4 Music Business Keys Artists Should Learn to Win
Written By: Kierstyn Pryor
While creating and cultivating an innovative musical experience for listeners is always important , if you are lacking knowledge about business it can be fairly difficult to acquire success. In an industry that often challenges you and limit your creativity it is imperative that you develop skills necessary to thrive in your career. Gaining knowledge in the music business can open doors for legacy and longevity as a writer, producer, singer, rapper, and more.
Copyright
As an artist you want to always make sure that you and your music is secured and protected. The primary way to protect your music is to make sure that no one else has rights to profit off of or receive credit from your music.
Copyright is fairly simple, however this has been the downfall for a few artists believe it or not. Copyrighting is the act of entering your personal information and song and/or albums information into a database in order to ensure that you are the person that owns full rights to the song. The interesting part about copyrighting is that even if you have valid proof on paper that has your name, the name of the song and date that you wrote it , someone else has the ability to receive credit for the song if they copyrighted it prior to your knowledge. The law will say that the song rightfully belongs to the person who copyrighted the song first. This is why it is very important to copyright your music!
Entertainment law
To know entertainment law is to know protection . With the existence of copyright, royalties, sync, and distribution it’s only fair that laws regarding music are formed. In the music industry many things can occur such as people not properly handling copyrights and split sheets , to minor miscommunications and misunderstandings. Furthermore, the music industry involves collaboration and many contracts. If you are unable to determine the impact of such contracts and agreements you could be in danger. Therefore, even if you aren’t able to understand laws and contracts it’s important to always have someone trustworthy on your team that does.
PROS & Royalties
Performing rights organizations (PRO’s) are the primary source of artists receiving income and royalties for their work. Many of which you have heard of such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC allow many of our favorite artists to be paid from sales of the music we love. While they all offer the same service, it is always important to know more about platforms before you sign agreements. Researching and reading over services prior to choosing a PRO is necessary. It is also necessary to understand more about how they will service you as an artist and in case of an emergency or complication, how they will prioritize your creative process, money, and reputation.
Promotion, PR, Marketing
Advertising your brand as an artist can be difficult for a new artist. This task takes consistency and effort. However, it is very important to learn if an artist desires to secure a spot in the limelight. There are multiple things one must learn to promote themselves. The first thing you must know is your core audience and how to best present yourself. Listeners love authenticity and they grab a hold of whatever you give them . What are you giving your listeners? Are you inspiring them, misleading them, or entertaining them? It is important to authentically engage your audience and check the metrics of your social engagement to see which aspects of your creativity they gravitate to the most. It is also essential to receive media training to ensure that your communication and ability to answer questions during interviews are up to par. This is simple, however, many artists go wrong when they neglect very important things while focusing heavily on their creative process. Learning more about how to present and market yourself will put you many steps ahead of the game and make you stand out in the music business!
Navigating the tools and ways to learn these skills can be very challenging. One of the main keys to gathering this knowledge is building a network of people that you can trust and ask questions whenever you necessary. Another way to utilize resources and learn these skills is to do as much research on the topic and reach out to other artists and experts to see what works best. Last but not least, trial and error is the biggest thing when it comes to doing anything in life. We all have experienced getting our “feet wet” and embarking on a journey that we know little to nothing about. We hope that you embrace this journey! We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and hope that you continue to gain knowledge throughout your journey as an emerging creative!