Copyright question - Where should I release my songs first? Youtube or Tunecore/iTunes

[A Non O Miss]

I only know of TuneCore, what other aggregators do people use?

We use Cd Baby - which I feel is pretty ok for what it does. There's also Reverbnation providing similar services, and I "discovered" TuneCore just last year.

When I selected cd baby, it boiled down to how much you need to pay to keep your art in catalog every year vs. how much cut they take in case of sale. I picked up CD Baby since it took a one-time fee (didn't want to have to pay every year, I'm a musician - I forget things!), the cut was acceptable and they seemed to have a reasonable user interface and customer service. All of which have subsequently proven to be true, so we'll stay on as satisfied customers. Recently they've introduced the "pro" version which also collects other types of royalties (learning about mechanical royalties made me discover TuneCore) but it's provided only to US customers.
The only annoying thing about cd baby is that it doesn't distribute to Wimp, which is a streaming service of growing popularity where we are based, so we're missing out a bit on the local market. So far, we haven't perceived it as enough of a problem to "move" the catalog elsewhere.

But honestly I don't feel there's a great deal of difference between all of these services. The main idea is to bring stuff on major electronic distribution channels, and all of these seem to do it in a fairly straightforward way.

BIG difference between them...

Who are they in bed with being a MAJOR one of them...

They are all mostly middle men which don't even need to exist, providing a redundant service all because Indies and DIY's have no power and no leverage...

[CS70]

BIG difference between them...

Who are they in bed with being a MAJOR one of them...

How would that affect the service to my band? I'm interested to know if I'm missing on something..

[A Non O Miss]

BIG difference between them...

Who are they in bed with being a MAJOR one of them...

How would that affect the service to my band? I'm interested to know if I'm missing on something..

The fact you even ask the question is evidence herein you are missing something...

[CS70]

The fact you even ask the question is evidence herein you are missing something...

'course I would - isn't that why people ask stuff in general?

Care to enlighten me?

[Musica Libre]

As Jesus Mor I have uploaded a royalty-free music library to: http://www.freemusicprojects.com . Do you need royalty-free music free? Free Music Projects

[James Perrett]

"Find a different middle man then TuneCore..."

Care to elaborate on this? This piece of 'advice' is useless and pointless without an explanation

In my personal opinion Tunecore do things a bit strangely - they don't use the same recording codes that everyone else uses and instead use their own proprietrary Tunecodes. This isn't a problem if Tunecore is your only outlet and you aren't expecting your music to be played anywhere else but could be a problem with broadcast material.

Personally I've gone with CD-Baby as a digital aggregator and Sentric Music to handle royalties but there are plenty of other alternatives.

[lukeandrewhill]

I can't pretend to have a massive amount of experience, but I use Spinnup.com and they were good - quickly(ish) getting tunes up on most of the normal digital platforms (including iTunes and Spotify) and importantly they have a really responsive customer care team - email replies within 20 minutes if you have a question. That for me makes it pretty good!

Good luck!

[Creaturegd]

youtube is better

[CS70]

It all seems so complicated and annoying

You have copyright from the moment of creation, but once the work is in public you want -
should the need ever arise - some way of proving that you are the creator.

Publishing something on YouTube is not good enough, as anyone can take any file and do it.
For iTunes, you don't publish directly - but you go thru a label or an aggregator. Publishing thru an them is a much stronger claim - you have to provide precise details of what you have, give (or obtain) an unique recording number, etc.

I understand TuneCore is an aggregator: so your sequence is TuneCore first, wait for release date, check your work is released on iTunes, Amazon and wherever else you wanted for release it, then upload video to YouTube.

As Feline says, you'll get a takedown notice from YouTube after a few hours or days and all you have to do is to state - on your legal responsibility - that you are the author of the work. The monetization will come back to you via the aggrergator/label payouts.

The details may depend on the specific aggregator tough.

[CS70]

Personally I've gone with CD-Baby as a digital aggregator and Sentric Music to handle royalties but there are plenty of other alternatives.

Hi James, what Sentric Music does that CD-Baby doesn't?

Curious if I'm missing some revenue streams

[Drew Stephenson]

As I understand it Sentric is primarily a sync-agency. They're all about getting your music used in ads, trailers, etc, rather than selling your tracks as individual pieces of music.

[CS70]

As I understand it Sentric is primarily a sync-agency. They're all about getting your music used in ads, trailers, etc, rather than selling your tracks as individual pieces of music.

Thx Drew. CDbaby has a synch option as well, but perhaps Sentric is marketing the music more aggressively?

[Drew Stephenson]

Could be, you need to check with someone doing things more commercially.
I long ago stopped thinking of ever being paid for music...

[BigRedX]

As I understand it Sentric is primarily a sync-agency. They're all about getting your music used in ads, trailers, etc, rather than selling your tracks as individual pieces of music.

Thx Drew. CDbaby has a synch option as well, but perhaps Sentric is marketing the music more aggressively?

As someone who has had dealings with Sentric through a previous musical project I would say well clear unless:

1. You can't be bothered to join the PRS (or your national PRO) as a writer member.

2. Your music is radio/TV friendly in both composition and production. If you want to know what sorts of songs Sentric is good at promoting watch Hollyoakes for a month. If you can see your songs in place of the music being used then you may be in with a chance.

3. You can provide instrumental mixes of your songs.

AFAICS Sentric tend not to actively market the majority of their catalogue but simply make it available to producers and other people looking for low cost music to fill the silent bits in their TV programs.

Also be aware that Sentric will take 20% of ALL your performance royalties and not just the activity that they have been responsible for. It also takes ages fro them to remove their interest from your works after you terminate your agreement with them.

[petev3.1]

I'd agree about not using Tunecore but which one you do use will be a matter of research. Some are cheaper, some are better for low sales, some for high sales etc. 'Catapult' is cheap and cheerful and seems to work fine.

The danger for me is not so much someone releasing your material on itunes but that they place the music in a production library. This is quite a common scam.

[Tuseth]

Use bandcamp dude i'd release there check them out i would'nt release anything not copyrighted on youtube easily ripped if u want to sell it bandcamp i'd think i wouldnt give anything to itunes

[Guest]

I have uploaded a lot of royalty-free music to: http://www.locutortv.es/musicalibredederechos.htm . Do you need royalty-free music free?

The new website for free music is : https://www.locutortv.com/background-music-instrumental-background-instrumental-music-free-download-music-video/ general https://www.locutortv.com

[DC-Choppah]

You can't 'release' an album, without pull from you fans.

If someone wants your music, then you can 'release' it. Like some pressure being given off.

Internet entities play on folks egos. They make money for access, while you give away your artistic creations for free.

Be careful. They are a few steps ahead.

[Guest]

I think here there are a lot of good suggestions, and it is great to see many alternatives.

However, if I have to give a suggestion that I would give to a friend of mine, but I would suggest is, don't be hesitated to invest a little money in consult it with some Copyright lawyer specialist.

It is great to have the suggestion from internet, but the best way to be almost 100% secure is by consulting with a legal expert.

[forumuser810340]

It is great to have the suggestion from internet, but the best way to be almost 100% secure is by consulting with a legal expert.

It is not necessary to get legal advice to simply release music. If you was signing a deal with a publisher or label Then yes you should but in this instance the OP is not assigning any rights away.

What they’ll be doing is appointing a distributor to get the music released on digital platforms such as Apple Music or Spotify who in turn will collect money from streams and downloads on their behalf and distribute it Straight to their account minus the applied service charge. This will include YouTube too in terms of master rights (neighbouring rights).

To cover the publishing rights being a member of PRS for music will allow them to not miss out on publishing royalties also generated for every stream and download. If they are not a member, publishing companies such as sentric allow them to capitalise and will collect the royalties for them at a rate of 20% service charge. This may be contradictory to what I said regarding signing to a publisher but most publishing deals are a 50% split on everything put out and have a fixed term. They may Also want to collect from other areas such as sync.

Being a member of sentric allows rights holders to Control what Songs they collect From and whether they want to allow them to submit the music for sync use.

Ultimately Joining PRS Or using sentric is an individual choice that both have their pros and cons. Ultimately I really can’t see a benefit of using a lawyer at this stage of a musical career when money has not even been generated yet.

Regards,

Stephen Llewelyn Gomes
(BA hons, Music Business and Live Entertainment)