Why Musicians Are Broke and How to Fix It

If you are wondering how you get paid for your music as a songwriter, musician or producer this video explains the process. When I was in Sweden, I interviewed Niclas Molinder who with Max Martin and Björn Ulvaeus are helping music creators with their innovative app called Session Studio.
You can download the FREE Session Studio App here - bit.ly/sessionstudio (bit.ly/sessions...)

[@BlackNoteStudios]

Making a lot of men in suits very nervous. Love it. This is the change we artists need. Rick starting to connect the dots and making things happen from the ground up.

[@victorradulescot6865]

Why that? This is simplifying everybody’s work! You mean all this unclaimed money isn’t sleeping…?

[@ev25zv]

@@victorradulescot6865 I don't think you understand just how much IP theft occurs in the industry

[@cosmicwonders21]

@@victorradulescot6865 Because there are some people who want to keep it complicated so that they can claim the black box unclaimed money. Why wouldn't they want to keep what they have been taking for years?

[@sirborges]

"Men in suits very nervous" what's your problem with wedding bands?

[@shmockette7158]

@@sirborges Clever, gave me a chuckle.

[@damienmacrae]

As an Intellectual Property lawyer, I have to say that this could be (will be ?) a game-changer for creators. I'm absolutely blown away by this new app. The negotiations over the splits could still end up being messy, so it would be even more incredible if the app could also provide some numbers and stats to help creators find fair and reasonable splits. But otherwise, this is a much-needed, long-overdue innovation in the music world. I think an app like this would be useful in our creative sectors, such as TV and movies. Bravo!

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

He addresses splits mid way, almost 10 min discussion (nearly to end of video), and shows a feature set to propose and collaborate on deciding what’s fair, and confirming the splits, is there something beyond that we should understand?

[@DavidKSweet]

r @ItsWesSmithYo I have to agree it would be super useful to have the option to have a statistically modeled split to use or at least work from in negotiating the eventual split. For example: I wrote all the music and lyrics of a song and hired a session singer who 1) sang a "wrong" note during the bridge. When I isolated the vocal track I liked the note enough to change the chord progression to make it "not wrong. Without his unintentional alteration, the song would not be the same. Should that entitle him to a 50% split? I don't think so. But to be fair, he's entitled to something. One note out of all the the other notes would be maybe one percent and the changed harmony and bass line among all the other would be (guessing again here) another 1%. He also added some outdo vocal riffs, repeating lyrics sung earlier but those were also HIS original contributions that added to the song. Guessing those word were another 2% of all the word sung. So, a t a minimum, statistically speaking, at a minimum, he fairly contributed 4 % of the song. I'd round it up to 10% just cuz.

[@DavidKSweet]

As the software creator mentioned, there are non-statistical elements to a split that only human negotiation can develop. In my case above, we are both non-famous songwriters and performers. If he were famous enough to make the song much more notable, exposed, pitched to other famous folks, then his statistically tiny contribution could well earn a 50% share. In such a case, the ability to accept or reject a "proposed" split within the software is super useful...moving it from the realm of discussion into a documented back and forth. Brilliant!

[@BluegillGreg]

Once you've got 12 people who supposedly put in 4% and you round up to 10%, they've got 120%. Did they really contribute more than the real songwriter? And the real songwriter then gets how much? Remember, no one would have worked or been paid without the initiative and follow through of this now unpaid writer.

[@coachhumph5524]

If I create a new song and I don't want to be with any record label would I be able to have a lawyer help me with ensure I make money from it in case it were to become a popular song? If so what type of lawyer would it be best to work with? Thank you in advance.

[@argus8888]

This is why Rick can have so much positive influence on the world of music and musicians.

[@MG________]

I really hope so.

[@Dedbigfed]

Agreed. Less complaining about how rock music isn't in the top 50 anymore, please.

[@freq.warrior333]

What is why? Because of his channel? Because of this Swedish guys app? The f are ya going on about, mate? Your statement is very random, yet vague

[@MG________]

@@freq.warrior333 He's offended about something or other. 'Tis a hobbyist activity these days.

[@MG________]

@@buttsbuttsbutts68 Oh right, my bad.

[@X-UP-and-DOWN-X]

As a musician who’s been wanting to break into the music industry on the legal and technical side, this was a massive wealth of knowledge for someone like me! Thank you gentlemen for your creative efforts, and thank you Rick for using your influence to bring light to something like this!

[@KevinORourke25]

This dude came up with a solution to a problem that I always thought had no solution. Genius!

[@byggloket2590]

Agreed. Proud to be a Swede😅

[@oceancrosby4578]

@@byggloket2590 Ha, my sister who lived in Finland and now lives in Norway told me... they only have 3 sun-shiny days a year up there. No wonder the place is full of "bookworms" they never come outside.

[@LexaTerrestrialx]

Fr! Hope it works. I may try it out. It may be easier than being apart of 3 or 4 different royalty groups.

[@pashon4percushon]

You know when it comes to US shores they gonna change it up, add more to it to make it confusing, and have different companies make 10 different apps.

[@ChristopherErringtonPhoto]

I’m not in the music industry but as a photographer this makes me happy. So many times I’ve seen a photo without credit to the photographer and model of applicable… love you channel!!

[@ieatkids03]

Are you full time? If you are how did you break into it may I ask?

[@regham4778]

Working in the IT industry and as an amateur musician I am so impressed by the scope and elegance of this application.

[@indi2174]

What part of I.T are you educated on

[@regham4778]

@@indi2174 Cyber Security

[@MichaelNatrin]

I love how excited Rick looks about this

[@ReignitedAuto]

I'm not a musician, but this video is fascinating because the principles apply to so many professions, number one is accountability. Being able to document who did what and when is critical. I'm happy for musicians to be able to take control of their work 👍

[@sparc9773]

Indeed, academic scientists face a similar problem. However, outside of the patent and industry world not about revenues but rather credentials. Especially, when hundreds of scientists participate in a single project. Another problem have been identical author names (e.g., Smith, Kim etc.) which has been solved by unique personal identifiers. The same is true for article titles which hase been solved by digital object identifiers (DOIs). Unlike with patents, a remaining problem is the contribution (number of ideas, the amount of work, who drafted the text etc.) of the individual authors to a publication. Many journals therefore ask for the addition of a statement regarding this issue. The system is still not perfect (e.g. there is only one first and one last/senior/corresponding author position and statements regarding equal contributions may not help because readers still drive conclusions from the order of authors). However, rather than judging a paper based on the journal it appears in we can nowadays base the judment on the relevance of a paper on how often it has been cited and use this to judge the work of a single scientistbase on the citations of all his works (Hirsch- or H-factor). Still, there are many issues that still need to be addresse (honary co-authorship for people not involved in the research, re-publishing already published data under a different titles, predatory and fake journals etc.). One issue that in my opinion is much more serious in science than in music is plagiarism. While the citation of a phrase may contribute to a musical piece without acknowleding the original author in the credits you can only (and actually have to) cite prior work with proper references.

[@sungear]

Seems pertinent to the actors strike issue.

[@markforeman7082]

Ditto! I envision leveraging this to other creators as well. Curious of the impact such a system can have on the struggles so many KZbin creators are facing.

[@richardmesson]

I also agree, as an accountant and tax consultant , this tool is In The Money

[@cuebj]

Relevant for all sorts of project management and implementation

[@rhysjo12332]

As a software developer, i love the attributes they describe and call boring! This is amazing!

[@frbrty12]

Yup, kinda hoping he has solid infrastructure, devops, security... could see a real use case here for a public blockchain (one of the few).

[@fbgtr]

A simple E-R diagram from a software architect's perspective, a big leap forward for the musicians

[@antesmolcic4354]

Yeah, wonder if they would use blockchain and be decentralized.

[@billywoods5678]

This is absolutely fantastic a game changer for the songwriters. I'm joining straight away. Rick thank you so much for this. The music industry needs people like you.

[@SeaTurtleCreative]

Love this. 🥳 Get the PROs to implement blockchain tech and connect Session to it as well and you'd really have a winner. So, song plays on the radio, by a wedding DJ, in a restaurant, etc. then tracking software required to be used by anyone paying the PROs can automatically send money to all those in the split. No wait time...immediate payment. Or, if gas fees are high (shouldn't be on MATIC, TEZ, SOL, etc.), do a daily, weekly, or monthly payment. Kudos to you guys for getting Session started. 👏

[@TheK391]

this is great

[@MrCherryJuice]

What a great guest and subject matter. Consider this: Niclas Molinder, a Swede speaking English, explained a very complex new system with absolute clarity and efficiency - the were no hesitations, no slang or hip terms, no 'ummmmm's between thoughts, and no need to even think before responding to questions. He also avoided trying to convince us how great it was and avoided superlatives like 'amazing' and 'game-changing', the sort of hype typically heard from new product descriptions. I have no interest in this device (though will share with those who will). But as a marketer I watched 'til the end because Niclas did such a great job communication.

[@Macanao]

I just gotta say that while watching the video I already signed up, downloaded the app, and am already in the process of creating and uploading my first song, great UI and experience so far.

[@danielmfazzio]

Working in Brazil and in the US with my Record Label/Publisher I’ve been explaining musicians, producers, performers how important is all of this for many many years!!! Great tool!!! the best thing I’ve seen in the last 5 years for the music industry to keep growing stronger with clarity, honesty and in a dynamic way!!!

[@puturro]

In my home country Argentina, that "black box" cash goes to the biggest publishers... When I recorded my first album with my band I went to do a course and get educated about publishing and stuff, and it's crazy how much info we as artists don't have. It's crucial to be business savvy about this stuff, especially if you're an independent artist.

[@TheWaterboarders]

In the UK, I think it all goes to Elton John. Or Ed Sheeran, maybe.

[@SuperxDfAb]

​@@TheWaterboardershe can't keep getting away with it

[@jasonfanclub4267]

and the Queen@@TheWaterboarders

[@crnkmnky]

​@@jasonfanclub4267 Freddie can't use all of it where he is. His mum should give a bit to Brian & Roger. And don't forget about Pink.

[@hiloii]

Wow Rick. You've really gone up another level here. This was just so interesting. I cant help thinking how creators cant help being creative whether its music or tech based solutions for contributor and recognition problems. Loved it!

[@bigmoviesify]

This is one of your best videos you'd ever done! As a cartoonist/illustrator - I too have problems with royalties and collecting money for the use and reuse of my work. BRAVO!!

[@RoyAlexander214]

👏👏👏👏 For Rick and all who helped produce this video. The quality is top tier. So grateful that we have Rick Beato and his amazing mind for free on the KZbin.

[@troydean]

100%

[@bettyparker3317]

Musicians have to be paid. The current payment for streaming (basically nothing) is criminal. We can only buy so much merch and/or what’s available direct from musician’s website. I’m not a musician, but I try to support them as I can. The system now just stinks. Tangentially, I am constantly mega-impressed at how many people around the world speak a second language really well. We should do better.

[@orlock20]

Musicians, under the label system, have always made their money playing live. Radio and then MTV were used to promote acts. Streaming has replaced radio and is probably the best way for indie acts to promote themselves.

[@boneytony5041]

I haven’t bought merch since Kurt Cobain passed

[@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69]

They're learning English. In the future everyone will speak English. It's the universal language.

[@jgwmain]

Agreed.

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

I am a part-time musician. The most discouraging (and a pet-peeve) is how much time & money you have to spend being a videographer and garment-designer just to offset the music costs! The music is literally a cost center in your musical journey. Imagine if restaurants or plumbers had to live off t-shirt sales!

[@GregoryHillSr]

This is a huge game changer!! I stayed away putting out music because I have seen my friends struggle to make a living doing this - Rick, your guy created an app that kicks the puzzle door off the hinges and pushes me to take a chance to have a go at it. Thank you and especially Niclas Molinder!!

[@shakeerahjohnson3306]

pls what is the best platforms for music streaming

[@JonKovach]

We are in this weird culture where everyone feels they are entitled to others work for free or for fractions of a penny on a dollar.

[@reidwhitton6248]

Big tech companies being first and foremost.

[@t3hgir]

"stop using things that create holes in the ozone layer" - Same govt that also detonated over 200 nuclear devices over the South Pacific in the 60s.

[@nigelnix1]

People doing reviews of songs on KZbin are making more than the musicians. As long as they stop the song a few times they technically stay within the rules of fair use. Comedians and other content creator videos are also being used by review channels. It's out of control.

[@MartinRenner]

That's literally how capitalism works.

[@yahnferral9163]

The face of fraud was culturally mistook for free market capitalism. Most people were fooled into jumping on the bandwagon of blaming capitalism by the media.

[@MelanieMaguire]

I haven't finished watching this, but straight away I'm thinking of a recent experience - with PRS in the UK who collects money on behalf of songwriters. I'm doing a small run of CDs for sale at live performances and some of the tracks will be covers. I contacted the PRS to purchase a license for them and what really surprised me was that they didn't want to know which songs I'd be covering.....!!!!!! So the fees I would be paying to use these songs couldn't possibly be paid to the copyright holders, the publishers, writers etc. Where are they going to? Who's getting all of these fees? Not the songwriters, that's for sure because PRS doesn't even care which songs you're covering on your CDs. Which means that for myself as a songwriter, if someone covers my songs and does a short run, the PRS will collect royalties on my songs, but never give those royalties to me. That sounds very very wrong. Where's the money going? Can anyone explain this to me?

[@reverb.deluxe]

Thank you Niclas and company! For musicians, this feels like the first iPhone launch. Amazing.

[@horatiuromantic]

Interesting project. I'm happy the split cannot be done by the machine. Still I'm unsure about putting all my song data into the hands of this one service which is not guaranteed to survive. How future proof is this tool?

[@thekevinjsim]

I'm downloading this now because I have a catalog of 57 songs and am recording another album but I'm practically nonexistent and have made $14 from streaming in my entire life. This will make it so much easier.

[@Siskos-pn7nd]

Like you, I have 20 songs streaming and another 50 on my website. I have made about $20 in the last 6 years. A commercial success I am not, but my other job supports me. Sadly, I made more money playing proms, schools and weddings in the 60s than I do today.

[@George-jo7mi]

What a relief! Not knowing much about the business, your presentation and app makes it way less intimidating. ❤❤❤❤

[@rabit818]

I am just designer and a music fan. This is an excellent tool to keep track of your work and everyone involved.

[@justinreynolds3935]

It seems just the last few years music industry professionals are finally talking about these financial side of the biz. It used to be almost taboo. I think because there are sooo many factors and every one is so different on how they operate. And especially now that the major label budgets have but vanished. Awesome insight.

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

Artists tryna eat and realized non artists don’t care;)

[@dimitriczapkiewicz4238]

It still begs the question... 'if you are working on a song (it is not registered copyrighted; although it possibly could be)... it seems this process may make an IP work vulnerable to have so many people who are not 'creators' access to the IP' It is a nice system/idea... but what about these gray areas. An unfinished work generally does not get an ISRC etc. unless it is register/copyrighted/published. If you are an indie or vanity publisher who assigns your own ISRCs does sessions affect this process? I would like to hear more... about potential trouble areas. Great Vid great idea...

[@drummermomcjs]

Thank you so much Rick for this video. As an aspiring songwriter/creator and performer, this is most useful information. I joined Session yesterday, because of this video. This is AWESOME! Thank you.

[@guitardave3028]

Can you describe the process of doing this...im a songwriter...

[@daveboyle307]

Great freakin interview. Very informative, I’m retired and a old school musician. It’s amazing what the music business has going on today and this app is slick

[@talmorris3740]

This is great news and a great leap forward. The next step is the renegotiation of royalty and distribution rates. Spotify Apple Pandora You Tube etc.. all need to be held accountable. Nobody should be able to divide a penny into smaller bits to calculate a royalty, that is insane. One royalty rate for everyone. The value of music should be universal.

[@deangoritz9625]

Excellent content Rick! What a gift for the artists and creators.

[@SandraStVictor]

This is brilliant.I wish I'd had it in all my previous sessions! 😖

[@JC-uy4yj]

This is such an innovative idea, and baffling how something like this hasent already been created. I hope it becomes integrated everywhere.

[@giano6343]

I tried but it’s such a big thing

[@MrHaggyy]

Systems like this exist for quite a while. Basically any European country has something like this that get's the money from each source of income to the label. The problem is to get used by more or less everyone. Many labels don't want this because they make good money by providing the service of doing this stuff for you.

[@giano6343]

its a app that allows fully build out to completely kill labels. its the new label. you get everything inside of it, faster, cheaper and better, when everyone uses it the problem is solved and we can figure out how make music without thinking a lot about other things. its the musicians dream, having it independently feeling like all structures are automated. just enjoy music making.@@MrHaggyy

[@giano6343]

now sitting here and enjoying some good music over my new Sony headphones. these 360s are really a beautiful thing.

[@supernovameditationproject]

Wow! This is amazing! Thank you Rick, for spreading the word. Thank you Niclas, Max & Bjorn for creating this app to help musicians. I've been writing songs my whole life. I've barely made a dime since the '90s. Hug!

[@jamescassidy3995]

Please can you explain how this could make any difference? The vast majority of “Creators” have absolutely no platform or outlet for their music other than the well known outlets - Spotify etc - that pay virtually nothing? Serious question! ✌️🎸✨

[@PokeABrain]

@@jamescassidy3995 You are right, it doesn't make you any more famous or pays you more for that matter.. but it does help to get you organized and collaborate with others which is a big plus regardless... i am going to test it but the fact that the metadata of the song is outthere it also helps to find the creators/collaborators and get paid if the song is being used which is also another plus.. it does have some interesting opportunities that could potentially drive a more direct music business approach (you write a song), someone wants to use it (ie: a movie producer), you get paid directly for that license.. and it's done.. no need to go try to sell your soul to some media company that gets a million application of other music creators... or hopefully that is where this will end up...!

[@shakeerahjohnson3306]

@@jamescassidy3995 pls what is the best platforms for music streaming

[@blackcreekmusic783]

Great presentation!! I'm feeling a lot more encouraged by all of this and I've immediately signed up!! Sold!! Thankyou!!

[@jjacoby1010]

This is one of your most interesting videos ever, Rick! Love learning about the biz and data side of things.

[@johnhines8450]

Brilliant. I was amazed at how you so accurately assess and meet the needs of every creator out there with this program. Excellent. I will be signing up thank you.

[@foreverthestudent]

I've been a songwriter for twenty eight years and this is the COOLEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD OF!!!!

wooooooo!!! Sorprendido, gracias por la explicación del principio y el desarrollo de esta tremenda aplicación!!! 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🚀🚀🚀

[@TheTickingClocks]

Rick is the most important person in music right now. Nobody comes close to what he brings to the table on such a consistent basis. Thank you, Mr. Beato! - Manny of The Ticking Clocks

[@mattmadhouse]

Soooo interesting!! Thank you Rick

[@michaelchadwick6424]

That was great. Well explained. Easy to digest. Will check it out. One cool tool for music creators would be the ability to tattoo your tracks with the details and your details and your co-writers etc etc. As far as I know AIFF files are the only ones that retain metadata and it is baked into the track.

[@spiritlevelstudios]

We add metadata to anything and everything. Wavs, flacs etc.

[@slatzmusic]

This is great, very transparent. I'm interested in where you think the money is coming from you mentioned. From my experience most just expect music for free these days

[@desertskygames]

This is huge. I never understood all the parts of this. THANK YOU Niclas and thank you also Rick for hosting this!

[@MichaelLewisMusic]

This is very cool and I think it's got a lot of additional potential. For example; I'd like to see them develop the ability to catalog your discography and be able to display it for clients or enable people to search and find you based on a song they heard.

[@ryanrichko]

Very impressive! I hope it catches on!

[@250Pants]

Traditionally, part of the publisher’s and record company’s work was to dig deep to find out who did what in the studio and propose splits. Most of the time the producer(s) would decide based on their fading memories. Now that all the info in the app is handed to them and they don’t need to do anything, I wonder… do publishers and record companies still deserve the same cut?

[@221b-l3t]

Bands have even broken up over such things. Like Sabbath and Dio, someone had gone in at night and changed the mix and the next day they all started accusing each other of trying to make themselves louder and the argument escalated and the singer left, not to work with them again for 10 years. With this you can just see, hey Dio is in the studio making himself louder etc... And of course credits. It's very easy to cheat someone out of their part and if they aren't aggressive and insist they wrote part or the song that's it. There are so many songs where multiple band members claim to have written it alone. This solves so many problems. I hope it gets adopted. And of course the record company just lying to the musicians about revenue and "don't worry we take care of the money just tell us if you want to buy something". And then suddenly a super succesful musician has no money anymore. Labels will hate this but musicians will love it. And if the labwl doesn't want to do it, who cares. Today it's much simpler to self publish with Spotify for instance or just directly pay someone in China to make CDs.

[@jacquelinevanbierk]

Great explanation. Blows my mind knowing how many artists release music without registering their song or not even being part of a PRO. I love this concept and idea but didn't like the fact that they work exclusive with soundcloud and tunecore, as both are not necessarily the best choice unless they really make sure everything is in the best interest for the artist.

[@drewosborne3943]

An incredible video that NEEDED to be made in these times of the industry. Well done Rick

[@miracles4u]

Great pic!

[@wesboundmusic]

Phenomenal piece of software! This is what all digital (music) content creators have needed forever and now it's out! Big kudos to Niclas, Max and Bjørn for having come up with this genius app!

[@chameleon-dream-band-official]

Imagine going into an art gallery and buying someone's painting and then the gallery giving most of that money to another painter. That's how most of the subscription systems work for music streaming. Time for change. Cheers Rick and Niclas!

[@orlock20]

That's kind of how it works. Many of the top priced works have been sold multiple times and the creator only gets their cut from the first sale.

[@paintmonster1]

Artists sell paintings outright for the agreed upon price as it's a one of a kind work of art but that doesn't give you the right to make prints of the work. "When an artist creates a painting, the artist owns both the copyright in the artwork, and the physical artwork. Ownership of the copyright is an intellectual property right. Ownership of the physical artwork is a personal property right. A sale of the physical artwork does not transfer the copyrights in the artwork." So the streaming model is more making prints of an original and not paying the artist fairly who owns the copyright

[@paulussantosociwidjaja4781]

Jee whiz, Rick with Niclas Molinder - just by the time I am preparing my retirement from my 8to7 job, you are a God send. It is my time for making writing songs and making music again after getting lost in the musical jungle. Cheers! God bless you guys!

[@rickhorvath]

As I’m watching, I’m thinking it goes well beyond this. How about when we submit a song to a music supervisor and not know it it’s being used - until we MAY see a royalty or deposit in our account. There needs to be more accountability which lets us know the status of a song submitted.

[@EverydayBrilliancePodcast]

This is your absolute most helpful video! It’s so difficult to muddle through all the numbers and where they come from. Your guest explained it perfectly and it was valuable knowledge to gain!!

[@sixofone]

this is really blowing my mind, I was giving up on common sense and honesty in this life, I don't know, I find this to be very exciting. A great start to finding a viable solution for a bad system, bravo

[@ZmienBeat]

Great video! Waiting for part 2 in the future.

[@GlynDwr-d4h]

It used to be that you could just get a low skilled factory job (or even in some cases a service job, like retail) to support yourself and then try to make records, which you could sell and support yourself. If you read Steve Albini's interviews, he breaks down the economics of how a lot of no name 80s underground rock bands could basically make a solid living on an independent label just selling a relatively small number of records every year. Now you can't do either. The low skilled job that paid rent has long been offshored or automated away, wages have stagnated for 40 years while cost of necessities beat the general rate of inflation, and nobody buys records. Streaming pays nothing, so that's out. So what then? Selling t-shirts? I just don't get how anybody does this for a living, to be perfectly honest. It's like you're either in a tiny group of people who become super stars or you're in the poor house and music is strictly a hobby (an expensive hobby, at that). It's like everything else. How does anybody make money and avoid starving to death? Nobody seems to know. Somehow build an audience online and play live shows somehow, I guess.

[@RayTheGuitar]

The ONLY way to make money in the Music 'Biz' .... Is .......................... MAKE SURE THE WIFE WORKS !

[@GlynDwr-d4h]

@@RayTheGuitar lol

[@alisashamrow]

Incredible tool and demo. Thank you!

[@damienmacrae]

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear that Dancing Queen is the 00001 code as it is literally one of, if not, the best songs ever written.

[@thomasluby1754]

(1) Not "literally". That word is not to be used for emphasis. (2) Disagree about Dancing Queen being one of best songs ever written. Could squeeze it into the top 600 - 800 but not better than that. Update 11/12/23: Just decided to change my ranking of Dancing Queen from "600-800" to 300 - 400. Maybe that makes it one of the best written songs of all time. Who knows?

[@damienmacrae]

@@thomasluby1754 It's just my opinion that it is literally "one" of the best songs ever written. There's another thousand I could add to that but I'm more than pleased to know that it's this song and not say, "Friday", by Rebecca Black. ☮

[@thomasluby1754]

@@damienmacrae Never heard of "Friday" or Rebecca Black. I LOVED Dancing Queen when I was a senior in HS and for a few years more. Now, I just considered it a nice song. I have over 500 songs on my Spotify list and Dancing Queen is not one of them. Maybe I will vote it in in the next 500 😃. As far as the word, "literally", is concerned, I was just trying to be helpful. It seems most people, these days, misuse that word. They use it for emphasis. I think you mentioned somewhere that you are a lawyer. I guarantee you some people you work with/for find it as irritating as I do. I recently retired and my career depended on how well I spoke. Take care.

[@thomasluby1754]

@@damienmacraePS I just listened to that god awful song, "Friday". Woosh! I see your point.

[@damienmacrae]

@@thomasluby1754 Yes, the overuse of 'literally' is a real bugbear of mine. TBH too, Dancing Queen isn't in my top 500, but is definitely a well crafted song, especially when you take a deep dive into how the song was written .

[@mirzaaljic]

Awesome stuff! Now we only need the PROs to bring their royalty payout system to the 21st century :)

[@blockingthesunmusic]

Thank you for this Rick, I’ve been personally struggling with this.

[@bonventurewanda172]

Great session and very helpful. Please show more especially on how you get the registrations and also on the role of publishers, labels and companies.

[@jas_bataille]

I still hadn't seen a single dollar from a session I did 3 years ago. I have royaltie for this, the artist said so - in Canada, those are interpretation rights through Artisti and yes - the DO exist! - to no avail. I even said I was willing to sign the contract again, because there was a "member of the band" by mistake (I was, but unfortunate circumstances made the singer unable to perform with live drums for her ears were too fragile sadly), and they said no, I only needed to make an e-mail stating that I wasn't a member anymore, and I did. After that, they wanted an e-mail stating that the songwriter confirmed I was the one on the session, so I did. And that was after 5 or 6 calls in which I could get 1 out of 10 words across and painstakingly long months - still nothing. The songs have two versions in different languages, and apparently the system is bugging on that. I made notifications on every single one of them. At one point they asked if I was the leader of the band... I was so confused!!! The leader had invited me!!! How could they not know that?! They don't know because this is one person for 50 000 artists registered. Before watching this video, I hadn't even thought about those royalties in months!!! And I don't even have any idea how much they're worth - while most session musos in Canada have *zero* idea that they are ALLOWED those rights in the first place!!! The whole thing is complete chaos.

[@charlottaahmed4486]

This whole subject brings back some very old memories of why I broke up with my then guitarist boyfriend. I knew he would have a terrible time trying to make ends meet. Of course, years later I learned I had been right. But by then he had already died. Tragic! I remembered my father who had been with the Pinkie Lee jazz band in New Orleans ages before saying that even then, musicians always had to have a second unrelated job to pay the bills. Musicians like to eat too.

[@zakdamonmusic]

I’m literally in the middle of this entire process. My dad recorded himself with a tascam, on cassette, back in the 80s and I have about 225 recorded full songs recorded and registered. He passed in 2020 unfortunately, now it’s up to me to get all this rolling out!! I just shared the 2nd song on my channel. My trailer explains my motivation and goal. I hope Rick checks this stuff out cuz it really is something special!!

[@MusicMotivator]

That's amazing Zak! What Tascam? I did tons of recordings on a 248. Even got radio airplay from a cassette mult-track recording. So sorry about the loss of your Dad.

[@zakdamonmusic]

@@MusicMotivator Hello and thank you! My dad acquired a tascam 244 back EARLY 80s and used that for most of his recording. I still have it and a tascam 388 reel to reel he used for some later recordings.

[@ramirezwilliam8983]

What genre music you make?

[@ramirezwilliam8983]

?

[@CaseyKoplinCk13]

That’s awesome you are doing this for your father. He would be Very happy and proud.

[@StormingTheGoal]

This is a fantastic talk Rick! The info should be included in every music business course

[@Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow]

I'm NOT Broke.. I'm selling out night after Night the homeless section of down town....I'm nailing it....

[@theprezenz]

Rick, i'm out of words to thank you. This is great news for all of us! We need this!

[@shauncarter924]

This is amazing. An easier way to collab with other musicians across the globe. Brilliant.

[@4kryptik4]

This is amazing! Thank you for your work🙏

[@brucemaier3943]

I joined Session Studio midway through my first viewing of this Interview and have had my songwriting partners also join.

[@eastwind32]

Really interesting Rick! As a non professional musician it is great to learn how these things work. Great content.

[@saucyjk6453]

I made a living as a music teacher, guitar player in mostly Philadelphia and some san Francisco for over 25 years, I started teaching music at harcum college in bryn mawr at age 19, bought a house at 26, played 2-5 times a night for decades. I worked w platinum selling musicians and got a little bit into song licensing w my songs The internet/digital content-spotify/smart phones, rock schools And info/how to channels such as ricks put a lot of us out of business,that's not a knock on Rick, just the truth...I think he's great , his interview resume, his knowledge is a great thing. Much of his guitar course and theory oriented material is very similar to how I taught it. But back in the day knowledge and ear skill was income. Now that content Is more or less free w a small percentage of guys making a killing on you tube I'm just giving some honest insight and experience as to why some of us have struggled making a living. Those of us w ADHD have not had an easy time navigating the modern age.

[@montraix]

I can’t thank you enough Rick.!! This is exactly what the music/musicians/producers communities need. I can see this growing into tracking a compilation of songs as albums, and perhaps even a way to feed the iTunes Music Store and Spotify with the actual Lyrics, and perhaps a linked format to album artwork, also. Could be a basis for the foundation of an actual FAIR and maybe or more importantly, a more common sense based music industry. Great video. Honestly, long term, this was important

Very good observation @montraix

[@shakeerahjohnson3306]

pls what is the best platforms for music streaming

[@CormacCadden]

In this video, Coach discusses the dynamics of being in a band with Neil Teixeira. The first important quality discussed is trust within the band. Next, they talk about how to handle conflict, and how sometimes butting heads can create a better product. If everyone is scared to speak up, then sometimes nothing can actually get done. They then talk about how the methods of communication are important (time and place); it music be healthy and constructive. The next thing discussed is commitment, you must identify the common goal of the band, music trump those of individual members, and can even be put into contract. The next thing talked about is accountability, and how there must be healthy ways to have dialogue if a member isn't holding up their end of the goal. Finally, they circle back to the common goal discussion using the band Rush as an example to show how if a member isn't on the same page, they may need to go.

[@bryinthe619]

How does a jazz musician make a million dollars? They start with two million. (Ba dum chi)

[@bobravenscraft5376]

1 habit 2 habits 3 oh No 😆

[@splashesin8]

Yay! 😎 Can't wait to check this out. Crossing my fingers that voiceover and talkback/Narrator/can access it.

[@specialkonacid6574]

Rick Beato The best internet dad a musician could ever have 😀

[@sunfish87]

This was trying to get through the ether to me over the past decade. Excellent job! Revolutionary.

[@pieterrossouw8596]

As a software developer and cloud engineer myself, I’m happy people built a CMS system geared towards the music industry. It is a bit funny that the engineer called their security “NASA quality”… that’s like begging hackers to exploit your systems. I’d rather say our data platform is e.g. PCI compliant, meaning it has the same safeguards that payment processors need to undergo. The easiest way would likely be social engineering, but yeah never hype up your security as a small startup app - every company with valuable information eventually gets breached. If the music industry at large adopts this like these guys would obviously want, they’ll be an enormous target for motivated and funded hackers. Hackers could use this info to spearphish wealthy labels and artists, it’d be a goldmine.

[@SirenaWF1]

I know, but a lot of the time musicians don't know terms like PCI compliant. They do understand NASA.

[@tatsujin1988]

@@SirenaWF1true!!😂

[@Charlesb88]

He probably meant “NSA quality” not NASA quality but yes, he could just data is encrypted in the cloud and only authorized persons will be allowed to have access to it (so long as the encryption/Secuirty isn’t flawed). His main point is that it’s not just out there in the cloud unencrypted for hackers to easily steal.

[@jimlabos]

I had similar thoughts. No software is invincible. It would have to be extremely restrictive in order to make it almost hack proof. But that would render it useless. Let's see how it goes. We have all seen software that promises the world only for it to disappear form existence. For this one to work it needs to reach a critical mass. Its cooperative so without a certain amount of users it is just a specialized database. If they can get the big guys in there it might catch on. Hope so as anything that makes this business easier is welcomed!

[@martinaddison4880]

Good point, I worked for DOD, but many don’t recognize NSA, by name.

[@j.4532]

This channel is truly blowing up to a new level. I’m just a humble rock guitar player with a white collar job. This video is of no interest to me but still ended up watching the whole thing. Bravo, Rick!

[@Kennyschwartz]

This is awesome and so well explained!

[@jacqueskorb879]

Thank you Rick. Great content once again.

[@PaulGillings]

Superb advice, as always! Thank you both 🙏

[@Merelytemporal]

Excellent contribution Nicolas! You have done a lot of good for musicians everywhere with this. I hope it becomes a universal standard.

[@Adrenaline416]

What about copyright registration? I can't understand why someone would upload their songs to the internet without securing ownership rights first. The app looks great but as a side note does anyone copyright their music? Seems like the most important step before publishing anything (e.g. uploading to the internet).

[@guitardo100]

Fascinating. I've never considered how identifiers exist and to what extent. The comment section is equally informative with ideas and comments. This could literally change many groups besides musicians. Been following this subscription for a couple years maybe but this particular video hits home immediately. I will definitely share.

[@slapitman]

I've said this for literally 10 years....surely somebody can create a music streaming platform owned by the musicians for musicians that pays them fairly. It would shut Apple Music and Spotify down in days. Each Musician who wants to be on the platform pays a simple fee that essentially buys them a share in the group as long as they populate it with content.

[@juniper-usa-shei]

Audius is an attempt, but lack of transparency to reimburse content creators is a turn off.

[@Elriri]

and some people still believe in free market

[@rogercraig7203]

With support from many people in the BEATLES camp I tried doing this thirteen years ago. Also got support from the AFM, the largest Union in the world for musicians. And what happened? All the musicians who liked the idea would NOT give me one dollar to build this new Platform. NO SOLUTION in sight for PRO musicians

[@slapitman]

@@rogercraig7203 That is awfully sad Roger. At the end of the day the best outcome would surely be that music is curated and managed by the democracy of musicians. Rather than the domination of some faceless geek who owns an algorithm. Ironically we as producers, musicians have the the very thing that feeds them and ultimately starves us.

[@PeterLustig-js6mj]

That is a good idea, but it needs a big name to make it happen like Joe Rogan or Elon Musk. 🫤

[@cajuncrackerranch7990]

Rick, OUTSTANDING! And to this person and his team who developed this concept. 🙌 👏 🙏! Phenomenal.

[@desolationrow8280]

Hey Rick, make a video about the guitarist Buckethead

[@niloo_atribecalledlove]

App downloaded and logged in! Thank you gentlemen!

[@partymarty6969]

this is incredible, this can really help professional musicians and songwriters 👏‼️ will this “catch-on” tho ? it seems more intended for people working with major labels. like, will enough casual musicians & songwriters use the platform ? I also can’t see big labels advocating for this. they are greedy and I bet they’ll prefer to keep the money stored in the “black box” smh.

[@partymarty6969]

But either way - I’m all for this system and I wish it success. I feel like it’s a great tool to add. we don’t need anymore tools to enhance our audio.

[@philsant4575]

Session Studio is for the biggest music creators working with the majors to the newest DIY, and everyone in between.

[@miguelbefree8297]

Rick and Niclas...tanx a lot for this!! Niclas for the crreation and vision, and rick for the amazing work, really amazing...i will try it! luv you all amazing people!

[@mrsherwood2599]

Its hard to realize that certain things are over. There's no quick fix. Its important to be brave and in reality.

[@TheHmm43]

Yup

[@Ponchiboy444]

What is over ?

[@RealHomeRecording]

@@Ponchiboy444 people valuing music at $10-20 per album.

[@tomcoryell]

Yup, Napster and the thieves who “file shared”, knifed writers and publishers in the back, while smiling to their faces.

[@Ponchiboy444]

@@RealHomeRecording That is long gone for sure, thank god

[@57cire]

Very impressive interview in The Guardian! Congratulations!!!

[@LaurenceBricker]

So for us complete newbies.... As a bedroom studio singer/songwriter/producer how do I get an IPI, ISWC and ISRC numbers. Can you do a video explaining the most streamlined and inexpensive way for a person just starting out doing this process?