On-Demand Workshop
Register and Receive Royalties
Get set up and get paid. Two copyrights, the five functions of a publisher, your PRO, the MLC, SoundExchange, the seven streams, and the metadata that decides whether any of it reaches you.
Key learning outcomes
- Tell a musical work apart from a sound recording and say who owns each.
- Register a musical work and a sound recording with the US Copyright Office and know what registration actually buys you.
- Name the five functions of a publisher and decide which of them you currently perform yourself.
- Choose between self administration, an administrator, a midsize publisher and a major, on terms rather than on prestige.
Workshop Description
Most money owed to songwriters goes uncollected because nobody registered the work, nobody matched the recording, or the metadata was wrong. This workshop is the unglamorous half of the business, and it is the half that pays.
You will learn what you own, who collects each kind of money on your behalf, what you have to register where, and what has to be true about your files before a payment can find you.
Who this is for. Songwriters, recording artists, record producers and music executives anywhere in the world. Nothing here assumes a publishing deal or a lawyer.
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Tell a musical work apart from a sound recording and say who owns each.
- Register a musical work and a sound recording with the US Copyright Office and know what registration actually buys you.
- Name the five functions of a publisher and decide which of them you currently perform yourself.
- Choose between self administration, an administrator, a midsize publisher and a major, on terms rather than on prestige.
- Affiliate with a performing rights organization and understand what a blanket license is paying for.
- Register with the Mechanical Licensing Collective and claim the digital mechanical royalties owed on your works.
- Collect the digital performance royalties owed on the sound recording, which no PRO and no publisher collects for you.
- Name all seven streams a musical work can earn from and identify which ones you are not currently collecting.
- Complete a metadata record for a release that will not lose you money.
- Obtain your identifiers and write a split sheet before the session ends rather than after the song succeeds.
- Name every place your foreign earnings sit and the arrangement that brings each one home.
- Produce a complete plan showing what you own, where it is registered, who collects it, and what is still missing.
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Two Copyrights, One Song
Tell a musical work apart from a sound recording and say who owns each.
Lesson 2: Registering Your Copyright
Register a musical work and a sound recording with the US Copyright Office and know what registration actually buys you.
Lesson 3: What a Music Publisher Actually Does
Name the five functions of a publisher and decide which of them you currently perform yourself.
Lesson 4: How to Get It Done: Self Administration to Major
Choose between self administration, an administrator, a midsize publisher and a major, on terms rather than on prestige.
Lesson 5: Your PRO and Public Performance Royalties
Affiliate with a performing rights organization and understand what a blanket license is paying for.
Lesson 6: The MLC and Your Mechanical Royalties
Register with the Mechanical Licensing Collective and claim the digital mechanical royalties owed on your works.
Lesson 7: SoundExchange and the Recording Side
Collect the digital performance royalties owed on the sound recording, which no PRO and no publisher collects for you.
Lesson 8: The Seven Streams of Songwriting Income
Name all seven streams a musical work can earn from and identify which ones you are not currently collecting.
Lesson 9: The Money Is In the Metadata
Complete a metadata record for a release that will not lose you money.
Lesson 10: Identifiers and Split Sheets
Obtain your identifiers and write a split sheet before the session ends rather than after the song succeeds.
Lesson 11: Collecting Abroad: Sub-Publishing and Foreign Societies
Name every place your foreign earnings sit and the arrangement that brings each one home.
Lesson 12: Final Project: Build Your Registration and Collection Plan
Produce a complete plan showing what you own, where it is registered, who collects it, and what is still missing.
What is included
- Every module, streaming, for one year from the day you buy it.
- The Free Community, Online Discussions and the member directory.
- No subscription. You are not charged again and nothing renews.
Who teaches it
Selena Hunter
Founder and CEO, Rhythm & Brands. COO, Hathor Entertainment.
Selena Hunter is the founder and CEO of Rhythm & Brands, a Los Angeles-based artist management agency representing multicultural recording artists, and the COO of Hathor Entertainment, an independent record label and music publishing company for women. With more than two decades of experience in business, marketing, and accounting, she helps artists build sustainable careers through strategic branding, marketing, and advisory services.
Selena holds degrees in Business Administration and Music Entertainment Management and is a fourth-year Music Business student at Berklee College of Music.