BradHoyt
Active Member
Just saw this recent video... Looks like you may not want to use DistroKid if you're outside the USA since they can, on a whim, withhold 30% of your earnings for tax reasons.
Doesn't look like it. lolIs this one of those situations where it turns out all that was needed was a W8-BEN form to be filled in?
If that were the case, seems they could have told the guy in a reply to his emails.
Do the streaming services make the difference between the composers and performer as the PRO do?
I always wondered in the end if anyone in the film music realm (or any kind of pop music) makes some decent money by featuring themselves on spotify and the likes through Distrokid.
...and the effect compounds. Not often will people stream the entire album, and listen to it on repeat, like they would have a physical album.I'll share part of an article I'm writing. I'm discussing the polka music industry, but the info applies universally to a lot of independent artists in all genres:
"Twenty years ago, if someone wanted to hear all 18 songs on a band's album, they'd pay the band $15 for the CD. Today, if someone wants to hear all 18 songs a band's album, they'll stream it on their favorite subscription service and the band will earn about 5¢ in royalties. That's a profit reduction of approximately 99.6%. At this rate, a band would need to achieve about 5,000 song streams to equal the sale of just one $15 CD. To recover their recording expenses, they'd have to achieve anywhere from 350k to 1.5 million song streams."
I wonder what the solution could possibly be to this situation. Once consumers are used to paying a low monthly fee to services like Spotify, where can you go from there, other than Spotify willingly paying a much higher percentage per play, which I don't see happening. The old model was definitely flawed as has been detailed in various media, but at least the money-making potential was reasonable for professional musiclans. Sounds like there's never been a better time to leave the music industry.I'll share part of an article I'm writing. I'm discussing the polka music industry, but the info applies universally to a lot of independent artists in all genres:
"Twenty years ago, if someone wanted to hear all 18 songs on a band's album, they'd pay the band $15 for the CD. Today, if someone wants to hear all 18 songs a band's album, they'll stream it on their favorite subscription service and the band will earn about 5¢ in royalties. That's a profit reduction of approximately 99.6%. At this rate, a band would need to achieve about 5,000 song streams to equal the sale of just one $15 CD. To recover their recording expenses, they'd have to achieve anywhere from 350k to 1.5 million song streams."
I wonder what the solution could possibly be to this situation.
I see! But his videos on YouTube are monetised. When I upload a video on YouTube Im only allowed to monetise it if all of the content is mine. So does Youtube distribute the income from ads to the authors of the songs?I agree. It looks like DistroKid is being unnecessarily unhelpful. If a tax form is required to avoid having money withheld, that makes sense, but DistroKid is being suspiciously evasive when it comes to conveying that information.
Yes. Once you digitally distribute your cover song, you are no longer responsible for paying digital mechanical royalties (unless you also make the song available on your own website, in which case you are acting as an independent distributor which would require a license.)
When I upload a video on YouTube Im only allowed to monetise it if all of the content is mine. So does Youtube distribute the income from ads to the authors of the songs?
If you upload a video with a cover song, YouTube's Content ID system will determine the rights to the audio are owned by someone else, and will automatically monetize the video with the ad revenue going to the rights holder. The rights holder also has the option of telling YouTube to take down or mute the video.
Sounds like it. I vaguely remember the 30% thing from when I was considering using a couple Canadian authors for a project I was working on.Is this one of those situations where it turns out all that was needed was a W8-BEN form to be filled in?
It's shit like this that is why I prefer commissioned music projects, rather than entrusting production music to some label.
It's unfortunate, but it's technically not a problem that requires a solution.... The sad truth is that...the days of music sales as a source of profit are over for 99.9% of artists.
the idea that the days of making money selling your own music are over (for 99% of artists) has enormous implications