Music Rights 101: What Every Independent Artist Must Know

## You Own Your Music — But Do You Know What That Means? When you write and record a song, you automatically own two separate copyrights: 1. **The composition** (melody + lyrics) — publishing right 2. **The sound recording** (the actual audio file) — master right Understanding this split is the foundation of everything. ## The Two Rights and Who Pays Them ### Publishing (Composition) Every time your song is **performed, streamed, or broadcast**, the composition earns royalties. These are collected by PROs (Performing Rights Organizations): - 🇮🇹 Italy: SIAE - 🇬🇧 UK: PRS - 🇺🇸 USA: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC - 🌍 Global: register with your local PRO and they handle reciprocal agreements ### Master (Sound Recording) Every time the **specific recording** is streamed or licensed, the master earns: - **Streaming royalties** → paid by Spotify, Apple Music, etc. to your distributor - **Sync fees** → paid when your recording is used in film, TV, ads ## Streaming Royalties — The Real Numbers | Platform | Per Stream (avg) | |----------|------------------| | Spotify | €0.003–€0.005 | | Apple Music | €0.007–€0.01 | | Tidal | €0.012–0.015 | | YouTube Music | €0.001–€0.002 | You need ~250,000 Spotify streams/month to earn minimum wage. This is why **sync licensing** matters. ## Sync Licensing — The Hidden Goldmine A single sync placement can pay: - TV commercial: €500–€50,000 - TV show (background): €200–€5,000 - Film (featured): €2,000–€100,000+ To get sync placements: 1. Register with sync licensing platforms (Musicbed, Artlist, Epidemic Sound) 2. Keep instrumentals ready — music supervisors often need stems 3. Register every track with your PRO **before** pitching ## The One Thing You Must Do Today Register your PRO membership and register every track you release. It costs nothing and ensures you're collecting all royalties owed to you — including backdated payments once you register.

Music Rights 101: What Every Independent Artist Must Know

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