When you choose to play music for a living you must be creative with how you pad your pockets. Royalties can seem really complicated, but with the help of two articles and four simple steps you’ll be collecting them in no time at all.
Chris Robley gives you simple steps to collect performance royalties. If you make original music and you play it live it’s time to start submitting your set lists to major Performing Rights Organizations (PROs). This blog walks you through ways to submit through ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
In addition to performance royalties Kaitlyn Raterman gives musicians a very detailed overview of all the royalty categories that a musician—independent or otherwise—can collect on. This article provides the building blocks to demystify a world that many independent musicians don't understand.
Here are quick steps you can take to start collecting today:
Register with a PRO
Affiliate yourself with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.
Register Music
Submit your original music; you need to do this to collect performance royalties.
Gig Log
Stay organized with an excel sheet with set lists, venues, and submission deadlines.
Submit
This is where you wait. It can take some time for your PRO to compensate you.
In doing these four actions you will begin to reap the benefits of writing, performing, and submitting your music through your PRO.