With Web 3, creators can offer music royalties as a powerful new way of investment. It doesn’t only offer an income, but also creates a highly engaged community of fans doing what they love – listening to, valuing, and sharing in the success of music.
You’re living through one of the most exciting shifts in the music industry since it began. Not long ago, earning a living from music was a distant dream only in reach to the select few that the music industry named worthy. Not on the list? You’d never get in. Now, musicians are taking back the power and finding new revenue streams themselves.
What Are Music Royalties?
In simple terms, music royalties are the payments you get when your music is played. Your ownership of your music means you get paid anytime it’s used. Music royalties are the main way of generating earnings in the music industry, and no ownership means no money.
4 Types Of Music Royalties
There are four types of music royalties; mechanical, performance, sync and print.
- Mechanical royalties are the royalties from digital and physical reproductions; think downloads, CDs and streaming on platforms like Spotify.
- Performance royalties are generated when your song is performed publicly, at a concert or broadcasted via radio.
- Sync royalties, formally known as synchronization royalties, result from your music being used in creative content like videos (i.e. television or YouTube) or even video games.
- Print royalties are not so common with current and newer artists. They usually are in regard to composers and are from the printing of your music for sheet music.
How Do I Get Income From Music Royalties?
Obviously, you want to get paid for your hard work. And you should be! There are two general sides to every piece of music; the composition and the recording. The composition is the publishing bit and relates to the actual make-up of a song, like the lyrics, melody, rhythm, and so on. The recording is what you can actually hear. You can collect royalties from both of these parts. If you produce both sides of your music, you should be earning royalties from both sides too.
Get Your Track Copyright
If you’re an independent artist and not signed with a label, knowing how to actually collect music royalties can feel so unclear, it’s like it’s designed that way: to keep you out. Worry not, here are the main steps to get paid your music royalties.
- Register your copyright. This will save you a lot of trouble later on. There are a couple of ways to do this, and your country’s government (like in the US) will have a copyright office.
- Register with a performing rights organization. They collect the royalties for you through their contacts and contracts. This should be in the country in which you are based.
- To make sure you’re getting international performing royalties, sign up for a ‘neighboring rights’ organization as well, like Songtrust or NPG Agency. They do take a cut of the royalties, but the alternative is a long drawn out process contacting hundreds of global agencies.
Release Your Music On Web 3 And Offer It As An Investment
Nebula is a Web 3 music platform. When you release a track on Nebula, your music is tokenized and tied to self-executing smart contracts. Release your tracks with us, pick a drop date, set your price per slice of the royalties and allow anyone, anywhere to invest. You’ll deepen your relationship with the fans that matter most, and they’ll be able to earn royalty payouts from music they love. Get started and start offering your music on Nebula today.
Where Can I Buy Song Rights To Earn Music Royalty Payments?
Now let’s hear it for the fans. Without them, artists would be nothing. Buying music royalties is a relatively new way for fans and investors alike to become part of the music ecosystem, but can provide a solid income too.
One way you can get involved with the rights of a song is through investing in them in auctions like those held on Royal Exchange. This explains the ROI (return on investment) in comparison to how much that song has been used historically. By playing, sharing and watching a song you love grow, you can earn back your investment.
When you invest in a track on Nebula, your investment is tied to tokens, allowing you to securely own a slice of the action and receive royalty payouts.
Nebula exists to make sure that the future of music is about growing the relationship between fan and artist. When you invest, you’ll see how many tokens are available and what portion of the royalties revenue you’ll receive. You are earning an income from doing something you already do anyway. Why just stream the music you love when you can invest in it?