How To Collect ALL of Your Music Royalties

[@ForbiddenInstincts]

Thanks man appreciate tons of value in this video 👌

[@5piece]

Wow so sorry for missing this until now but THANK YOU so much for this 🙏🏼❤️ your support means a lot and has helped continue to grow this channel ever since!

[@chotaylor]

Everything he said in this video I learned the hardway. Distrokid, BMI, Songtrust. That's all you really need.

[@5piece]

Sorry to hear that you had to go through it the hard way but that’s generally my main method of learning too 😂 trying to help others avoid these pitfalls where possible. Salute ! 🙌🏼

[@RyzeHendricksTV]

Thanks man

[@5piece]

No problem!

[@ItsTriciaFitz]

FINALLY something for us people in Canada! Could you do a video in the future explaining how to register a song on SOCAN, cause there is zero to no information out there explaining how and I find myself guessing half the time. Thank you!

[@5piece]

Great idea! Definitely something I will do in a future video. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@LucianShawtty]

Right ! It’s so hard to use the site and all videos on it now are 7 years old

[@Genolexis]

Short and to the point. Thank you so much. Subscribed.

[@5piece]

Appreciate you!

[@FeliziaWallroth]

Hi. Im still a bit confused, what is the rules in like a country that is in Europe. I live in Sweden for example. And I know there is Sami and Stim here, I wonder if that is the same as ASCAP in Canada it should be!

[@5piece]

Seems like STIM and SAMI each represent different parties and collect a different royalty. STIM collects for songwriters and SAMI collects for artists. I’d imagine you need to sign up for both in this case, whereas orgs like the ones in North America collect them both for you in one place. Here’s a link I found that should help: www.stim.se/en/find-an-answer/frequently-asked-questions/what-difference-between-stim-and-sami#:~:text=STIM%20manages%20music%20rights%20and,rights%20are%20managed%20by%20SAMI.

[@boogiethehitmakerakajbeats8224]

great topic

[@5piece]

you know it! Thanks for watching !

[@GoldsHouseMusic]

Are your sure BMI is not collecting any royalties from digital streams as Spotify? I'm looking a lot into this topic lately cause wanna understand how it all works, and I wouldn't bet that Spotify stream doesen't generate any royalties that are collected with PRO. However, it is necessary to have other services like Distrokid and Songtrust to collect really everything that is out there. I'm speaking as a music producer, and if you wanna work with artists in exchange for royalties splits you should have everything, I believe most valued are mechanical royalties that come from digital streams and that's why it's important to set some percentage on distrokid while performance royalties will be collected by PRO and Songtrust. I would def.consider registering with BMI as it's free and 1st hand, I can tell that some sum is collected by them, even if I can't tell where from 😬

[@5piece]

Tricky answer but if PROs were collecting royalties, from streaming, then the distributor wouldn't be paying you out for it. They would just have the PRO do it for you and save themselves the trouble. The only catch is - if a bar/venue/business is playing your song off Spotify within their public business, then your song may be generating multiple royalties. One would be the mechanical/streaming royalty that gets paid out by your distributor, the other would be paid out by the PRO for being played in public. So that may be what you are thinking of. The whole thing would revolve around your song actually being played publicly though. If its just streaming in someones bedroom, all you're getting is the payout from distro. I could be wrong but this is how its been explained to me and what I've encountered over the years. That being said, anything could change in the future as we are in an unprecedented time of rapid change in the music biz. All the best.

[@GoldsHouseMusic]

@@5piece thanks for your reply, it def. is something very close to my opinion and hope one day we'll have everything super clear 😬 Distributor def.collecting streaming royalties ( mechanical from master ) but I do believe some royalties for the same stream are generated on the composition side which are collected by PRO. I have a song registered with BMI which brings cca 150$ for a quarter, but it's not a hit song, doesent have a music video and it's not a single from that album, so I can't think of any other way of where that money would have come from. I'm in the process of registering all songs with songtrust so I believe I'll have better insight and if at any point I'll be able to tell some things that are for sure, I'll share my experience here :)

[@shdhau93626]

@@GoldsHouseMusic yo bro! Did Songtrust work for you? If you got Instagram leave your @ and I’ll message you there many thanks

[@DannydePerpignan]

@@GoldsHouseMusic I think you are correct. To the best of my knowledge services like Spotify pay royalties for both the master/recording (to the distributors) and the composition (to the PRO). The distributor part is more or less clear, but the exact ins and outs about the composition back-end is shrouded in mystery unfortunately. (I'm currently still investigating this.)

[@DewnetteReid]

Guy I Love You this is the best explanation ever

[@5piece]

Thank you! 🙏🏼

[@TheDubtapehybridtherapper]

Thank you. Question. If I am using Sentric Music, do I still need to sign up with Songtrust,MLC or Sound reports?

[@stellarosebabi]

Thank you

[@5piece]

You're welcome

[@jaspatv]

thank u 5 ,help alot g

[@5piece]

Anytime!!

[@riodejaneiro664]

Thanks for your help.

[@5piece]

Thanks for watching 🙏🏼

[@InstrumentalArcanum]

Thank you very much for your knowledge , although I'm not a beat engineer . I appreciate your knowledge in music law . Awesome video man, now I can have cash to finish my album 👍👌🤘

[@5piece]

Glad I could be of service! Best of luck on your journey 🙌🏼

[@altermoremusic]

Looks like you say exactly what Kato says. I catch this after you saing Drake, Beyonce... 😀 Coincidence? Not sure

[@5piece]

Not sure what you’re getting at. I listed the top performing artists at the time, which is pretty much based on Billboard and/or who everyone was talking about at a given moment. Today’s list would be a bit different but the point is if you don’t collect your royalties, it goes to the biggest artists out there, plain and simple.

[@khaledabdrabo]

What if i am from egypt ? These pro organization not working in Egypt !?

[@5piece]

No. Egypt will have its own PRO, and other organizations to collect. Wish I could help more but do some additional research online, I’m sure you’ll find an answer!

[@theempressmalika3368]

Thank you five for summing all that mumbo jumbo up I am now a lot less confused, lol Thanks a bunch:)

[@5piece]

You’re welcome 😊

[@smokescreenFromThe6ix]

I live in Toronto. Are you sure as Canadians that we can use Songtrust and Soundexchange?? Or is there another organization for us?

[@5piece]

Yes, of course I'm sure. I don't like to share misinformation in my videos, especially as a Canadian myself! If you do some research online, you can easily find links and resources on being Canadian and using their services on both of their websites, so no need to worry about being qualified. Hope this helps!

[@user_s4m777]

re:sound is the canadian equivalent of soundexchange from what i understand, they claim from the soundexchange bucket and more.also, im really not sure but i think you wont need a songtrust type of service if youre with Audiam + CMRRA.

[@psychoticgiraffe]

If you don’t self publish can you still do this? If it’s all label releases

[@princenkansah5966]

For step two. Do you know what organisations there are for in Europe?

[@5piece]

It will depend on what country you are located in. Do some research and you should uncover them quite easily, typically with a Google search like “(your country) music performance royalty organization.” For example: Canada music performance royalty organization. You’ll find something. Best of luck!

[@NVRLOSTT]

How do the companies know if your song is being played out in the public like bars, venues etc to collect those royalties?

[@starhollywood]

I registered my first ever song 🎧 on ascap and I received the blue check mark ✔️!!!! From this point how will ascap know thats my song? In order to collect my royalties on my half ? I feel like I’m missing a piece to the puzzle 🧩 do they track it by the title of the song ?

[@5piece]

Awesome Tavaris! Congrats. You ask a great question, I will do my best to answer (heads up its a long one). Firstly, yes, everything is tracked around your title. If you have a song that goes by multiple names, its worth registering multiple songs or using the AKA field if your PRO allows it. For example, I have a song with EverythingOShauN called W.C.W - we registered it like that, and also as WCW, and Women's Crush Wednesday, just to be safe all royalties are captured. From what I understand, places that play your song like radio stations, will track and report them back to ASCAP, SOCAN, etc. Using tools like MediaBase and BDS, in conjunction with registering your song, will help you track your plays and earn your royalties, assuming your song gets played. Supposedly PROs will also send their employees out to places like bars, restaurants, salons, and other establishments where things aren't tracked as thoroughly and they will manually listen and log what's played during their visit. They will use a system of averaging out how much your song is played, relative to other songs, and calculate a royalty from there. So if your song is played once every 8 hours, but Drake's is played every 5 minutes, each of your royalties will differ as a result of that. After live performances, some PROs like BMI allow you to submit what songs you performed to them, which counts towards your royalties. To be fair, these are personal anecdotes I've been told after speaking with people at my own PRO, SOCAN, and others in the industry throughout North America. ASCAP may have its own system and method to the madness. I recommend doing your own additional research to be certain. You should be able to talk to a rep there and get the information you need for free.

[@starhollywood]

@@5piece thank you so much 😊

[@etherego2913]

So pretty much only register with others besides the streaming distributors when its being played on tv, radio right?

[@5piece]

Bare minimum you want to have the distribution set up, and your song registered through your PRO. Doing all the steps mentioned in advance is ideal, but I understand may be challenging if you haven’t established a fan base yet. Good luck!!!

[@arijevacgaming921]

Hey brother! This is great video, but i have 2 simple questions. :) Is it worth doing this for beats (instrumentals). And how do you collect royalties if you are producer of a song and the other guy release it under their label etc.

[@5piece]

If beats are released and being played publicly, then yes. Composers do that for sync licensing stuff especially as an example but there’s more use cases. With SOCAN, anyone can register a song, even a producer who wasn’t properly attributed. Likely the best thing to do is talk directly with the parties you’re dealing with (artist, label) so they register the song properly and attribute a percentage of the publishing to you as agreed. But if not, you should technically be able to register the song on your own as well (although you’d want to split with the artist/songwriters also rather than keep 100%). This is why doing split sheets and getting PRO details in advance is important! Keep in mind that if you’re outside of Canada, not 100% sure this will apply depending on your PRO but I know with SOCAN, I have several variations of some songs registered because sometimes titles are misspelled and attribution gets messed up (example: song called W.C.W is registered as exactly that, with a second registered as WCW in case someone misses the periods 😅)

[@rambo2124]

I am European, how can i register my song in BMI or others

[@5piece]

You would register your song with your countries PRO, not BMI. Every country has their own performance royalty organization, so you will have to do some research to see the one that is applicable to you. From there, you may be able to affiliate with other PROs. In Canada, where I’m from, we sign up with SOCAN (the only PRO available here) and can then affiliate with an American one also, in my case being ASCAP. Google “(your country) performance royalty organization” and of course replace it with your actual country for the most accurate results.

[@jefffader]

Ive released over 300 tracks over ten years, i looked on Spotify and on two tracks i had 92,000 streams on one track and 42,000 on another track ,i,ve never seen a penny from Spotify, how do you go about by getting them ?

[@shottaking1448]

When I sign up for BMI should I use my real name or artist name and what if someone has my name too?

[@5piece]

Usually you use your actual government name when signing up, however it's best to contact BMI as they are not my PRO and I can't fully speak on what's best. I'm sure if you reach out they will give you the proper information you're looking for.

[@jmo3y_477]

Hello , can i ask u ? my account takedown from distrokid and he deleted my catalogue and my all music , QUESTION : Do they pay me? Old royalties that were before deletion ??

[@5piece]

Sorry my friend, I have no idea. You’d best reach out to DK directly for that answer and resolution. I do know awhile ago many accounts were removed for having fake streams/not playlists so perhaps that was a factor with yours. Best of luck.

[@emmyskyy7271]

how do you set up a socan account? do i register my song if i want to claim my royalties. i own 50% of the royalties i’m not sure if i’m supposed to register the song since i didn’t release it or make a claim. i need to get my money

[@5piece]

I will be shooting a video on this in the future but it'll be a bit. You can register the song if the artist hasn't to collect your royalties, you just need their PRO info. I suggest you contact SOCAN and have them walk you through registering your music step-by-step as they have a whole team dedicated to helping folks like you. Good luck!

[@kingofbling97]

Hey my producer refuses to provide his IPI/CAE to collect his royalties. I use CDbaby would I be able to collect only my portion of the royalties?

[@5piece]

Tough to say. Why don’t they want their royalties? They don’t want money they’re entitled to? That’s pretty unusual. Please keep in mind this is NOT legal advice so always do your due dilligence with a qualified professional but I imagine you could always collect 100% and keep track, and then pay the producer back later in the event they decide they want them. Also if I’m not mistaken, your distributor (CDBaby sounds like) doesn’t rely on your IPI/CAE, only a performance royalty organization (PRO) would need that. PROs collect performance royalties, while distributors like CD Baby collect the streaming royalties (and digital sales, etc). Usually distributors just need the email and name of the person you’re splitting with, but to be fair I don’t use CD Baby so maybe they are different. I’d personally have a convo with the producer and better explain things as it sounds like there’s a misunderstanding. Best of luck!

[@ratliffjoseph71]

The link to your ebook does not work

[@5piece]

Thanks for pointing this out. Updated my site awhile ago which broke a few links. I've now updated the description to include the proper link

[@ratliffjoseph71]

@@5piece absolutely. Thank you for providing such helpful information.

[@FernahumStudios]

Hey man, great video. So if we are self-publishing, who do you put under publisher in Distrokid? Should I put my band name or personal name? That's where I'm stuck. All these organizations I register with my personal name but I want my band name out there.

[@5piece]

You could put whatever name you wanted - typically its a separate entity from your brand name but it could still be that. As an example, I'm 5PiECE (the artist) and my label and/or publisher would be my company, 5PiECE Music. Hope this helps.

[@jojo-fj7lw]

Thankyou! Im from Indonesia and I've research that sound exchange is only for US based, what do u recommend for us Indonesian sir? Do u have any trusted website i could dig in?

[@5piece]

I have no idea as I’m a Canadian and have zero info on Indonesian-specific organizations. I recommend doing some additional research, probably on Google looking up stuff like “Indonesia soundxchange alternative” and similar queries. May also be worth talking to people in the industry over there who have more experience in the local scene and with collecting these types of royalties. Best of luck.

[@knoxthisdatwave5828]

I’m a producer and Ive worked with some big names but I only collect youtube royalties and pro from BMI. Still trying to figure out how I can collect my apple music & etc. I’ve never dropped anything but I’m on some albums that dropped on those platforms. So I always get confused with the distrokid stuff.

[@5piece]

Honestly, collecting the streaming and mechanical stuff is not exactly easy. It requires cooperation with the artist/label, as well as solid agreements with proper terms such as the payment schedule. being able to audit the books, etc. There's a chance you may have signed some of these rights away on past placements depending on the agreement, which is why its always important to have a solid attorney on your team. As for the DistroKid stuff - that really only applies to music that is released through their distribution services. They're one of the few (if not ONLY) companies that offer a splits feature BUT it requires that the artist(s) you work with use them to release their music. If they go with another distribution company, then DK can't really help you. Not to mention most other distribution companies don't make this stuff easy, which leads into what I was saying in the last paragraph about agreements and cooperation.

[@judeschroter3741]

If I don't live in the US... But my country is one of BMI's affiliates... Can I still make royalties in my country, America and with BMI's other affiliates?

[@5piece]

From what I understand, yes. Most PRO's interact / communicate with one another to collect royalties on behalf of it's writers. In Canada, we are with SOCAN but also affiliate with US PRO (in my case, ASCAP). That means all of my royalties are collected worldwide, and particularly collected in those locations by those PROs (if that makes sense)

[@judeschroter3741]

@@5piece ah thank you so much!!! Would you recommend going with my country's PRO's Or America's PRO's?

[@TrevorStyles]

im a producer and in future artist too, i own my royalty 100%?

[@5piece]

If you create 100% of the music, being the instrumental and the lyrics/vocal performance, then yes, you are entitled to 100% of the royalties If you use samples from other musicians/producers, or have other writers on the song, then you would have to determine a percentage based on each individuals contributions. For example, if you create an original instrumental and then have someone else write lyrics and sing/rap on it, you would be entitled to 50% of the royalties for composing the beat. Hope this helps.

[@TrevorStyles]

@@5piece alright but, how I join bmi and as artist and producer too because I own 100% of my song

[@5piece]

@@TrevorStyles visit their website, I’m quite certain they have documentation on how to join and register your music if you spend some time researching. You can usually call them as well and get someone to help you directly which would be much better than me since I’m a Canadian affiliated with SOCAN, and not BMI. Good luck.

[@TrevorStyles]

@@5piece thanks man

[@Heavyg3590]

Fire

[@5piece]

Yessir! 🚀🚀🚀

[@kareemalsawalmeh4296]

Is there a place anyone can direct where I learn how to collect my royalties independently. I get that these companies are there for that exact reason, but you mentioned like 4 or 5 different companies I need to register with to collect my royalties. Assuming a bare minimum commission of 10%, almost half of the money I’ll be making from collecting my royalties will be outsourced. Is there anyway I could independently collect the money me/my artists generate in royalties?

[@5piece]

PROs don’t take a piece of your royalties so I’m not sure where you got that 10% information. If you distribute your music with a distributor that lets you keep 100% of your streaming royalties like DistroKid, you also aren’t losing anything (although you do pay an annual membership fee). The others I understand will likely take a piece of the action but it’s a small price to pay in order to avoid doing strenuous amounts of work. Let us know if you have any luck figuring that out as I can’t advise any further on it, but make sure you aren’t just making assumptions as again 2 of the 4 options here are paying you 100% of your royalties so that 10%+ commissions you mentioned is inaccurate. Best of luck

[@kareemalsawalmeh4296]

@@5piece thanks for the quick reply 🙏 My info is based on an offer I received for an artist I manage. I’ll be sure to take this into account when making a final decision. Thanks again!

[@simonsplinta3787]

this is the right way for all artis

[@thebigo8500]

#oursideonlymarketingllc

[@officialgtech]

So you're telling me Drake is rich and successful because I haven't claimed all my royalties?

[@5piece]

If you have unclaimed royalties, then yes it’s quite possible. There are sooooo many unclaimed royalties out there, usually in the millions. That money ends up going to the most successful artists if you don’t claim it, Drake included. Just some more incentive to get your paper!!!

[@ottomanbeatsofficial]

wtf is up 5 intros ? all that talking and still havent said anything special. Just reading the "brochure" . Teach people how to register their works on all these instead

[@5piece]

I made and posted this video YEARS ago, and you’ll see the approach/delivery on my current ones is very different from here. Despite that, I put in chapter markers so you can easily skip around to see the content if you don’t want to watch this in a traditional way, including skipping the intro