ROYALTES & METADATA

Music streaming services don’t pay much, which is a problem, but there’s a good chance you’re not collecting the (insulting amount of) money that they ARE paying you.

Majority of the music that we’ve released has been released in the US, and I’ve signed up for the following PRO’s (Performing Rights Organization) and CMO’s (Collective Management Organization). Each collect different types of royalties and are not in conflict with each other. If you live outside the US, check out this list of CISAC Members and ASCAP’s list of Affiliated Foreign Societies.

When a track is streamed or played, the DSP (Digital Service Provider: Spotify, YouTube, Etc.) reports to a CMO (Collective Management Organization) and a PRO (Performing Rights Organization). These companies collect the royalties given to them by the DPS’s and distribute the money accordingly. Having your codes and ID’s properly registered helps with more accurate reporting and distribution by the whole chain.

CODES TO KNOW:

ISRC – International Standard Recording Code
Every track should have an ISRC

ISWC – International Standard Music Work Code
Every track should have an ISWC

BOWI – Musical Works Code
Every track should have a BOWI, though I’ve never seen any BOWI numbers outside of the Quansic site.

ISNI – International Standard Name Identifier
Each band member AND band/artist should have an ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier).
ISNI’s are available for free (via Vevasound) at Quansic.com.

Check Quansic to see if you already have an ISNI with their Data Explorer. You can also search for your music to get your ISRC’s, ISWC’s, and BOWI numbers.

IPI – Interested Party Information
IPI’s are given when you sign up for ASCAP or BMI. You should have a songwriter IPI and a publisher IPI.

WHERE TO REGISTER

If you live in the US, you should register for:
ASCAP or BMI (Writer AND publisher account for each band member)
TheMLC.com (Using your publishing IPI given to you by ASCAP or BMI)
SoundExchange.com (Using your publishing IPI given to you by ASCAP or BMI)

A more complete list of CMO’s and PRO’s can be found on the HERE. Keep in mind, this list is on a service called SongTrust, which claims to collect from every company worldwide. They take 15% on top of the 10% that the CMO’s and PRO’s take. If you’ve been releasing music for a while, it might make sense to sign up for TheMLC, SoundExchange, etc. and get the bulk of unclaimed royalties before joining SongTrust to avoid paying their commissions. I can’t advocate for SongTrust but they have good resources for education.

METADATA

When an album gets mastered, the mastering engineer should embed the metadata. Metadata consists of attributes that describe the audio contents. Title, artist name, date of recording, ISRC, website, album art are all examples of metadata. There’s a file called a RIN (Recording Information Notification) that should accompany any release, and will stay with the release forever. RIN files can be created using Veva Collect free version.