DISTRIBUTION
Music distribution companies such as CD baby and Distrokid are responsible for getting the music artists songs out to the public. This can be in digital apps and websites such as as sound cloud or Spotify, or through physical copies which can be purchased in music stores to potentially an international scale. If you are an aspiring artist you can fill in online forms to publish your music through a music distribution company, usually when starting out you begin to publish through online apps. However most company’s will demand a fee for you to get their help, on the website Distrokid they demand “$19.99 to upload unlimited albums & songs for a year” The distribution company works when a record label or artists signs a deal, which then legally gives them the right to sell to music shops. Overall the distributing company helps the artists get more recognition and popularity. Each company has its own website where you can get your music sold through their online contracts here a few of the companies; https://freshtunes.com/, https://cdbaby.com/ and http://www.mixnauten.com/ . However the best and most reliable company is said to be DistroKid as they are getting artists music into stores 10 to 20 times faster than the other companies
LISCENSING
A music license is practically given permission to allow other companies and people to play music and use it for what ever you may wish, if they were to use a song without a licence the distributing company that owns that song could then take them to a court of law under a copyright claim. This to ensure the company and artists don’t lose money from other people stealing the song. Your everyday films and TV shows must own the song licenses for the unoriginal songs they may include in their sound track. An example of this is ‘Take on me’ by A-ha in deadpool 2, legally without the music license for that song they would be copywriting it and would be breaking the law. A reasonable music licensing cost can range from $250 to $500 however it varies from what your using it for, if you purchase this license you can use the music for what ever you want. If you live in the UK you can get a music license through https://www.gov.uk/ . You can apply for the license by signing an online contract. Overall the music licensing rule benefits the distribution company and the client as they profit when people purchase their music license.
CONTRACTS AND INVOICES
A contract is a written agreement that includes terms and conditions of the business that will be taken place, the client and the company themselves will both sign this agreement which forms a bond that legally cannot be broken. However a invoice is a bit different as an invoice is a list of the items that are being sold in the case of the music distribution company this will most likely be records, it will also include a sum of the cost. So a invoice is very similar to a transaction log, which is their to help everyone understand how much it will cost financially as well as the services they will be receiving. A work for hire contract is very important for musicians to look into before looking at a company. Once a musician signs this agreement this means all the work or music they make while the contract is active will belong to their employer, this means the employer takes ownership of the artists music as they have just hired them to make the music for them. Below this text is a link to one of my false invoices I have created, through this invoice generator. https://invoice-generator.com/#/1 .
SOCIETIES AND UNIONS
A musicians trade union is an organisation which represents of over 30,000 musicians working in all sections of the British music business, the point is to help musicians that are starting to go professional and to make sure they get paid fairly. The some of the benefits of a subscription for MU are; copyright and property right protections, legal advice, subsidised hearing assessment and protection, business advice and entry to training and workshop courses. The website link to more benefits are at https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Join . You can sign up via different subscription packages which can be purchased in the website link I have inserted, the pricier the subscription you pay for the more benefits you get.
A music society However is another form of music education, which was made to address the issues concerning music in higher education, the society’s are attended by those very interested in all disciplines of music. Britain has its own national society for music that was founded in 1979. https://www.britishmusicsociety.co.uk/ . The society hosts its own events and performances including its students. If you are under 25 you can have a years free membership but after that you can either purchase a years membership for £25-£40 or a lifetime membership for £450. There are many benefits that can be viewed on the link but I will also name the benefits for the lifetime membership here. You will get regular emails, discounts on CDs and publicizations, a network of enthusiasts and a one off fee or to pay in two instalments. These companies have a thing called public liability insurance, which is a form of insurance that covers costs of claims made by the public which are tied to the business such as personal injury.
