How live off your music in 2022
It’s every musician’s dream to do music full-time, so read this guide to make that dream a reality.
A guest post from Horus Music.
As an independent artist looking to pave your way in the modern global musical sphere, it’s more important than ever to make sure you are banking your earnings and maximising your revenue from your music. Whether it’s to reinvest into future projects or fund your ability to focus on music full time, ensuring your music pays is easier than you think.
Your first port of call for revenue should be distribution. Digital music distribution to online platforms such as Spotify, Amazon and iTunes generate royalties every time your music is streamed or downloaded. Signing up with a verified music distributor such as Horus Music not only enables your music to reach a wider audience through our direct partnerships with DSP’s but means that you don’t have to worry about tracking every single play as we’ll do the hard work for you. Our direct deals with DSP’s cuts out the middlemen ensuring we provide our artists the maximum royalty return for streams and downloads.
With regular monthly pay-outs and 100% of royalties paid directly to you, it’s now easier than ever to make sure online streaming and download royalties are secured revenue.
Although the digital age of music is now more prevalent, you could also consider physical distribution for either CD’s or Vinyl. If you feel this fits with what your fan base are looking for, Hours Music offer physical distribution for CD’s, find out more here. With vinyl sales reaching record highs in 2021 with over 5 million sold according to the British Phonographic Industry more artists are looking to add their music to wax. Our partnership with the crowdfunding style vinyl platform Diggers Factory allows artists and labels to produce records thanks to their fanbase community for free! Physical copies of your work are also great to have on hand to sell on merch stands, especially if you’re playing outside of your city and exposing your music to new audiences.
With the demand for visual content now at an all-time high, having a music video to distribute alongside your audio release can open multiple doors in terms of income. Horus Music offer competitive music video distribution packages, enabling your content to reach a wider audience and generate royalties every time a user watches your video. We will collect your royalties and manage your content, putting the control back in your hands and ensuring you’re maximising your earnings. We are one of the only music distributors who pay our artists 100% back on YouTube’s Content ID!
The most obvious method of revenue for active musicians is gigging. Of course, not all of us are going to be out on tour and playing stadium shows but collecting what you’re owed from any live performance does not stop at the promoter handing you cash at the end of the night. Signing up with a PRO (Performing Rights Organisation) such as PRS here in the UK also ensures you’re collecting royalties for your live shows. This is often an area overlooked by many artists but can effectively generate a hefty pot if registered correctly.
Your PRO will essentially collect public performance royalties for any use of your music in a public setting. Whether this be for a local gig, or a company decides to use your music in a public setting such as the gym, a shopping centre or dining venue, radio or TV broadcasts- this all generates earnings which you could be missing out on. You can find more information on PRS here.
A music publisher is another tool to have in your kit as an independent artist. Music publishers deal with the copyright within your composition and liaise with CMO’s (collective management organisations) worldwide on behalf of songwriters. Every time your release is played on the radio, performed live, reproduced on CD/Vinyl, streamed, or downloaded on digital services, used within TV, Film, games or adverts this is all generating royalties which you are entitled to as the copyright holder. For signed musicians, this can be a little more complex depending on what the agreements are, but for independent musicians you will typically be in charge of both types of copyright relating to your release- the composition and sound recording.
Your music publisher will also collect what we call mechanical royalties. Mechanical royalties are generated every time your music is reproduced either digitally or physically. As an independent artist, if you’ve also written the lyrics and/or melody to the song that you’re releasing then you are also entitled to receive mechanical royalties. Collecting mechanicals across multiple territories can be complex, so music publishers will liaise with different collection societies around the globe such as MCPS in the UK and The MLC in the US to ensure you are receiving your mechanical royalties.
Signing up with a music publisher such as our sister company Anara Publishing enables you to access your publishing royalties through registration and collection. For more information relating to publishing, check out Anara Publishing here.
Music publishers will also often search for sync opportunities for artists. This can result in very lucrative deals if you land a successful sync. Companies looking for music for projects such as films, adverts and TV shows will put together a brief of the type of music they are looking for, providing an opportunity for you to submit your music for consideration. Anara Publishing recently landed a sync deal for Nigerian artist Ajimovoix for the end credits of Netflix film ‘Chief Daddy 2’ amongst other great successes for their artists. If you feel your music could be a good fit, the world of sync opens a lot of doors for artists in terms of revenue and exposure to wider audiences.
