Manufacturing and Distribution

Manufacturing and Distribution: Before and After

Certainly every singer, songwriter and or producer, has the wish to one day walk into their local Walmart, BestBuy, FYE, etc., and see their work on sale, ready to share with the world. While this would be a dream for all, there is a lot of work that goes into making this dream come true. To set it all off, there has to be a Manufacturing and Distribution Deal made. This is usually made between the distributor and the record label.

Most times, the distributor will pay for all of the manufacturing involved in getting the product ready to sale. The product will then be distributed to all affiliates of the distributor. This is where those local stores come into play. In return, they will receive 100% of the profit until the manufacturing costs have been repaid. While there may be some distributors who do not require 100% from the start, this is quite common.

While it may take quite some time to be offered a manufacturing and distribution deal, there are several platforms that allow artists to share their music with the world. It is not uncommon for artists to use such platforms as iTunes, CDBaby, ReverbNation, etc. to make their music available digitally. These are platforms that can be set up and used by the artist directly. As a new artist, I would suggest utilizing these tools. When the opportunity arises, and a distribution deals is afforded to you, it will simply add on to the established fan base you have already generated.

http://musicians.about.com/od/glossary/g/Distribution.htm

http://www.reverbnation.com/band-promotion/how-to-sell-music-on-itunes

It's Beyond the Copyright

It’s beyond the copyright

After long sleepless nights and your mind going 100 miles per minute at times, you have finally finished writing a new song, or creating a new piece of work. First order of business, suggested to you by any and everyone is to make sure that you copyright your new piece of work. Now, obviously the copyright is important, simply to make sure that no one else can steal you work, or duplicate it and claim it as their own. The only issue is, no money is generated from copyrights.

This is where publishing comes into play. To receive the appropriate payouts/royalties for your new piece of work, it is imperative that you register it with a publishing company. It is quite common for new artists to register themselves with their own publishing company. It can be nice to eliminate the extra and make sure your royalties come directly to you, through your company.  But where do you go and who do you talk to, to register your publishing company?

Three of the major industry leaders in music rights management and providing royalties for publishers, composers, and authors, are American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and EMI Music

Through each of these companies, a new artist, publisher or author, can register themselves as such, and begin to receive all of the performance rights and royalties that are due them. When deciding which company is best for you to join, do your research on each one. It is imperative to find out which performing rights company caters mainly to your genre of music or works. The companies may even differ in the schedule they use to do royalty payouts, i.e. yearly, quarterly, etc.

There are several factors that will go into choosing the best performance rights company for you. Best thing to do it, make sure you choose one and begin registering yourself and your work, immediately.