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Music distributors...when is it recommended?

Onemandown said:
A PRO. Some have upfront fees that may push away someone doing it for fun.
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There should never be a fee, not sure which PRO you're with. SOCAN and ASCAP never charged me a dime...even back when I was a hobbyist. PRO's are not just for pro composers (a writer is not necessarily a professional). Although I also work professionally, my digital music on Spotify, etc, are just personal releases...no sync involved, etc, and I receive royalties collected by SOCAN.
 
Jeremy Spencer said:
There should never be a fee, not sure which PRO you're with. SOCAN and ASCAP never charged me a dime...even back when I was a hobbyist. PRO's are not just for pro composers (a writer is not necessarily a professional). Although I also work professionally, my digital music on Spotify, etc, are just personal releases...no sync involved, etc, and I
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Jeremy Spencer said:
There should never be a fee, not sure which PRO you're with. SOCAN and ASCAP never charged me a dime...even back when I was a hobbyist. PRO's are not just for pro composers (a writer is not necessarily a professional). Although I also work professionally, my digital music on Spotify, etc, are just personal releases...no sync involved, etc, and I receive royalties collected by SOCAN.
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Sounds like a fairly good setup. As far as I can recall, I believe there are some out there that will, like a distributor, require an upfront fee for uploads (BMI maybe?..) I personally don't license any of my music, but I'm not really doing the TSFH-type business model. Not to mention it was a little while back when I checked into the PRO market, so my information is a little rusty.
 
Onemandown said:
A PRO. Some have upfront fees that may push away someone doing it for fun.
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Yeah, I would be careful about joining a PRO. Some are exclusive and they also have a minimum commitment for membership. Plus the window to resign from a PRO is short. So if you are stuck for 5 years and want to leave, you have to wait for that 3 month resignation period. If you miss that window, you are automatically renewed for another year or more. Read these contracts, because they can really work against you.
 
chillbot said:
No clue what a PRO is, joined less than a month ago, and yet posted 9x in this thread.
Great info, I love VI-C these days.
Honestly, are these AI bots now?
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Hey, it's ok. Let's chill man!

Actually, I've been lurking since 2021. And if you'd care to read one of my 9 posts, you'd perhaps come to the conclusion that I do have some clue (even it's a small one) what a PRO is. You may have also noticed that I said it's been a while since I looked into this stuff. Forgive me if I feel the need to respond to people talking to me.
 
Epic Wonder said:
Not if you are locked into the deal. Some people can earn more from their music by either switching PROs or not being a member of a PRO.
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As far as I understand it the only way you could earn more from your music by not being a member of a PRO is if you write for one of those handful of rapacious and immoral libraries that require their composers to not be PRO members. If that's the only deal you can get, sure. (But you are contributing to the enshittification of the industry if you do.)
 
Jeremy Spencer said:
Uploads?? Not sure if you're clear on what a PRO is what is does for us. Maybe do some research?
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Perhaps my choice of metaphor was too unclear, but in a way, you are adding data to their platform in the same you would to a streaming service. Does the word "register" satisfy you more?
 
Jeremy Spencer said:
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"This is intolerable, sir," said I. "I came here to do you a favour, and not to be examined as if I were a schoolboy. My knowledge on these subjects may be second only to your own, but I certainly shall not answer questions which have been put in so offensive a way."
 
We need to make sure we understand the 2 different types of royalties. Mechanical and Performance.

Performance royalties get paid through PRO's (either directly to you or to your publisher if you have a pub deal). Those are for the SONGWRITER/COMPOSER.

Then there's mechanical royalties. Which refer to the recording. Those are usually paid directly from the streaming platform. Or if you have a distributor, those go to the distributor and then they combine them all and they pay it to you.
 
pulpfiction said:
Hello,

Since my songs are generating more and more clicks on YouTube, I came across the topic of "Music distributors". I have a few questions about this.

As I have seen, this is a requirement for Spotify. Does this also offer an advantage for YouTube?

I read on the internet that music distributors automatically upload the songs to all kinds of platforms. Do I still have to upload my songs to YouTube myself or will my channel be taken over?
Or does the distributor upload the songs to another channel?

What added value would this have for someone like me (I simply upload my own songs to YouTube.....making a hobby of it....)?

Best
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To succinctly address your questions:
As I have seen, this is a requirement for Spotify. Does this also offer an advantage for YouTube?
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Not particularly, when you upload an album or single via distributor, they more than likely will upload your album on their channel dedicated to their artists which by default have comments disabled and is purely for display. So in regards to viewer engagement, it isn't optimal for building an audience.

For most Distros, you can select which service you'd like your music to be uploaded to and look at the trends of your songs.

Streaming is tough but like anything, your fans/listeners will like consistency, upload your music/projects with frequency and you'll see some good results.

I've used Distrokid and Soundrop for my projects for nearly 10 years and I've had an extremely pleasant and professional experience with both platforms.

If you want to go beyond hobbying with music, check your analytics of your channel, if you are getting consistent views with your channel, then you can plan to do an album or project submission to a distro and see if those users/listeners will support you on the new platforms.

Major Platforms Distros Partner With:
iTunes
Spotify
Tidal
Facebook/Instagram
TikTok
Pandora
 
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