3 essential tips for collecting your publishing royalties by Lara Baker (SongTrust)
There’s no doubt that 2020 has been an incredibly trying time for the music business, particularly those who have relied on the live industry for work and income. As our industry continues to measure the impact of the pandemic on the music business and its creative talent, the Musicians Union has stated that as much as 80% of their members are experiencing financial hardship. Many artists and songwriters have had to find other ways to earn a living outside of music, having fallen through the cracks of government support schemes.
Whilst emergency funding from organisations such as Help Musicians, Arts Council England, AIM, and PRS Foundation has provided a vital lifeline for many, it is now more important than ever to look at the fundamental structures of our industry and ask if we could be doing better to support the creative talent that is the very heart of our business. The current #FixStreaming and #BrokenRecord campaigns and DCMS Music Streaming Inquiry highlight that there are important questions to be asked about how and to whom revenue from digital sources is allocated, and the contracts that artists and songwriters are bound by.
At Songtrust, creating a more equitable music ecosystem is at the very core of our mission. We aim to help songwriters and all types of music rights holders be correctly and fully remunerated for their work, and to enable them to have successful and sustainable careers in music. Without songwriters, there is simply no music business. We understand that often writers and their representatives don’t fully understand music publishing and what they must do to properly collect their royalties on a global scale, so that no money is left on the table. Whilst many artists and songwriters campaign for changes to streaming rates, the full benefits of any such changes will not be felt unless writers are set up to collect everything they’re due. Now more than ever, education and transparency are essential in ensuring songwriters get paid.
For decades, publishing has been a confusing and complex world for songwriters and artists, further complicated by changes in copyright law, territorial differences, new technology and the rapid globalisation of the music business. Bad or missing data, lack of education, and technological limitations all result in millions of Pounds going uncollected by the songwriters to whom it rightfully belongs. At Songtrust, we are working hard to change this narrative and help songwriters to navigate this world and collect everything they’re due.
With that in mind, what are the common pitfalls to avoid if you are a songwriter or music rights holder and want to ensure you’re collecting all of your publishing royalties?
Accurate Metadata
The essential thing to understand is that accurate and complete song data is absolutely vital to getting paid in full. This starts at the very beginning of the entire process, when a song is being written. If you are co-writing with others, then it is important to agree your splits early on, and to record this on a split sheet. When it comes to registering the songs with societies, all parties must register the same splits information, or the song can go into conflict meaning no-one gets paid until it is resolved. Don't leave this to chance; get your splits agreed from the beginning.
Proper Global Registration
Another common mistake is songwriters believing that by affiliating and registering their songs with their home territory PRO, that they are receiving everything they are due. The reality is that in the streaming age, your songs could be generating royalties all over the world, and without a publisher or publishing administrator pro-actively registering your works in other territories, chances are you will be missing out on royalties owed to you. Additionally, if you’re just registering your songs with a PRO, then you may be missing out on collecting mechanical royalties. Given that there’s a mechanical royalty in every stream, this can be a significant amount of missed royalties. Working with a publishing administrator like Songtrust adds value in the form of more than 50 direct affiliations with societies around the world, which allows the collection of your publishing royalties (both performance and mechanical) on a global scale from more than 215 countries/territories.
Punctual Song Registration
Finally, a major cause of missed royalties is not getting songs correctly registered in time. Once a song is out in the world, it begins to earn royalties. But if a songwriter doesn’t register their song with their collection society, doesn’t have a publisher or publishing administrator in place, or registers their song incorrectly, then royalty payouts will be interrupted and those royalties will be held by the societies, waiting to be collected. It varies by society, but generally after two to three years these unclaimed royalties are released by societies to their affiliated members, allocated according to market share. Once royalties enter the ‘black box’ as it is often known, it is impossible to retrieve them. It is vital that songwriters and music rights holders act fast to affiliate with a society, correctly register songs, and work with a publishing administrator to make these registrations on a global scale.
Songwriters cannot be expected to know and understand all of the complexities of international publishing administration and where their songs are earning money, but it is wise to make use of educational resources to understand your rights in this area and not leave money on the table.
The Songtrust website offers many free resources aimed at educating and empowering songwriters, from regular Music Publishing 101 webinars to our free Modern Guide to Music Publishing, and Music Publishing Crash Course. Taking a little time to understand your rights can pay off hugely in the long term, and then you can focus on doing what you do best - writing songs.
By Lara Baker, Songtrust’s Director of Business Development for the UK and Ireland
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