Measure Your Performance

Success is unique for every artist. By understanding your Artist Analytics, you can pinpoint the areas that deserve your attention and drive your growth.

Listening Now: This metric displays the number of fans actively streaming your music. It counts only online plays and excludes offline listening.

Plays: A play is counted when a user listens to a track for more than 30 seconds on Apple Music. This includes plays from Apple Music radio stations, which can be user-generated or curated by Apple.

Average Daily Listeners: This represents the average number of unique listeners per day within a selected time frame.

Purchases: This is recorded when a customer buys your song or album from the iTunes Store.

Shazams: Every time your song is identified by the Shazam app or partner apps using Shazam technology, it is counted as a Shazam.

Radio Spins: This measures how often your song is played on over 40,000 terrestrial and digital radio stations worldwide, excluding Apple Music Radio.

Milestones: This section highlights key achievements and all-time bests for your music, including top plays, top Shazams, and editorial playlist additions.

Video Views: A view is counted when a user watches your music video on Apple Music for more than 30 seconds.

Apple Music for Artists provides detailed performance analytics for:

• Songs: Total plays of a song across all albums and compilations.
• Albums: Plays of any album, EP, or single release.
• Playlists: Inclusion in Apple Music editorial playlists.
• Videos: Views of any music video available on Apple Music.

Discover Who’s Listening Now

Get real-time insights into how many fans are currently streaming your music. The Listening Now widget shows the number of listeners who have initiated playback at any given moment.

Selecting the widget gives you a detailed view of trends over the past 48 hours. Maximum Listeners indicates the peak number of listeners at any time during this period, while Average Listeners reflects the average number during this timeframe. You can also see your six most-played songs under Top Songs Now.

Note: For privacy reasons, a minimum listener threshold must be met to display Listening Now analytics. Gaps in data may occur if this threshold is not reached.

Track Your Radio Spins

The Radio Spins feature, integrated throughout the Apple Music for Artists platform, allows you to monitor airplay across more than 40,000 radio stations in over 200 countries and regions. Visit the Trends page for detailed insights into which stations play your music the most and which songs from your catalog are most popular. Use the Places page to discover where your music is being broadcast worldwide.

Connect with Listeners Globally

The Places tab in Artist Analytics shows where your listeners are located by city, state, country, or region. Use filters to track the popularity of new releases and identify potential tour locations.

Discover Global Impact and Trends

The Trends tab helps you analyze your music’s performance by comparing listener actions. Apply filters to learn about listener demographics, including gender, age, location, and their favorite songs.

Maximize Shazam Insights

When users Shazam your song, you gain valuable insights into its reach. Learn what happens when someone uses Shazam to identify your track and how this information can benefit you.

Data Availability

Data is displayed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and updates daily. New data may take up to 48 hours to appear in your dashboard.

Different distributors may release your music at various points in your career. We aggregate this data into a single track group, displaying one cover art to represent it.

Note: For financial or royalty queries, please contact your distributor.

Download Your Data

In the Music section, click “See All” to download data from your entire catalog. Ensure you set the date range before downloading your CSV file

Jamvana.com is excited to introduce a suite of powerful new features that provide artists with deep insights into their music’s performance. With real-time data on listener engagement, artists can now track how many fans are currently streaming their tracks, analyze radio spins across 40,000+ stations worldwide, and explore listener demographics by city, state, country, or region. The platform also offers detailed metrics for plays, purchases, Shazams, and video views, helping artists understand what’s driving their success. Additionally, Jamvana.com now includes tools for monitoring trends and milestones, offering a complete picture of your music’s impact. With these features, artists can make informed decisions on where to focus their efforts to maximize their reach and growth.

The post Understand your analytics first appeared on Jamvana.

2023 is right around the corner! 2022 went so quick, and so much was accomplished this year but that doesn’t mean the momentum should slow down in 2023. Why not keep that momentum going far into 2023?

There’s a lot that goes into running a freelancer business, so that’s why we’ve compiled this list for all of our freelancing musicians and creatives out there.

In this article we’ll discuss 15 tasks and habits musicians should start or finish before 2023.

Let’s get started.

1. Organize your expenses and income for tax season

As a freelance musician, you should be keeping detailed inventory on every expense and stream of income you have for taxes. The first step is to gather all the necessary information–like receipts and invoices–that you need before you start filling out any forms or creating new documents. You will want to find out how much money you made from playing shows, selling CDs, and other sources of income as well as what expenses you had during the year.

We know invoices are a pain in the butt, but if you’ve completed work this year but haven’t been paid for it, follow up. Try and get that invoice paid so you can include in 2022’s taxes so you can get started on a clean slate in 2023.

There are a lot of tax preparation companies out there, as well as online options like TurboTax. If you have any tax-specific questions, contact a local CPA.

The IRS offers a variety of tools for tax preparation, too. You can visit the IRS website to take advantage of these tools. If you have any questions about your taxes, you can also call the IRS at 800-829-1040.

2. Finalize any contracts or paperwork

Do you have any contracts or paperwork that you need to sign? Are any of them contracts for work? If so, you may want to review them and get them signed before the new year.

Dealing with contracts and paperwork now will allow you more time in the new year to get started on work and hit the ground runnin’.

If anything needs to be reviewed by your attorney, be sure to send it to them for review.

If you know you’ve received paperwork throughout the year that needs your attention, get to it now. Take the time to go through your email and find them so you’re not wasting time in the new year doing this. Sign up and get started with us here.

3. Cue up songs for distribution

How many songs did you finish but not release this year? Are there any you would like to release in the coming year? Get them cued up for distribution. The songs aren’t and won’t do any good just sitting on your external hard drive. Get them out into the world because you may be surprised at how people react to them.

What songs are you planning to release next year? Are they cued up for distribution? Can they be? If so, get them cued up and enter them into your metadata spreadsheet. That way you’ll have your ISRCs, UPCs, ISWCs, etc, all ready to go. And then you’ll be able to focus on the marketing of each track, EP, or album instead of worrying about distribution.

Jamvana is a music services company that offers music distribution. We are a Spotify-preferred distributor and have direct deals with more than 100 other digital service providers around the world. We also offer a number of other state-of-the-art tools to get your music career off the ground.

4. Get clear on what success looks like for you

Success is not always about making the most money. For some, it is about being able to perform for an audience. For others, success means the ability to make a living off of their music. The key to defining success is figuring out what you want and how you can get there.

For example, if you want to start a band and make money off of it, you should consider how much money that band can potentially make. You can also define success in terms of what the members of your band would like to do.

You may also want to focus on another pillar of your music business, such as touring, sync licensing, or creating more social media content. Each of these will require a number of hours in planning, development, and resources.

Define what success looks like for you and create goals that help you achieve success.

5. Make a list of all the goals for 2023

It is important to set goals for yourself. This will help you achieve your goals and also help you stay motivated.

It is also important to make a list of professional goals, not just personal ones. In order to have a successful career, one must be able to set and achieve professional goals that are in line with their career aspirations.

The best way to keep track of the progress on your goal is by making a list, either in a paper journal or electronically. One should write down what they hope to accomplish by the end of the year and then break it down into monthly increments with specific tasks that need to be completed each month in order for them to reach their goal.

6. Write down every project you have on your plate

Managing multiple projects can be difficult for musicians. However, it is important to take the time to plan and organize your projects so that you can avoid any pitfalls during the new year. This is where project management comes in handy.

Project management software is often used by musicians to help them manage their work and assignments. It helps them stay on track and meet deadlines efficiently. It also helps them prioritize their tasks better and allocate time more efficiently.

Some of the best project management tools are Slack, Asana, and Trello. There are many more, so you should do your research to find the best tools and workflow for you and your team.

7. Upgrade your equipment

With the changing times, it is important to maintain and/or upgrade your equipment. It is necessary to keep up with the latest technology and trends as well as make sure you’re providing the highest quality sound possible for your music as well as your clients.

The new musical instruments, software, and hardware available on the market are better than ever before so the brand of hardware that you purchase is personal preference.

The following are some of the benefits of upgrading your equipment:

• Musicians can now create music with high quality sound
• Musicians can now produce music with sounds that have never been heard before
• With upgraded gear, musicians can experiment more and be more creative in their process

With Christmas just around the corner, new audio gear is always a good gift for a fellow musician.

8. Start or continue to learn music production

Musicians should always work to remain educated and current on all happenings in the music business. Reading publications like Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Variety are good starts for keeping up with the latest music business news.

If you’re looking to learn new music production skills, there are a plethora of creators out there that publish easy-to-follow, affordable courses to learn new skills such as mixing, mastering, songwriting, and production.

You can also check out platforms like MasterClass, LinkedIn Learning, and Skillshare for music-related courses.

Constantly refining your skills is vital if you want to remain fresh and resilient in such a cut-throat business.

9. Learn a new instrument

Learning an instrument can be a rewarding experience. It is also a great way to learn more about the world and how it works. Learning a new instrument will help inspire new musical ideas, too.

The most rewarding instruments to learn are the ones that require more effort and time but offer a greater payoff in the end.

Some of the most rewarding and in-demand instruments are:

• Guitar
• Bass Guitar
• Piano
• Drums
• Violin
• Ukulele

10. Practice time management skills and find a balance between work and leisure time

A lot of musicians are stressed out because they don’t manage their time well. They always feel like they don’t have enough hours in the day to get things done, and that causes unnecessary stress.

It’s important to learn how to manage your time wisely so that you can be more productive at work and have more free time for yourself.

Here are a few tips to help with time management:

• Eat breakfast: Seriously. Don’t skip the most important meal of the day. There’s nothing worse than trying to create and your stomach hurts because you haven’t eaten.
• Time block: This is a bit of a life hack if you ask me. Open up your calendar and put in 25-minute blocks of time that you’re going to work. Research has shown that not many people do this, but it can significantly boost productivity. In the few hours that you block off for, say, music, set a timer. 25-minutes of hard, no-distraction work, then take a 5-minute break. Rinse and repeat. Do this for 2-3 hours, then take a longer break.
• No heavy personal planning: I’ve noticed that when I start trying to plan out what I’m doing for the weekend or getting excited about a future trip, for example, I get yanked out of my creative workflow and find it difficult to get back on track. Save the personal planning for non-work hours—and time block it so it gets done when it’s supposed to and doesn’t bleed into your work.
• Write down goals for the day: Daily goals can be really helpful for when you have a long to-do list of small things to get done. Sit down, knock ‘em all out, and do it again the next day. There is nothing more satisfying than putting a big line or check mark next to something you’ve accomplished!

11. Learn to use social media platforms to promote yourself as a musician

In this day and age, social media is a vital marketing tool for any musician. It can be used to promote your music and shows. It’s also a great way to build your fan base and community.

There are many strategies that you can use as a musician on social media platforms to help promote yourself. You should start by identifying where your audience is most likely to be found on social media, then create an account on those platforms and start engaging with them.

For example, if you have a large following on Instagram but not so much on TikTok, focus more of your time there. You should also think about what kind of content you want to share – do you want it to be personal or professional? What kind of tone do you want it to have?

The best rule you can follow is to be your true, authentic self online.

12. Take care of your mental health by practicing effective self-care strategies

Self-care is a crucial part of being a musician. Musicians are often faced with a lot of stress and anxiety, which can lead to mental health problems.

The music industry has, to some degree, realized the importance of self-care. More and more musicians are being more open about their mental and physical health, reducing the stigma of taking time to care for yourself.

Remember, it’s okay to not be okay.

Some self-care tips for musicians that will help them take care of their mental health and wellness:

• Eat healthy food and drink lots of water
• Exercise regularly
• Sleep well
• Spend time with friends and family
• Get enough sunshine
• Take breaks and as much time off as you need… seriously.

13. Find and follow a routine for self-development

Self-development is an important part of creativity and musicians should take the time to develop themselves in order to be able to create new music.

Developing a routine for self-development can help the musician find more time for creative work.

Some routines are:

• Take care of your mind and body with healthy food, sleep, and exercise
• Spend time with people who inspire you
• Find a creative project that excites you (e.g.: writing a song)
• Find a hobby that’s not music-related so you don’t get exhausted from constantly thinking about music

14. Find what’s holding you back from being more productive or creative

It is important for musicians to take time for self-reflection and find out what’s holding them back from being more productive or creative. It could be anything from a negative mindset to lack of inspiration, or something deeper.

Self-reflection is one of the most important things that a musician can do in order to improve their skills. The first step is to identify what’s holding you back and then take steps towards overcoming it.

For example, if the violinist wants to become a top level violin player, they might need to take lessons from a private teacher. They may have tried learning violin on their own but struggled to do so because of the lack of structure and inability to ask questions. Getting frustrated and struggling to learn something that’s supposed to be fun may be what’s adding stress to your creative process. Taking violin lessons from a private instructor may help alleviate this.

15. Build a network of people who will support you on this journey

It is important to surround yourself with people who will support you on this journey. This can be your family and friends, but also other musicians who have had success and understand what you’re going through better than anybody else. It is also important to go to industry networking events where you can meet people in the industry and find out what they are doing. This will help keep your inspiration and motivation up.

Conclusion

The end of the year is always a stressful time for musicians and creatives, especially for those that freelance their work. Chasing invoices and following up on money is difficult, but when that snowballs into something bigger at a time that is not as convenient it becomes overwhelming. So, cue up those songs for distribution, follow up on any unpaid invoices, and start building good new habits and routines.

Did we forget anything? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 15 Mundane But Important Tasks and Habits Musicians Should Begin or Finish For 2023 first appeared on Jamvana.

The music industry doesn’t make royalties an easy topic. They’re all over the place, and every country has different organizations and rules. Thankfully, you don’t need to know how every country’s royalty collection societies and copyright laws function in order to collect royalties where your music is publicly played, performed, or aired.

However, you should at least understand how royalty payments are divided amongst songwriters, publishers, and artists. We’re going to cover these things in-depth throughout this blog post.

The Basics of the Music Industry Payment Structures and Music Royalties

Music royalties are the money generated by a song or album’s usage. This usage can be a public performance, stream on Spotify, Apple Music, or other digital service provider, or a sync license (which we’ll cover in detail a little later on). Royalties are paid to the copyright holders. There can be one or many. For example, an up-and-coming band may be signed to a contract with a record label that pays them 10% of all revenue created from the sales of their music on physical CDs and streaming services. The individual musicians may then also receive royalties based on their contribution to the song as well as any profits made from publishing royalties.

An independent artist or band, on the other hand, would receive all of those royalties without having the label getting a cut.

Music royalties have evolved a lot over the years, and there are more streams of revenue than ever before in the history of music. And companies like Jamvana, SoundExchange, and Songtrust are helping songwriters, artists, and musicians collect the money and royalties they deserve.

If you’re a songwriter, artist, or musician yourself, these companies provide services such as collection and distribution of mechanical royalties for songs and compositions, collection and distribution of performance royalties for artists and musicians, payment processing services to help manage royalty payments in the digital age, and an administration throughout the process of collecting mechanical royalties with an easy-to-use reporting system so that the publisher, performer and performing rights society can easily see how mechanical royalties are collected and paid.

The Various Types of Royalties Paid to Artists, Songwriters, and Music Publishers

Royalty types vary in terms of the source, what is being paid, and how it is calculated. The following are some common examples of the royalties paid to artists, songwriters, and music publishers:

• Mechanical royalties: These royalties are collected by a mechanical rights administrator on behalf of the songwriter or composer. In the United States, it’s the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) or Songtrust.
• Performance royalties: These royalties are paid to songwriters for “public performances” of their songs. The royalties are collected by performing rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
• Digital performance royalties: Also referred to as “neighboring rights,” these are royalties paid to the sound recording copyright owner such as the artist and/or label for a public performance of the sound recording. These royalties are generated when a sound recording is played via a non-interactive stream (Pandora, SiriusXM). This does not apply to terrestrial radio in the US, unfortunately. This is, however, hopefully on the verge of changing with the introduction of the American Music Fairness Act.
• Sync licensing fees (technically not a royalty): These are upfront fees that are paid to the sound recording and composition copyright holders in exchange for a license to use their music.

We covered the various types of music royalties and how they’re collected in a previous blog post.

How are royalty payments tracked?

Well, this is somewhat of a loaded question because, as you probably know by now, there are multiple streams of royalties. Different companies and collection societies collect different types of royalties, which doesn’t make things easier (and I wish there was one system that collects all of the royalties). That would seemingly make it easier for songwriters, publishers, artists, and labels to collect their royalties.

However, to be brief, royalty payments are usually tracked based on the song’s metadata, which includes the works’ copyright, collaborators, songwriters, publisher, mixing and mastering engineers, studio information, and more. Primarily, though, when referring to “royalties” it’s typically common knowledge that it’s referring to the ones the distributor or label and publisher collect.

The record label and publisher will then pay the artists and songwriters, respectively, that it represents. One way of looking at how royalties are split is that each party who has been involved in the creation of a musical work, such as a recording artist, producer, arranger, or songwriter (collectively referred to as “Music Creators”) may be entitled to a percentage of the royalties, depending on their contribution to the project. A producer may receive credit on the album, but that doesn’t mean they’re entitled to royalties (unless it was previously negotiated).

However, if the producer assisted in writing the lyrics and melodies, then they would also be credited as a songwriter; therefore, entitling them to mechanical and publishing royalties.

Another example would be if there are two songwriters, each of those songwriters could negotiate a 50/50 split for mechanical royalties and publishing. Their publishers—they may be the same or different—will collect and pay out those royalties for them.

Since everything is negotiable, the royalty splits and agreements need to be in writing. These contracts should be written by an attorney so everything is done correctly and fairly. The goal is to avoid disagreements and lawsuits in the future.

How to Track Down Your Music Royalties

Music royalties are royalties that artists receive for the use of their songs by other artists. They can be collected by an artist’s record company or music publisher, or through these companies’ agreements with songwriters and publishers. Royalties from digital downloads are different from selling physical copies of CDs, which is why some artists refer to digital downloads as “streaming.” In order to find out how much a particular song is worth in terms of royalties, an artist should know who created it and who owns the rights to it. The songwriter and/or owner of copyright is the primary individual who would be responsible for payment of royalties.

If you want to collect all of the royalties you’re owed, be sure that you’re signed up to the following services:

• Music distributor (like Jamvana)
• SoundExchange
• Songtrust (or any other admin publisher)
• ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN (or any other performing rights organization)

Those are a few of the most important organizations and companies to get started, but there are more. Sign up to our email list via the sign up box below and we’ll send you the full list.

Conclusion

As you’ve probably learned, music royalties can be divided in any way, shape, or form, as long as they’re negotiated and in writing. In a way, that makes things easy because you have the freedom to negotiate pricing.

Music royalties are an incredibly complex topic and get confusing more often than not, but we’re doing our best to water them down so you can best understand them and easily get paid the ones you’re owed.

Do you have any questions? Leave a comment and we’ll answer them.

The post How Music Royalties Are Divided Between Songwriters, Publishers and Artists first appeared on Jamvana.

Music royalties are a complicated topic in the music industry, and things are constantly evolving. Apple Music, for example, pays a different amount of royalties than Spotify, TIDAL, and other digital service providers. Once those royalties are collected by your distributor, they need to be allocated to the appropriate copyright holders. But how much? When? Do I only need a music distributor to collect all of my royalties?

These are the questions we’re going to be answering in this blog post.

What are music royalties and who gets them?

Music royalties are the fees that an artist earns for their work when it is played on the radio, streamed on a streaming service, or downloaded on Beatport, among other things. They are paid by streaming services, radio stations, TV networks, and other companies or artists who play an artist’s music in a public setting. The keyword here is public. Performing a song or playing a song on Spotify for a private birthday party at your house is not a public performance; therefore, you do not need to acquire the proper licenses to play it. Performing that song at a club or coffee shop is a public performance and requires the proper license and permission from the copyright holders.

Royalties paid out by streaming services to music distributors is set on a per-song basis and it is usually paid out to the master copyright owner(s), which is typically the artist or label. Songwriter(s) and publisher(s) are also paid, but they are not paid by the distributor. However, some music distributors have the ability to collect and pay out mechanical royalties.

Songwriters can also earn a percentage of revenue from concerts where their songs are performed live or from merchandise sales if they have signed an exclusive publishing agreement with a particular company. These are called “360 deals.”

If you’re an artist and performing your music publicly at a local venue, you can earn royalties. That’s considered a public performance, and you should submit a setlist to your PRO ahead of time.

5 Different Types of Music Royalties and How They are Collected

Musicians are entitled to different types of royalties for their work. These royalties are collected by different entities, and the amount that is paid to the musician varies from one type of royalty to another.

Let’s take a look at the different types of royalties and how they’re collected.

Mechanical Royalties: This type of royalty is collected by a mechanical rights administrator on behalf of the songwriter or composer. In the United States, it’s the Mechanical Licensing Collective. Songtrust also collects these royalties, so if you’re registered with them you do not need to sign up to the MLC. The mechanical royalty is typically paid every time a song is streamed or sold. The amount that is paid can vary depending on a number of factors such as streaming vs. digital sales, international rates, etc.

Performance Royalties: This type of royalty is collected by performing rights organizations, such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, who collect money for public performances like radio broadcasts, TV broadcasts, live performances in theaters and nightclubs, etc. This money will go directly to the songwriters and not the publishers. However, according to Royalty Exchange, this landscape is changing, and publishers are wanting a bigger piece of the pie. The amount that you get paid for a song on Spotify, for example, depends on which country you’re in, but it’s typically between $0.00055 and $0.017 per stream, according to iGroove.

Streaming Royalties: A “streaming royalty” is a royalty that is paid to the sound recording copyright owner(s) and is negotiated between music distributors and streaming services. Every distributor negotiates a different rate, and this information is typically not publicly available. The streaming services commonly pay out 50% of their revenue to the artists on their platform, according to Soundcharts. This revenue is then split up amongst all of the artists. “The split is determined by ‘share of content’ or the number of streams a given artist has on the platform divided by all streams on the platform,” per Soundcharts.

Neighboring Rights/Digital Performance Royalties: This one’s a little confusing, but neighboring rights are similar to the public performance royalties that are paid to songwriters, except these royalties are paid out to the sound recording owners for public performances. In the United States, terrestrial radio does not pay out these royalties. Other countries do. Non-interactive streams (Pandora, SiriusXM) do earn royalties. Neighboring rights can also be considered “digital performance royalties,” but they do have a few slight differences. The organization that collects the digital performance royalties is SoundExchange.

Still confused? Sign up to our email list, and we’ll send you our music distribution checklist. It will walk you through every organization you need to sign up with and register your music.

How Digital Platforms Have Changed the Way We Collect Royalties

The music industry has changed drastically over the last few decades, and it’s only going to continue changing at a rapid pace. Digital service providers turned the music industry on its head and forced a paramount revolution in the music business.

Artists and labels didn’t have to focus on selling physical products anymore. They could distribute music to Spotify and have an infinite amount of people listen to the music without ever running out. Every time that music is streamed or downloaded (back in the days of iTunes) the artists, labels, songwriters, and publishers would get paid.

The industry at large has made significant strides towards this digital world, but legislatively it’s years behind. However, we are beginning to see progress.

Digital Services That Pay the Most for Artists’ Royalties

With the music industry constantly being in an ever-evolving state, streaming services are constantly updating and revising the amount that they pay out to the artists and songwriters on their platforms.

According to Producer Hive, the five highest paying streaming services are TIDAL, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music.

TIDAL: $0.01284 per stream

Apple Music: $0.008 per stream

Amazon Music: $0.00402 per stream

Spotify: $0.00318 per stream

YouTube Music: $0.002 per stream

Note: This is only for the streaming royalties and not for mechanicals, publishing, or performance royalties.

How do I get paid for my songs?

There are multiple ways that musicians can collect all royalties for their songs. One way is to register with a PRO (Performing Rights Organization) like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Another way is to register with SoundExchange, which we discussed above. They’ll collect the digital performance royalties for the sound recordings.

Registration with a PRO allows you to collect royalties for broadcast performances of your song, such as on TV or radio.

You’ll also want to register with a music distributor, like Jamvana, in order to release your music to the streaming services and collect your royalties.

Registration with these organizations provides you the best opportunity to start collecting your royalties, but there are more.

Sign up to our email list to receive a free PDF guide with all of the organizations you should register with to collect all of your royalties.

Conclusion

Music royalties are a complicated topic in the music business, but they’re vital for all music professionals to understand. Signing up and registering with the appropriate organizations now will alleviate any stress and confusion later down the road when you get that smash hit—or career changing sync placement.

The post How Music Royalties are Collected and What You Need to Know About Them: The Complete Guide first appeared on Jamvana.

With most things in music, it depends. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into account before jumping in and signing your name on anything, especially one that will be handling any form of your intellectual property.

Most producers, songwriters, and musicians don’t want to put any of their hard earned money in a deal that will benefit a company more than them.

It’s worth noting that a music distribution deal is different from a music distribution service. Digital music distribution companies, like Jamvana, provide a service for independent musicians. They act as a middleman between musicians and digital service providers to get your music online; however, most of them do not offer physical distribution.

What is a music distribution deal?

A music distribution deal is a contract between a record label and a music distributor. The distributor will then distribute the music to various retailers, such as iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon who will sell the music to consumers.

According to The Balance Careers, “Under the manufacture and distribution deal, the distributor pays for the manufacturing costs of an album beginning with the pressing process, all the way through to printing of the labels.”

Music distribution deals are common for record labels, such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group. Such deals can be used to spread the risk of selling their music by selling it through a variety of channels instead of just one distributor.

What are the benefits of a music distribution deal?

A distribution deal can be beneficial for artists in many ways. It can help them get their music out there to the masses, increase their sales, and make connections with other industry professionals.

But, there are some artists that make the mistake of not understanding how distribution works and therefore get scammed out of their hard earned money and time.

Music distribution deals aren’t always favorable for the artists and its label, though. They function similar to a record label deal, but they are in heavy favor for the manufacturer. This is because the manufacturer is the one who has the most expenses in the distribution process. They have the vinyl, CDs, hardware, software, and equipment to move through this process. High quality equipment isn’t cheap.

Until this money has been recouped, the record label will not receive payment. If the label has a lot of releases that need physical distribution then this could run up the label’s bill with the distributor.

Additionally, if the records simply don’t perform well in stores and earn the label money then the label may operate at a loss in this distribution deal.

What is the difference between a music distribution deal and record label deal?

Record label deals are typically a more expensive way to release your music. They also have a lot of strings attached, such as the right to distribute your music and the right to release your albums independently. Some labels will own the master rights in perpetuity, so you won’t be able to touch them, unfortunately.

Music distribution deals, however, can be less expensive and they allow you to retain all of the rights to your music. They also don’t require you to sign away any publishing rights or distribution rights.

How to find the right music distribution deal

The best way to find the best deals for your needs is to research and compare different offers, different labels and distributors, which will help you get the most out of your music.

Start your research by looking at the market share of a company and see companies they distribute to, among other things. Is their customer service good? What is their distribution process like? Who are some other artists they’ve worked with in the past? What success have they seen?We talked about how to find the best music distributor in a previous blog post.

Conclusion

If you’re a record label and looking to expand your offerings to your roster, then a distribution deal may be an avenue you’ll want to explore. Just remember to weigh your options and do your research before signing anything.

Independent musicians, on the other hand, will likely find that a music distribution deal isn’t something they need at the current moment. In fact, it may be best to spend your marketing money on other things, such as advertisements, brand partnerships, and quality mixing and mastering.

The post Music Distribution Deals in 2022: What Are They And Do I Need One? first appeared on Jamvana.

The word “stores” has evolved quite immensely over the past few decades. 20 years ago, “stores” meant major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. While that still may be the case ever-so-slightly, it’s certainly not the primary location for music to go anymore.

The music industry has shifted to a heavily digital realm, with Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL, among others, leading the way.

One may argue that this transition into digital has done more harm than good for music, but you could also argue that it has provided fans the ability to discover new music and rediscover music they listened to in the childhood years. Streaming services have given music consumers easy access to vast catalogs with music they’ve never heard before by opening their worlds to new sounds, artists, and fan communities.

With digital service providers like Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music having catalogs of more than 75 million songs available readily available, the journey into music discovery is a nostalgic and exhilarating experience. The simplicity of a mobile application and $10/month for a subscription you can gain access to every one of these songs from all over the world. Having access to 75 million+ songs even 20 years ago was unprecedented.

So even though music has become more accessible for consumers and the barrier of entry into music distribution isn’t a major record contract or distribution deal, musicians and artists from all around the world are able to share their stories with a few clicks of their mouse.

Companies like Jamvana, TuneCore, DistroKid, and CD Baby are a few of the modern day de facto digital distribution services.

But who distributed music before DistroKid and Jamvana? How did music get into stores? Who was able to distribute music before them? What were the mediums that people used over the years? What about music distribution has changed over the years?

A lot has, and we’re going to dissect exactly how music distribution has evolved over the last 100 years. This will give us a bird’s eye view at exactly what has changed and provide good insight on what will continue to evolve in the wave of the industry.

Let’s take a closer look at how recorded music distribution and consumption evolved over the past 100 years.

1920s – Sheet music is at its prime

The 1920s era of the music industry brought about revolutionary change. During the 19^th century, sheet music was a primary medium music was distributed. Radio was beginning to take over during the mid-1920s and proved to be a challenge for sheet music. While sheet music was still ever-present, it was beginning to dwindle due to the new technology of radio.

According to A Voice., “Until the 1920s, the music business was dominated not by major record labels, but by song publishers and big vaudeville and theater concerns. Sheet music consistently outsold records of the same hit songs, proving that most of the music heard in homes and in public back then was played by people, not record players.”

Assumingly, consumers of music became more interested in listening to the original recorded song instead of renditions interpreted by people playing the sheet music.

1930s – Introduction of vinyl and phasing out of old shellac-made records

The vinyl record was introduced in the 1930s, 60 years after Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. “Phonograph parlors” were popular in the 1890s and were like the more modern jukebox. However, the way that these physical records were made caused them to be less than durable due to them being made of flimsy shellac.

1940s – 45RPM and 78RPM vinyl records introduced

The 78 RPM vinyl record was introduced in 1948, and it was standardized to 33 1/3 RPM shortly thereafter. 33/13 RPMs allowed for around 25-minutes of audio on each side, for a total of 55-minutes.

45 RPM vinyl records were much cheaper than their 33 1/3 RPM counterparts, as they only contained two singles: one on each side. Both mediums remained the primary format during the late ‘40s and throughout the 1950s.

1950s – Vinyl remains the prime medium for music listening

The 1950s was one of the most prominent decades in music history. Elvis Presley rose to fame and became the “King of Rock ‘N Roll.” Record labels like RCA, Columbia, and Decca dominated the scene. Each label was focusing on the freshly emerging rock music from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s as well as classical music.

Look at how vinyl records were made in the 1950s and ‘60s.

In 1958, RCA revolutionized the music consumption experience by introducing the RCA tape cartridge. It allowed for 60-minutes of high-quality audio on magnetic tape, but it proved to be a flop. Consumers weren’t purchasing the tape cartridge players, so they were removed from shelves in 1964 and replaced with the 8-track tape.

1960s – The (short-lived) reign of the 8-track tape

As technology progressed, and the music industry saw an increase in music consumption, innovations were underway. Throughout the ‘60s, many vehicle manufacturers installed 8-track players in their cars which is part of the reason why the 8-track player became standardized. In the late ‘60s, Ford was offering owners without 8-tracks installed in their cars to upgrade to an 8-track.

1970s – Introducing the Sony Walkman

As vehicles with cassette players became popular in the ‘60s, cassettes were cemented in and weren’t going anywhere. When 1979 came around, Sony introduced perhaps the most innovative piece of technology: The Walkman. It was a portable device that allowed consumers to listen to cassettes from their own homes.

This portable device made it so music could be more accessible and not tied to a car radio. It quite literally revolutionized the way people listened to music.

1980s – Vinyl fades, and compact discs (CDs) rise

The earlier ‘80s brought in the compact discs (CDs). This format became the standard format in 1980 and, according to MUO, made it easier for manufacturers to get into the business.

In 1983, the industry saw a trend of vinyl slowly fading away. This same year cassette tapes outsold vinyl. Vinyl wasn’t as portable as the Sony Walkman, and music consumption was entering the world of even higher fidelity audio.

1990s – CDs become increasingly more popular ahead of the Napster-led digital age

Cassette tapes remained dominant until the early ‘90s. The Sony Walkman’s technology was prevalent and went through a few iterations since it launched in 1979. This is when the compact discs (CDs) took the industry and world by storm. They provided a clean, high-quality sound that was affordable and easy to transport.

Music distribution company CD Baby was founded in 1998 by musician Derek Sivers. They partnered with Oasis Disc Manufacturing and became an early digital distribution partner of iTunes in 2004.

In June of 1999, peer-to-peer file sharing application Napster opened its digital doors and began its pulverization of CDs. CDs remained a dominant medium, but they were a huge factor in Napster’s success.

2000s – CDs peak and decline, and Napster and peer-to-peer file sharing ramp up

Peer-to-peer file sharing platform Napster catapulted the digital era of music. 80 million users on the platform were able to “rip” their CDs on their computers and upload the MP3 files into Napster’s application. Other Napster users could search for the music they wanted to listen to and illegally download them to their computer for free, similar to how we search through Apple Music and Spotify today.

Napster was only able to keep its doors open for just over two years due to major copyright infringement lawsuits from bands, artists, and companies like Metallica, Dr. Dre, and the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Napster opened the doors for innovation in the illegal file sharing space, and companies like RapidShare, Zippyshare, and Megaupload popped up to fill the void Napster no longer filled. These file sharing companies cut into major labels’ profits quite heavily but chasing after them proved to be difficult because they weren’t located in the United States. Copyright owners were playing a game of whack-a-mole chasing these companies.

The invention of Apple’s iPod on October 23^rd, 2001, shifted the focus of illegal downloading to purchasing singles, EPs, and albums via iTunes and other digital stores. Microsoft introduced a similar product called the Zune in November of 2006. As consumers were able to own an exciting piece of technology, they could purchase and download the music they love for cheap and listen to it as many times as they wanted—all for the similar price of a CD. Additionally, instead of buying an entire CD consumers could buy individual tracks off an album.

YouTube launched in 2005 and added another peg into the climb into digital streaming. YouTube remains the largest streaming service in the world.

Then came Spotify in 2008, which revolutionized the digital music streaming market forever.

2010s – Phasing out physical music and then bringing it back

During the 2010s in the music industry, music distribution was largely digital. Streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL have dominated consumer music streaming. The rise in “bedroom music producers” grew exponentially, and digital music distribution services like Jamvana, UnitedMasters, DistroKid, and more increased.

During the earlier part of the decade, CDs were still a big portion of sales. In fact, they were at their peak; however, they slowly faded out as streaming platforms became more prevalent and understood. Towards the latter part of the decade, physical sales in the form of vinyl and even cassette tapes have trended upwards.

While most artists were focused on digital distribution, physical distribution is also becoming equally as important. But printing vinyl isn’t cheap and it has become increasingly more difficult to print them in bulk amidst the pandemic.

2020s and beyond – The return of physical music in vinyl, cassette, and… NFTs?

Physical music sales have exploded, and the hip new trend of owning a physical album or single is becoming more important to consumers. The crackling of a vinyl record or skipping of scratched CD just isn’t a feature that’s as unique and replicable in digital streaming—artists and the labels want sheer perfection, but consumers don’t. The perfections lie in the imperfections.

As we continue to see physical sales trend upwards, it will be interesting to see how the music industry reacts. Will they continuing to push vinyl? Cassette tapes? Or will we stay in the digital world and keep selling NFTs?

Conclusion

Digital music streaming certainly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but we may see more trends as demand for physical products increases. Digital music distributors may need to evolve and adopt methods of providing clients with options of physical distribution, which may include partnering with vinyl pressing plants, as some have in the past.

Musicians having the ability to provide their fans with exclusive pressings of CDs, vinyl, or other physical mediums will increase brand awareness, growth opportunities, and an added revenue stream. If fans want to pay you, let them.

The post How Has Music Distribution and Consumption Changed Over the Last 100 Years? first appeared on Jamvana.

In this article we’re going to be answering a few of the common questions an independent musician should ask themselves before and as they’re digging into the research.

Quick side note: If you’re signed to a label or releasing a track through a record label, then they will distribute your track for you.

We also discussed this topic on The Vana Room podcast.

Pricing

“This sounds great, but how much is this going to cost me?”

Us independent musicians don’t have a lot of extra dough laying around—but we can if we set everything up correctly.

One of the first things you’ll want to figure out before deciding on a music distributor is figure out how their pricing is structured. Are they charging monthly, yearly, free for a fee, or per release?

Let’s discuss what each one means.

Monthly

Some music distributors offer a monthly subscription fee, such as LANDR and Jamvana. This can be costly in comparison to other services because most musicians only release a handful of tracks or one album per year.

However, if you can afford it and the services and features that the music distributor offers would be helpful to your music then this may be a good option.

Jamvana, for example, offers a suite of features with the monthly subscription. You receive detailed and transparent royalty reports, a promo email platform, pre-saves, and so much more. Sign up with Jamvana here.

Yearly

Yearly pricing plans are the most common for music distributors. DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby all offer yearly pricing.

Depending on the distributor, their yearly fee will cover everything you need to get your music released on the digital service platforms.

Some distributors with this pricing structure may limit you to the number of releases you can distribute per year, and some will allow for unlimited releases.

Free for a fee

Some music distribution companies will have a free tier at the cost of keeping a percentage of your royalties. RouteNote offers this.

With a distributor like RouteNote, you’re able to release an unlimited number of tracks but they will keep a percentage of what they collect. If you’re just getting started and don’t have the extra budget to throw at a monthly or yearly subscription for a distributor, then this may be a good option.

However, if your track starts to do well and gain traction then this may not be a good idea in regard to pricing.

For example, if your track “XYZ” gets 5,000 streams on Spotify, which equates to roughly $20, then 15% of that isn’t too bad. But if your track gets 1 million streams on Spotify, which would be about $3,000-$7,000, 15% is a big chunk to give to the distributor. Even at $3,000, that would equate to roughly $450, which is quite expensive for distribution for one track.

Per release

Some music distribution companies will charge a certain amount per release. RouteNote also offers this.

Rather than paying a monthly or yearly fee, you simply pay a specified amount per release. The way this works with RouteNote is that you’ll pay a one-time fee of $9.99 for the track you want to “upgrade.” Once complete, they’ll no longer take 15% of your royalties and you’ll keep 100% of them, in addition to a few other perks.

Takedown requests

Sometimes our music no longer reflects our sound or there’s a conflict between two collaborators, so we need to take a track or album down from the streaming services.

Before signing up to a music distributor, you should find out how they handle these requests. How long does it typically take to process? Is there a specific department you contact? Do the takedowns cost anything? If so, how much?

Add-on services

Add-on services in music distribution are small upcharges that give your track or album additional features. For example, the price of sending your music to Shazam isn’t included in the monthly or yearly fee you pay. Instead, you can add-on distribution to Shazam for $1.99 for a single.

Depending on the distributor, there may be a handful of add-ons you can select from. Check which add-ons, if any, the distributor offers before signing up to see if any of them would be beneficial for your music.

Miscellaneous expenses

As mentioned above, distributors will quite often provide add-on services. Some of them are clear and some of them aren’t. For example, you may have to pay to have your track taken down. You may also have to pay for ISRCs, UPCs, or even pre-orders. These can be costly for a single release if they’re in addition to a subscription plan.

Every music distribution company operates differently by providing different “upsells” or hidden fees. It’s best to determine exactly what’s included in your subscription plan and what is not.

Extra opportunities

Many music distributors function like a label these days by offering extra services in addition to distribution. For example, some distributors, mostly the ones owned by major labels, may upstream you into a label deal if your music is performing well.

Most distributors will offer in-house playlist pitching services. This means that they will actively send your music to DSPs’ playlist editors for inclusion on their high-profile playlists. Jamvana offers this. If a distributor takes a percentage of your royalties, then this is something that benefits you and them. The more streams they get on your track, the more their cut of your royalties is.

Some distributors may also help with marketing, and they act as a label services. If this is the case, then the distributor may take a percentage of your royalties in return. AWAL functions as a music distributor but also has a lot of label services for their artists.

Customer support

Customer support is one of the most important aspects of any company. Building a product and knowing exactly how it works means your company is the only one that knows the product inside and out.

Music distribution happens at all hours of the day, every day, 365 days per year. If you release a song on a Sunday morning and something goes wrong, is your distributor available to help? How are they available? Email? Chat? Phone? What’s the turnaround time to get a response? Chances are you are not interested in waiting 72+ hours to get a response.

This is one of the first things we recommend researching and confirming before signing up to any music distributor.

Direct or third-party services

Music distributors often have direct contracts with digital service providers. Some distributors have contracts with a third-party company like FUGA that handles the distribution to the service providers. There are pros and cons to each one, but the benefits of the distributor having direct contracts seemingly outweighs them not. Here are a few:

1. Fewer middlemen: If a distributor uses another party to get your music onto service providers, then that’s one extra company to cause errors.
2. Fewer hands in the cookie jar: Since that third party company is providing your distributor a service, they’re going to get paid. Who’s paying for it? Are they taking a cut of your royalties?
3. Fewer chances of inaccurate reporting: If the distributor must get stream reports from the third-party company, then everybody’s waiting on that company. That company sends it to your distributor. Your distributor updates that report to reflect their cut (if any) of the royalties, and then sends it to you. This can delay reports by months—and leaves plenty of room for accounting error.
4. Faster reporting: As mentioned in the previous point, the fewer the companies involved means that there’s quicker reporting.

How do I find a music distributor?

The best way to find a music distributor is to search “music distributor” on Google. Soundcharts has a great post going over the different types of music distributors. There are a number of really good music distribution comparisons available.

Which is the best independent music distributor?

The best independent music distributor is the one that works for you. While you may argue that one distributor has more features or better pricing, it’s not entirely accurate to say, “ABC is the best.” That distributor may not work at all for someone distributing Indonesian 1940s folk-styled jazz.

Which distributor is best for Spotify?

Jamvana is one of the best music distributors for Spotify. They are a Spotify-preferred music distributor, which means they are staying above the threshold of Spotify’s metadata and formatting requirements when delivering tracks.

Do music distribution companies own your masters?

No. Unless you’ve signed a music distribution deal with them that states they own your masters, you will retain all rights to your sound recordings/masters.

Do music distribution companies own your music publishing?

No. Music distribution companies typically do not handle music publishing. Your publisher (which is oftentimes you) will own your publishing.

What distributor do famous artists use?

Famous artists typically use major label distributors, which include INgrooves, The Orchard, and Caroline International, among others. These distribution companies are most oftentimes owned by the record label. For example, The Orchard is owned by Sony Music.

The post How to Choose the Best Music Distributor for Independent Musicians first appeared on Jamvana.

The two are both very important when it comes to exposing music to the public. Music distribution is the process in getting your music to the streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL) as well as in physical form (CDs, vinyl), and music publishing is for exploiting compositions for additional revenue streams through fees and royalties.

In this post we’re going to explain the differences between music distribution and music publishing and why they both play such a critical role in music.

But before we dig in, we need to clarify a few small things (it won’t take long, I promise).

Two Types of Copyright in Music: Sound Recording and Composition/Lyrics

In music, there are two types of copyrights: one for the sound recording and one for the composition/lyrics.

The sound recording is the actual audio of the song. The composition/lyrics (song) are what is being recorded in the sound (audio) recording, like the notes, chords, melodies, and lyrics. And both can have the same or different copyright owner(s), but this is a different and extensive topic.

To keep it short: Typically, record labels own the sound recording and publishing companies own the composition/lyrics. An independent artist will own both, which is great because they’ll get more control and money!

Now that we’ve made this distinguished this, let’s feast on the meat and potatoes of this post.

What is music distribution?

Music distribution is the process artists, musicians, and record labels use to make their music publicly available on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, and Beatport, as well physical (CDs, vinyl). It’s worth noting that some music distributors don’t handle physical distribution.  

Unlike SoundCloud, musicians will need what’s called a music distributor or aggregator to release their music on the streaming services. Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, and all the other services do not allow musicians to upload music directly to their platform. This is to ensure music is being uploaded and ingested into their system with the correct metadata and formatting. Imagine how messy Spotify and Apple Music would be if artists could upload music directly. Yikes!

These music distributors oftentimes have direct contracts with each streaming service they deliver to. Some are indirect with the streaming services and use a third-party service to white label their product. These contracts include several stipulations, including how much per stream the distributor will collect from the service provider. This information is typically hidden and not available to the public.

What companies are music distributors?

There are music distribution companies located all around the world. Each one offers a different set of features, and charges accordingly. Asking which music distributor is best is subjective. They all do similar things, so you simply have to find one within a price range and feature set that works for you.

The most common music distribution companies include:

• DistroKid
• TuneCore
• Jamvana
• CD Baby
• Amuse
• UnitedMasters
• RouteNote
• Symphonic Distribution
• Songtradr

There are certainly a lot more music distributors out there, and we recommend researching each of them to find one that works best for you.

Now let’s talk about music publishing.

What is music publishing?

Music publishing is the process songwriters use to make their musical compositions publicly available and monetized. A music publishing company is also responsible for collecting the royalties associated with those compositions, as well as promoting the songwriters for collaborations, public performances, and reproduction of their compositions.

There are three important royalties for music publishing:

• Mechanical royalties: This is a royalty paid to songwriters by other artists or companies that want to record, reproduce, and distribute their composition.
• Public performance royalties: This royalty is paid to songwriters anytime their composition is publicly performed.
• Synchronization fees: While not particularly a royalty, a synchronization fee is paid to the songwriter and/or their music publisher to use the composition in an audio-visual project (like a movie or TV show).

What companies collect music publishing royalties?

BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), and Songtrust all collect one of the pillars of music publishing royalties. But none of them collect all of them (I wish!).

In the United States, BMI, SESAC, ASCAP are the performing rights organizations (PROs). They will collect public performance royalties. If you’re a songwriter, you’ll need to affiliate with one (and only one!) to collect your public performance royalties. One PRO isn’t necessarily better than the other. It’s simply a matter of preference and which one offers events and opportunities that suit your music.

The Mechanical Licensing Collective, or MLC, will collect the mechanical royalties that are paid by the streaming services through the blanket license they must obtain to list on their platform. The MLC is free to sign-up, and we recommend creating an account.

If you’re using Songtrust, you don’t need to sign up to the MLC. Songtrust already collects these mechanical royalties for you.

Lastly, for the synchronization fees, there is no company or organization that collects these. In the United States, the synchronization fees must be negotiated directly with the copyright owners for both the sound recording and publishing. As a songwriter, they’ll be paid directly to you and/or your publisher. This procedure is called “sync licensing,” and the fees are paid upfront by the licensor.

However, if, for example, that license is for an advertisement in an automotive company’s commercial, you will receive royalties every time that commercial is aired or publicly performed. Those royalties would be collected by your PRO.

All these details would be outlined in-depth in a contract, so it would be impossible to outline all or any scenario accurately within a blog post without seeing a contract.

Do music distributors collect mechanical royalties?

Typically, no, but some music distributors do have the capability to collect your mechanical royalties.

Your distributor’s primary purpose is to get the sound recordings delivered to the streaming services and collect some of the revenue earned on the streams of the sound recording. I say “some” because your distributor doesn’t collect all your sound recording’s royalties (Again, I wish!).

Conclusion

Music distribution and music publishing are vastly different and can often be confused with one another when discussing them. Music publishing is tied to the distribution of the sound recording because the lyrics and compositions are embedded into the recording.

Music publishing has different pillars of royalties and several organizations that will collect those royalties. The sound recording also has multiple companies that collect those royalties.

But now that you understand the two you won’t get them confused. If you do still have questions, comment below and we’ll answer them.

The post Music Distribution vs. Music Publishing – What’s The Difference? first appeared on Jamvana.

Our mission is to keep the technical stuff simple for you so you can focus on growing as an creator.

About Jamvana

Since 2008, Orlando, Florida-based music distribution company Jamvana has transformed its technology to better serve labels, creators, and marketers. We strive in building the correct relationship with our clients, for their needs. Although having distributed more than 1 million sound recordings, Jamvana has maintained its mission of providing the best service for its clients. We quality control our catalog to better serve the digital service provider.

Check us out on Spotify’s Provider Directory along with all the great services out there!

If you’re interested in using Jamvana to distribute your next release, sign up here to get started.

The post Spotify Accepts Jamvana as a Preferred Distribution Partner first appeared on Jamvana.