FAQ

There is no set formula. It is up to you and your publisher to negotiate the terms of a publishing deal.

Registering your copyrights is not required but it is highly recommended since doing so will give you certain protection under copyright law in case you need to sue someone for using your song without your permission.

As a songwriter, you inherently own the publishing rights to your music and you retain creative control.

You must contact the song’s publisher or publishers to get permission to sample a song. Publisher information can usually be found in the Performing Rights Organization websites.  You’ll likely have to search within the PRO with which the song is registered.

The Musician’s Atlas and the Music Registry are just two examples, but there are lots of directories on the market. Google can help you find them and most are available via Amazon.com.

It varies depending on the co-writing situation. What is important is that all writers as a collective agree on the decision.

Agents are all about finding gigs/shows for bands, but they can also help set up sponsorship opportunities for tours and help with logistics in general.

Nielsen SoundScan is an information system that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Sales data from point-of-sale cash registers is collected weekly from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional (online stores, venues, etc.) outlets. Weekly data is compiled and made available every Wednesday. SoundScan is the sales source for the Billboard music charts. You can register your CD at http://www.soundscan.com/register.html

No. This is a common misconception. PROs collect royalties for songwriters, composers and music publishers from radio, television, the Internet, restaurants and thousands of other businesses that use music. In effect, a PRO acts as a representative so writers can get on with the business of creating new music while their royalties are collected for them. There are three in the US: BMI, ASCAP and SESAC, and one in almost every country you can think of. (See “What does a publisher do?”)

Mechanical royalties are per-unit payments collected by record companies for the manufacture and distribution of songs on CDs and tapes, usually based on the current statutory rate as fixed by the Copyright Act. In 2004, the rate is 8.5 cents per song or 1.65 cents per minute, whichever is greater.