artists; this is where you enter that information. Remember to click the “add…” button after typing every different artist and then changing the artist type.
    Artists record release
  3. Label.
    You may not have a record label if you are distributing music yourself. Without having signed music to a label, the owner of the master rights is classed as the record label. Therefore, you can put your name on the Label. However, if you want to release other artists than yourself in the future, you may wish to use a label name.
  4. Genres.
    Add at least a primary genre for your music. It’s important this truly represents the genre of music you’re releasing. This information will be used in the algorithms to sort your music to where listeners will be looking for music like yours. You can type genres in the box to find them quickly.
  5. Language.
    Enter the language that your lyrics are in. It doesn’t matter what language your lyrics are in, we will release all languages. It’s important that the language is right. DSPs use this information to sort the music for browsing. They may reject releases if the language is listed wrong.
  6. Explicit Lyrics.
    Outline whether your lyrics contain anything explicit. This option prevents explicit music from being accessible on children’s accounts. If there is explicit content in your lyrics and it’s not marked, this would result in a rejection of the release.
  7. Album format.
    Select if the release is an album, single or EP.
  8. Release UPC Code.
    A UPC (Universal Product Code) is a barcode that identifies a product. The same as the items you buy in a superstore, the UPC on your music uniquely identifies your record as a product.
  9. Reference Number.
    The Reference Number (catalog reference number) can sometimes be used by record labels. They use this to sort and find music in their catalog. If you don’t have a catalog reference number, you can leave this blank. Just click “I don’t have one, please assign a reference number code to this release”.
  10. Grid – Leave this blank.
  11. Release description (Liner Notes).
    The term “Liner Notes” comes from vinyl records. This is a page of notes about the record. It would often be supplied inside the cover for fans to read and learn more about the artists and music. You can add Liner Notes to your digital release. Some platforms support this and it will give your listeners more insight into your work and music.
  12. Click the ‘Save’ button.
    save music with the best music distribution platform

Licenses

  1. Scroll back up and go to ‘2. Licences’ tab.
  2. Price Category.
    This tells the stores distributed that sell downloads what price range to sell the songs at. Generally, it is recommended to leave this option as “mid”.
  3. Digital Release Date.
    Set the release date you’d like the release to be live in stores and platforms.
  4. Original Release Date.
    This will likely be the same as your digital release date. An exception is if you’re releasing something that was already released in a physical form.
  5. Spotify Windowing.
    If you are releasing an album (with more than 6 tracks), you can ‘window’ your release on Spotify. This releases in 2 weeks for only premium users.
  6. License Type.
    The License type determines whether the records should be shown as being protected under copyright law. Copyright law protects your work against other people using it. It protects your right to be paid for derivative works). Alternatively, Creative Commons is a license used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that they have created.
  7. License Holder.
    This outlines who the Publishing rights holder is for the song. You should put the year the copyright was created and the owner of the Publishing rights. If you wrote the song and you’re not working with another publisher, this is you. If you have written the song with other songwriters or musicians, you should sign a split sheet together.
  8. ℗ copyright for sound recordings.
    This is who owns the master recording rights of the song. You should put the year the sound recording was made and the owner(s) of the master recording. If you recorded the song yourself, this will be you.
  9. Territories.
    This is what countries in the world you would like to distribute your release to or omit. Generally, you would leave this on ‘Entire World’.**
  10. Click the ‘Save’ button
    save music with the best music distribution platform

Tracks

  1. Scroll back up and go to ‘3. Tracks’ tab
  2. Click ‘From Computer’ to upload your track(s) from your computer
  3. If an album or EP is being released, you can change the order by dragging and dropping on the right-hand side.
  4. For each track, edit the metadata by clicking the pencil icon on the track.
  5. Change the Title to just the song name.
    You can add a different version name or featured artists in brackets. For example Banana Cake (Featuring Super Ted) Or Banana Cake (VIP Mix)
  6. ISRC Code.
    If you are registered with a recording collection management company, you will assign an ISRC Code to your recording when you register it. Alternatively, you can tick “I don’t have one, please assign an ISRC to this track” and Vampr will generate one for you.
  7. ISWC Code.
    These are generated by your performing rights organization. It is not essential to add one to your release, but if you have one it’s good to add it.
  8. Publishing Rights.
    Enter the year and the name(s) of the publishing rightsholder(s).
  9. Lyrics.
    You can enter your lyrics here. This will distribute the lyrics to the sites that support showing lyrics.
  10. Available separately.
    This option can be clicked/unclicked depending on whether supporting platforms will let the track be listened to or downloaded outside of an album or EP release.

Review & Confirmation

  1. Go back to the top and click on the ‘Appears on’ tab.
    You will see a quick snapshot of your release. Click the release.
  2. Review your release.
    Give another once-over of tabs 1, 2 and 3 to check all of the information is entered correctly.
  3. Click on tab ‘4. Preview and Distribute’.
    After a short wait, a ‘Distribute this release’ button should appear on the right. This will mean your release is ready to be distributed. If you see another button called ‘Validate’, it means you have missed something or entered something incorrectly in the previous steps.
  4. After a short wait, you will be presented with the option of which vendors you wish to distribute to.
    Generally, it is best to distribute to all stores unless you have a reason to omit any
  5. On the next page, your “order” should be populated based on the stores you selected on the previous page.
    You can scroll down and click ‘Checkout’. You will be prompted to agree to terms and conditions for some of the vendors. Tick those and click ‘delivery’.
  6. You will be taken to the payment page.
    There is nothing to pay for as you have already paid for distribution as part of your Vampr Pro subscription. So, just fill out your name and address and proceed.
  7. Confirm the final vendor terms and click ‘Go to Payment’

Once loaded, your release will be on its way to being live!

Sign up for Vampr Pro for free music distribution with 100% royalties now!

Artists should focus on creating their own music communities.

A music community is more than just having listeners or fans, or working with managers or agents. Music communities are groups of people who work in tandem to support an artist. This creates an ecosystem that supports and lifts an artist up.

How to build strong music communities

Here are 7 ideas for building strong music communities.

1. Use existing online music scenes

Online music scenes tend to develop in corners. You can discover music artists in places such as:

Artists who can see a music scene forming, and think they would fit into it, can interact with people within. Becoming a “leader in the scene” has to be a very organic process. The idea is not to enter the scene directly to promote yourself and your music. Your core goal should be meeting people and making friends with similar passions to you.

When approaching music scenes, your goal should be to integrate, not infiltrate!

How to create your community using an existing music scene

First, develop recognition in a music scene. Then, people will naturally begin to know that you’re also an artist. This will increase as you have more conversations.

Forums and subreddits might have specific boards you can post your music on. Lovers of the scene go here looking for new things to listen to. Make sure not to spam “discussion” threads with your music.

You’ll likely develop relationships with other artists. Subsequently, will follow each other on other platforms and support each other’s promotion.

You might pick up the attention of DJs and journalists/writers in the scene who could feature your work. This gives you access to potential fans who follow their influence.

Camilla says music brings people together

2. Your owned music communities

When marketing, we talk about owned, earned and paid media. It’s useful to loosely think of building music communities with a similar perspective.

Firstly, in our previous article, we spoke about how to get followers on social media and how to get listeners on Spotify. You often have to pay for services like adverts and promotions – we can consider this paid media.

You can think of this segment of music communities as “paid communities” too.

Secondly, earned media is shares of your music with external networks. This could be features written about you and your music in the music press. It could be a tweet about your song or a shout-out on TikTok from a highly-followed influencer.

New followers and listeners generated by earned media can be considered your “earned music community”. Typically, they will be more loyal and closer to the fan status than your paid community.

Finally, owned music communities are very active and engaged followers. They are either close to becoming fans or are already.

Truly “owned” music communities are those you can contact outside platforms like social media. These platforms can stop you from being able to communicate with your music community, so owning your community is wise. The widely accepted best way to own your community is to collect their email addresses and maintain a newsletter. Then, you’re in control of contacting them at your disposal.

Friend forever

3. Music communities on social media

Social media is an obvious option for building a music community. This has been a successful strategy for many. For many others, a frustrating mental health-depleting challenge.

Some tips for managing a social media account for your music include:

We will be posting follow-up articles on how to build music communities using social media with each platform.

4. Music communities on Soundcloud

Soundcloud no longer focused on music communities

Soundcloud used to be a very community-centric platform. Over the years, it has become less focused on community. It’s now more focused on algorithmic recommendation and innovative monetized streaming.

Despite this, there are still ways to get more followers on Soundcloud and build a community:

Soundcloud Discovery

Soundcloud lands on a page called Discovery. This page is about introducing you to new music and artists. It works based on what you’ve already listened to on the platform. Discovery feeds you more of what you like, including:

Getting your music in front of people on this page seems to come from a mixture of properties:

The Stream page shows new music and reposts from people you follow. There’s no doubt that active users use this page heavily. To make sure you’re getting the furthest reach on this page, you need to use reposts from other people. It is worth building a network of friends and reposting each other’s uploads. This means your new music isn’t just going to your followers, it’s going to your network’s followers too!

Artists followed on Soundcloud seem less important to Soundcloud than discovering new music. They’re proud of their algorithm! Therefore, Soundcloud seems to be a “top-of-funnel” tool. Make sure your profile is properly optimized as this will help you keep new listeners up to date.

Don’t forget to audition your Soundcloud songs on Vampr for increased exposure. Show potential new connections what you’re all about!

5. Music communities on Discord and Slack

Discord is great for music communities

Discord and Slack have become the ultimate “community” platforms. Having instant messages and segregated channels makes for useful exclusive (sometimes private) communities. These are like Reddit but ringfenced.

Some of these communities can only be accessed by paying but this isn’t always a bad thing. The access to like-minded people and the immediate ability to IM and get to know people is likely to pay off quickly.

Artist development communities like Music Production or Songwriting Discord/Slack servers are extremely useful for high-quality feedback. You’ll meet friends in these communities and then you can exchange the promotion of releases together.

Start by looking for free music communities on Discord/Slack. Next, get a feel for adding it to your networking duties. If you find you’re getting a lot of value, consider other options and don’t forget to ask new connections where they go to build a music community!

6. Music communities on Twitch and YouTube

Music communities are more tricky with YouTube

Twitch and YouTube are definitely places to consider building music communities.

There are a lot of changes happening right now. Building music communities on both Twitch and YouTube each have steep learning curves.

We will cover both in their own articles in the future.

For now, it’s worth doing some research into video production and editing and trying to develop some basic skills. Quality stands out more and more on these platforms, as the vast amount of content increases. Knowing how to put your best foot forward is important.

7. Music communities on Vampr

Vampr is an app built to discover, create and nurture music communities. Not just online, but making it super easy to meet up with people in your local area and start a local music scene.

New features such as Vamps make it easier than ever to find your tribe. It’s the easiest way to build authentic relationships and a community in music.

Vampr is the best for music communities

How to build music communities using Vampr

Communities who share comments in exciting posts inspire others to get involved. This naturally grows your network through the power of community.

Remember, Vampr is currently optimized as a peer-to-peer network. Connecting with potential fans will be a by-product of getting feedback from your peers. Hone your craft and then work together to reach wider audiences.

Using Vampr to build your music community cuts out the saturation and distractions you’d see on other social media platforms. You can come home to Vampr and always know you’re only going to see music-related content.

Wrap-up

These are just 7 ways to build music communities online, but there are many more.

Maybe, the most important takeaway is that relationships built online (or offline) should be seen as true friendships and not transactional.

If you start your networking journey thinking about what a like-minded person looks like for you, it’ll be easy to find them.

Download Vampr to find local musicians, collaborators or industry executives to help support your music career today.

What is a music community?

Your music community is your supportive network. Music communities are your executive network, creative team, musical collaborators and your fans. They:

How to get more music fans and listeners using your music community

Music industry advice about music communities often focuses on how to build a fanbase. Additionally, there is advice for how to promote your music.

In this article, we’re going to be talking about more than how to get more Spotify listeners. We’ll go into deeper ideas about lesser-considered elements of your music community.

When building a music community, look bigger and wider than Spotify listeners and followers. Understand that every contact you have forms part of an ecosystem.

Importantly, you should develop this ecosystem to operate itself without constant input from you. It takes a long time to build.

This article will share some ideas to start building your music community. Besides this, it will also give you advice to help grow and nurture your music community to work passively. The strategy should you get more fans, without having to promote yourself directly.

The difference between listeners and fans

It’s important to recognise that listeners and followers don’t fundamentally mean fans.

In the age of Spotify and social media, it’s very easy to get lost in the hype of trying to get more followers. But followers don’t guarantee any form of income.

It’s very common for the media to encourage artists to pay in various ways to get followers. Social media advertising campaigns or using music promotion companies are rife. Working this way isn’t always a bad idea. But, you will be working at a loss if you’re not aware of how to make money back from your followers.

Unfortunately, streaming royalties haven’t been enough for most artists to make a profit to date. Luckily, there seems to be some hope on the horizon (starting in the UK at least) to improve this.

Fans are people who actively watch for what you’re doing new. They will buy your merchandise and come to your gigs. Fans are often the top streamers of your songs, even though they probably own the CD or vinyl too.

The difference between fans and listeners can defined like this:

Listeners will generally cost you money, whereas fans will earn you money.

Your mission should always be to turn listeners into fans.

The highest level of a fan is a “Stan“. If you achieve this level of fandom, you’re a monarchy-level artist.

King and Queen of the music community

So, why does your music community matter?

Music communities go beyond the idea of artist to fan, artist to business, artist to artist or artist to music executive. Your music community will tie all these relationships together into an ecosystem. This works together to benefit everybody involved:

Music scenes

Music scenes are sub-communities within music communities.

Scenes typically revolve around a group of artists who have something in common, as opposed to just one artist.

They are extremely powerful. They create culture that extends beyond just the music and can involve:

Scenes used to happen because like-minded people used to hang around places and nurture ideas that turned into culture. These were typically places like coffee shops, art galleries, clothes stores, music venues, clubs and street corners (which subsequently became prolific). They discussed art and culture and then created. This often resulted in artworks that were comparable.

Culture Club music scenes

To create a music scene, you first have to find your tribe. These people (creators) need to be extremely like-minded to you. They will likely already make music which is comparable to yours, or at least have similar influences.

One way to quickly and easily find and spark with artists who have similar influences is to use Vampr. Vampr shows all the artists that a Vampr user has listed that they like on their profile.

Sparking a conversation about your shared interests is a great ice-breaker. Start a scene on Vampr now!

In our next post, we’ll outline 8 ideas to build a music community online. Keep an eye on our socials for that soon! ✌

Music consumer innovation for music communities

Vampr is a nominee for the Music Week Music Consumer Innovation Award 2021. This article describes why we’re the leading app for innovation for music communities.
 
Vampr is for:

Music consumer innovation is a tough nut to crack in the wider music tech industry. Therefore, being considered for an award must take something special!

Here are some of the ways Vampr is leading in music consumer innovation:

Fast and easy discovery + connection technologies

Vampr is a niche social platform that encourages networking in the music industry. Less dedicated social networks put an emphasis on connecting you with people you already know or following celebrities who are unlikely to acknowledge your presence. Vampr is about discovering, connecting and creating a music community.
 
It is Vampr’s mission to make finding new people as easy as possible. Taking the next step to making new life-long relationships is also easy with Vampr. We do this with swipe technology as it presents the easiest way to:

Swiping is a primitive gesture. Babies as young as 17 days old have been observed making swiping motions at objects they find interesting. In the field of app design, which often seeks to harness primitive impulses, it only makes sense that swiping would emerge as a key means of navigation.
– App Partner Academy
 

Built for music communities – no distractions

Vampr’s most unique advantage is our close to 1 million users, all music industry participants. Importantly, All users on Vampr are looking to connect and collaborate with other musicians.
 
That means everybody using the app is thinking about only 1 thing – music.
 
People use social media for lots of reasons, but many musicians agree that it can waste a lot of time. This could be spent on more important things, like learning new skills or making more music, for instance.
 
Vampr is about connecting with people in the music industry. In short, it will only ever be an aid to your music career, never a distraction or hindrance.
 
Everything on Vampr is designed to support your music career. Although we provide ads from our strategic partners on our free version, we still keep them relevant to our users. If ads aren’t for you, you can get even less distractions with a Vampr Pro subscription!
 

Vamps

 
Vamps are non-permanent posts at the top of your feed. You can share unlimited videos, images and audio notes to your followers.
 
Vamps are a new Vampr technology that serve a useful purpose for creatives.
 
With Vamps, you can:

Hybrid sync representation and music publishing model

Vampr is a one-stop-shop solution for all music industry needs.
 
This means we help artists and songwriters get attention from music supervisors for film and TV. Additionally, Vampr pitches music for adverts, and to get music in games and trailers.
 
We do this with a non-exclusive sync representation service. This converts into a publishing deal when we land you a sync.
 
This is an industry-first sync deal that was created to be artist friendly. It’s also an easy solution for music supervisors to find one-stop independent music.
 
 

Keep 100% music distribution royalties

Vampr also offers music distribution to Vampr Pro users. If you’re a Vampr Pro member, you already have free music distribution. Here, you can manage all your releases within your Vampr account.
 
Many other music distributors charge fees for individual releases or take a percentage of your royalties. But, Vampr doesn’t charge any fees other than the cost of a Vampr Pro subscription. Artists and record labels get unlimited releases to music streaming platforms. Then, keep 100% of their royalties.
 

Conclusion: why Vampr

Ultimately, Vampr stands out in a field of music consumer innovation. This is because it’s a platform that’s created to be fair and supportive for people in the music industry. There’s a place for everyone on Vampr, from fledgling musicians to music professionals to music fans looking to discover the next big thing.
 
Vampr focuses on the power of music communities and building strong networks. Therefore, it provides tools to help people in the music industry take their music career into their own hands.
 
Get the full experience with Vampr Pro, for as low as $2.99 a month!

 
Want to better understand music license agreements? You’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll explain what licensing agreements are, why they are essential in the business of making money with music, and how to navigate them to make the most of them.
What are music license agreements?
 
Music licensing agreements, pretty much everything in the music industry revolves around them.
 
Whether you’re:
…you’ll be working with music licensing agreements!
 
To use or exploit (sell) music copyrights you need a license.
 
If you aren’t an original creator or copyright owner, you need music license agreements to use music legally.

How to get music copyrights

When music is “written” it creates a copyright for the music. These days, “written” may mean recorded as audio or MIDI in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
 
Copyrights protect a creator from somebody using their work, and claiming it as their own. This is important to consider when writing music, as well as when working with samples or covers.
 
Anytime you use somebody else’s work, in any way, you will need permission from the copyright owner(s). This is the essence of music licensing agreements.
 
In some territories (countries or states), writers must register their copyrights. Other territories legitimize music copyright immediately after writing new melodies or lyrics.
 
You will want to check what your local copyright law requires you to do.
 

Music intellectual property rights 

Once you have a music copyright, your music becomes an “asset”. In fact, a particular type of “asset” called “intellectual property” (IP).
 
Assets are items of property owned by a person or company that have “value”. This means it is tradable for a price.
 
IP is any property owned by a person that is “intellectual” in nature. This covers copyrights, trademarks, patents and more.
 

Different copyrights protect recorded music

There are 2 different copyrights that protect recorded music:

Master rights

Master rights protect the recording of music. Before computers, music was recorded in physical formats such as tape.
The original recording was then copied onto other formats such as:
An original recording was called a “master recording”. This terminology is now embedded into the business of music. So, we still use the term “master” even though in the digital world, music is not replicated in the same way.
 
Traditionally, record labels owned the master records and rights. They licensed songs from publishers and sold records for big profits. Master royalties went to the labels. Another royalty, mechanical royalties, went to publishers and writers. This was a fixed rate for every copy made of a recording.
 
Over time, there have been more artists withholding control of their master copyrights.
 

Publishing rights

Publishing rights protect the composition and lyrics of music. They are split between the “writers” (including composers) and the “publisher”.
 
This is another arrangement that has existed since the start of the music business. Early composers weren’t able to make copies of their sheet music and sell it to orchestras to perform. This became the job of the music publisher.
 
Nowadays, it’s much easier for a composer or songwriter to find an act to perform and record their music. Often, they are also the performer themselves!
 
Different types of rights mean that commercial opportunities blossom. This could be with performing, recording and using music in a variety of ways. Music licensing ensures creators and copyright owners get paid for the use of their work.
For all writers, but especially self-published writers, it’s essential you register yourself and your works with a performance rights organization. These will collect performance royalties whenever music is played:

Sometimes, only registering with one local PRO can limit the royalties you’re receiving. This can be because you’re only collecting half (writer but not publishing) royalties or because your PRO doesn’t collect from some overseas territories.

Using a service like SongTrust can ensure all of your royalties are collected worldwide. Our friends at Music with Flavour have written a great article about registering with SongTrust as a writer. 

Types of music licensing 

Who needs a music license? 

Remember that every use of music after its creation requires some form of license.
 
(Unless it’s released under creative commons license, an entirely different beast!)
And that’s why music license agreements are so important. A lot of the time, you might be licensing your music without even realizing it. Every time you upload music to a service you will be signing a usage license as part of the terms and conditions.
 
There are many reasons why somebody might need to license your music. Examples include:
Different types of licenses are needed depending on the need. Some need permission from both the owner of the publishing and master rights. Some may only need one “clearance”. It’s important to know what kind of rights you need to clear and license before you use music.
 

Exclusive and non-exclusive music license agreements 

Music licenses are usually created on a case-by-case basis, although not always.
 
Music license agreements can be “permanent” or for a “term” (agreed duration of time). They can ensure that no competitors can also use the same music, or even work with the same artists.
 
This decision concerns the exclusivity of a licensing contract.
 
Here are some examples of how exclusivity might play a part in music license agreements:
 

Sync license for music 

A sync license consists of 2 parts – the publishing rights and the master rights. To license a recorded song for sync, the licensee must get permission for both parts.
 
The film or creative producer sometimes decides what music is synched. However, they often outsource music choices to a trusted expert. This is somebody who knows how sound and picture work together – music supervisors.
 
Music Supervisors are responsible for sourcing, trialing and sometimes deciding music for syncs. They tend to prefer to use “one-stop” music.

One-stop music licensing

One stop means one point of contact with full permission to make an immediate decision on the licensing of both the sync and master rights.
 
For a sync agent to represent your music as a one-stop, they might ask that you sign a sync agency contract. This allows them to pitch and sign deals for your music on your behalf.
 
Non-exclusive sync agreements can be advantageous to artists. This is because they will benefit from multiple people pitching their music.
 
However, this wider net can often be full of holes. Large sync libraries have no real idea of what they have in their libraries to pitch and rely on search filters. This will leave lots of artists without representation through saturation.
 
Vampr Publishing is a hybrid model built by artists for artists. The music we represent automatically creates a publishing agreement at the point of sync interest. This provides the benefits of non-exclusive pitching but ensures our entire catalog has attention. 

Brand exclusivity

Exclusivity in sync shows up a lot in the corporate and advertising worlds. Brands want to license songs that make fans and customers think of that brand when they hear a song. This is “sonic branding”.
 
Brands will sometimes request an exclusive right to a song to ensure no other brands use the same music. This could confuse their sonic branding efforts.
 
Sometimes, brands might go even further and request an exclusive artist ambassadorship.
 
Advertisers may request the song to be only used in their specific advertising campaign. Usually, this is for an agreed length of time (a “term”).
 

Production music

Production music composers will likely encounter a lot of exclusive contracts.
 
Music libraries are effective record labels for the sync world. It is in their interest to negotiate exclusive deals with composers. This protects their reputation and guarantees quality for their clients.
 
One way they do this is by paying composers to create albums in specific styles and genres. They buy these albums from composers outright to become exclusive rightsholders.
Then, they can then easily:
Composers are sometimes wary of non-exclusive deals in production music. It can indicate a large passive library where little-to-no effort is made to sell the music. However, non-exclusive agreements can come with royalties, so they’re still worth considering.
 

Conclusion

Music license agreements can be confusing. But, it can be easier to navigate with a little knowledge. Remember that there are 2 main copyright types – mastering and publishing. Then, you can license that ownership, permissions and payment for different purposes.
 
Add this article to your bookmarks. Come back to this article any time to remind yourself of music licensing specifics! Or, share it on your socials to help others understand music licensing better.
 
Vampr Pro users can show off their licensing knowledge. Find new collaborators and be confident about setting your terms.

 
So you’re sitting with your instrument of choice and ask yourself “how can I make a hit song?” How often do you consider music collaboration as an essential part of the process?
 
Music collaboration is the golden egg of writing hit music. This makes sense when we know that the average number of songwriters involved in a hit song is around 8.
 
Additionally, collaborating with other musicians can build a strong network of people to:
 
Artists are competing to earn their deserved piece of listener attention. Working together helps remind artists that they’re in this together.
 
Trying to network with industry professionals and executives isn’t enough. You’ve got to work with other musicians, artists and creatives.

So, to help inspire you to get out there and meet new people, here are 6 key examples of music collaboration opportunities that occur on Vampr and in the wider music industry…

6 crucial music collaboration examples to inspire you

  1. Singer songwriter looking for producer
  2. Songwriter looking for singer
  3. How to find band members
  4. Looking for an artist manager
  5. Producers and musicians
  6. How to find a mixing engineer

1. Singer songwriter looking for producer

A dream pairing! 💜
 
Singer Songwriters often write songs, lyrics and toplines. Often though, they aren’t musicians as well.
 
Even instrument-playing singer songwriters often struggle with recording, arrangement and textures. This is when they need a producer.
 
Singer songwriters work with a producer to make songs sound “complete”, polished and professional. It gets a song from sounding like a demo to something that fits in relevant playlists and albums.
 
Meanwhile, producers are often making instrumental (backing) tracks. They often don’t write lyrics or toplines, so they’re looking for singer songwriters to complete a song.
 
singer with microphone 

 

 

2. Songwriter looking for singer

 
Some singer songwriters write for themselves. Other songwriters love writing songs but have reasons not to sing them themselves.
 
Singers (even lyric writers) can benefit by considering work from other songwriters. Another writer’s songs can still fit their story, sound and audience. After all, we’re all humans having similar experiences!
 
A songwriter writing songs for artists was a very common setup in the earlier days of the music industry. Some of the most popular songs in history we associate with artists weren’t actually written by them!
 
If you’re going through a writer’s block, somebody else’s song might give you new inspiration.
 
The song you use by another songwriter might inspire an album you write yourself.

If you think singing somebody else’s song isn’t for you – give it a go! What singer doesn’t love karaoke? 😏

3. How to find band members

The biggest music collaboration win is several musicians creating music again and again. – This is what a band is!
 
A song played together by more than one musician in real time is a wonderful thing.
 
If you’re looking for band members, there are a few things to consider….
 
These are people you are likely to spend a lot of time with. Both on stage and touring (it could be very intimate), so be sure your personalities AND habits click.
 

Consider potential professional problems that could come up in the future. Band members should sort agreements (such as royalty splits and commercial decisions) up-front.

Bands looking for singers should get searching their local area on the Vampr app now!

band playing live show

4. Looking for an artist manager

Finding an artist manager is making a decision to have somebody take care of a lot of your networking needs.

What does a manager do for an artist?
The job of a manager is to grow and nurture their network to find opportunities for their artists.

Managers can network with:

Managers keep bringing artists work that fits their artistic direction and commercial strategy.

Music managers looking for talent can also slide into artists DMs on Vampr.

5. Producers and musicians

Producers don’t only work with singer songwriters and topliners. They often also need professional musicians to replace tracks in their production. Often, they use placeholders (such as MIDI tracks or amateur/sloppy playing) to get an idea down. They then use musicians to record a proper version.

Musicians and bands looking for a producer will collaborate with somebody they trust to record and arrange their work.

Musicians also make instrumental song demos that need full productions. Finally, musicians often need remixes or edits for another use (such as for sync).

6. How to find a mixing engineer

Of course, producers often have a blend of creative and technical skills. But they may not always have the time, equipment, patience or sometimes skill, to mix their own tracks.

Artists and producers living in apartments often can’t listen to music loud or for prolonged periods outside of headphones.
If an artist is creating music on tour, they won’t be able to mix their music to a high quality on the road.
Although AI and education are making it easier to master your own music, it’s still not always the answer.
Mastering is an art reserved for people who understand sonic science, voltage, frequencies and magic. This is especially true when making an album.

Finally, musicians and artists do often produce their own music. But, there are many reasons to consider mixing and mastering professionals:

Conclusion

There you have it! 6 examples of crucial music collaborations always needed in the music industry.

Music collaboration is what can take your song from demo to finished product. Or, finished product to hit record! Always consider what might be missing from a song and who could help you take it to the next level.

Vampr Pro gives you unlimited connection opportunities to find collaborators locally or worldwide. Try Vampr Pro now! ✌