Create Payment Channels

Know your industry - Be Realistic - CREATE PAYMENT CHANNELS - Make Connections - Know when to let go

It’s pretty obvious; if you want to get paid then you need to find the person who will pay you.  It’s surprising how many people don’t understand the different channels of music royalty payment and how to register for each one.

Here is a list of the different types of payment you can receive from selling or playing your music. Each country has their own collection societies so you need to investigate which companies are relevant to you in your area.

Performance royalties  - You should earn money every time your track is performed in a public space. This could be a TV performance, local bar or club, gym, live gig or most commonly on the radio.  There are some exceptions, but the best thing is you don’t have to worry about learning the law or chasing up your local gym to pay you, just sign up to the Performance Collection society in your country and register your track with them. They will then track all the performances for you and send you a cheque roughly each quarter.  In the UK this society is call PRS (Performing rights society)

Sales royalties  - These are called mechanical royalties and you receive a share of the sales price for any tracks that you’ve written or co-written and this share depends on any deals that you’ve done.  Again you need to register your track with the collection agent in your own country and they will then collect for you in every territory in the world via their partners in other countries.  If you have signed a publishing deal then it’s common for your publisher to pay you these royalties every 6 months when they account to you.  If you are unpublished then the collection agent will send you statements through directly.  In the UK this society is called MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society)

Performer royalties – Not to be confused with performance royalties, these are payments that you receive for having played or sung on a record.  You need to register with the appropriate company in your country and let them know which tracks you have performed on. Part of the process is to let them know if you are a featured or non-featured performer i.e. Lead singer on a track, or just drum programmer. It’s often the case that the featured performer will get a higher split of the royalties and non-featured performers share the remainder between them. In the UK this company is called PPL  (Phonographic Performance Ltd)

Library Music – When all is said and done, you could just make library music, which is what TV shows, video games, documentaries etc tend to use when making their shows.  In this market you sell your music to the TV Company for a fixed price and then retain a certain percentage that you will earn with over time if your music is used.  There are various companies that do this and you’ll need to search for the major ones in your own area.

So before you start putting your music out there, or signing any deals, make sure you are registered with the appropriate collection societies and remember to register each track that you release. Don’t be complacent and expect a label or a publisher to do this for you, they might do the part that they need to earn money, but there may be other areas where you can earn and they can’t. The bottom line is, if you don’t set up these payment channels then the royalties just go into a big pot and get distributed back out to all the members if no one collects it after a fixed period.

So how do you get people to know about your work in the first place?  A big part of that answer is to make connections.