What Does An Artist Do Once They Have Set Up A Label? One of the big things to remember in the music business is the importance of joining the right royalty collection agencies. AVLA – registration allows for payment of neighbouring rights and private copying levy royalties to a label owning the copyrights in the sound recording. If an artist is not signed, then the artist must register directly with the AVLA to receive these royalties. AVLA also pays out on commercial television play, so it is important to register your videos upon release. ACTRA or AFM – an artist also needs to register their sound recordings with ACTRA/AFM in order to receive their share of neighbouring rights and private copying levy royalties. So, an artist who is also indie must register with both AVLA and ACTRA/AFM. Soundexchange – Register tracks with soundexchange in order to receive royalties on digital cable, internet and satellite radio play. Copyright registration – Register sound recordings with the Library of Congress in Washington, DC – include songs as well to save on filing fees (sound recordings cannot be registered with Copyright Board of Canada, but song titles can). Mechanical Licenses – Secure any mechanical licenses prior to release. If the artist is also the writer, then the artist can also provide this. If there are third party co-writes or covers are being released, then the artist/label can go to the CMRRA to secure the mechanical licenses: cmrra.ca/Mechanical_Licensing/mechanical_licensing.html (note if the co-writer is not published, then artist may have to secure a mechanical license directly from co-writer by agreement). Manufacturers require mechanical licenses prior to pressing; ISRC codes – in order to digitally release tracks on iTunes and many other online retailers, tracks must be encoded with ISRC codes. These codes create a digital watermark on the track which allows it to be tracked online. A label or artist can apply for these at CRIA. These are self assigned numbers once you get your ISRC code template number. Distribution – this is a tricky one today. Many retailers and indie distributors have gone bankrupt or into receivership. The majors have contracted dramatically to the point that they are not developing new artists to the same extent that they used to. While organizations like FACTOR may require a distributor to apply for funding, this should not be the primary reason to enter into a deal with a distributor. The reality is that 90% of CDs are now being sold as merch off-the-stage by indie artists. Securing digital sales through iTunes and other online retailers is accessible through aggregators such as IODA, The Orchard, CD Baby and TuneCore. If you do sign a distribution agreement make sure that the off the stage sale buy-backs are not too high. Many distributors charge up to $7.00 per CD to buy your CDs back for sale off the stage. Consider that 90% of indie sales are off the stage in today’s market. Online releases – make sure that you comply with all of the required online retail requirements from ISRC codes, to UPC and catalogue numbers, to songwriter credits, to bios, one sheets, release notes, cover art and all other such requirements. Failure to give your aggregator all of the correct information and uploads will result in a delay in release. Business and marketing plans – artist labels should create both a business and marketing plan to make sure that all of the label’s scarce resources are used in the most optimum way. Plan out your goals and expectations. Figure out how you are going to reach those goals. Set them out in writing. Website – Create and maintain a label website which keeps up to date and current information about the artist. This could be combined with the artist site.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 17:50:46 +0000
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