If My Songs Are Registered With Bmi Can I Get Them On Spotify And Itunes?

Did you know that each fourth dimension your song is streamed, it generates a mechanical royalty that is not paid through your benefactor? You need a publishing administrator like Songtrust to collect it.

For a $100 setup fee and 15% commission, Songtrust will help y'all sign upwardly with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN, IMRO, etc) if yous're not already. Next, they'll register an unlimited number of songs with over 45 collection societies worldwide. If you lot've already got songs registered with your PRO, they'll pull them into their system for free.

Publishing is complicated. Okay, information technology's a total mess. My goal for this commodity is to share my experience with Songtrust, and help you decide if it's for you, without getting into the weeds.

Why I signed upwards

Many years ago, I saw a postal service on the Songtrust web log, breaking downward the various royalties Spotify pays to songwriters. I figured that since I'd earned a few hundred bucks from Spotify via CD Baby, the mechanical royalties Songtrust would collect for me would cover the cost of signing upwards.

As well, I paid big bucks for radio promotion beyond France and Italian republic fashion dorsum in 2000, putting my songs in regular rotation on over 40 commercial stations. The promoter guessed I'd get back well-nigh $1500 in royalties from the airplay, but I never got a penny, despite hounding ASCAP for months. I hoped maybe Songtrust would dig some of that upwards.

So, in early 2012, I contacted Songtrust and said I'd like to write an article about their service. I was granted a 25% discount off their elevation tier programme at the fourth dimension, which was $250 per year for global collection, with no commission. The next yr they changed their pricing structure to the current $100 plus 15% commission.

What Songtrust collected

As of Feb 2022, Songtrust has nerveless a total of $1592 on my behalf.

$485 of the $1592 total are United states performance royalties that I would've collected through ASCAP anyway. In fact, since Songtrust takes a 15% commission, that $485 would've been $570 straight through ASCAP.

Fortunately, Songtrust more than made up for it by collecting an boosted $1107 for me that I wouldn't have otherwise received:

$236 in international operation royalties
$643 in United states of america mechanical royalties
$218 in international mechanical royalties
$10 in "other" + print + sync

What about those missing radio royalties from 2000?

I'k out of luck.

It turns out that retroactive performance royalties are hard to uncover. Most societies require them to exist claimed within 2-3 years. Later on that, they are redistributed to their members or blackboxed to cover operational costs.

Is Songtrust correct for you?

Apparently it was the right call for me. Even if the numbers didn't work out in my favor, I'd still exist glad I went with Songtrust. Otherwise I'd exist wondering if there was a pot of aureate waiting for me at the end of the rainbow.

If you're releasing and actively promoting your music, you need to be registered with a PRO and with SoundExchange. Those two agencies volition near likely collect the vast majority of royalties for you.

Should you too join Songtrust? That depends.

If you're regularly receiving royalties from your PRO equally a writer, and don't want to prepare upwardly a vanity publishing company, then you should absolutely join Songtrust.

Otherwise you're potentially leaving 50% of your royalties on the table.

For me, setting up a publishing company was super easy. I but filed a Fictitious Business Name statement. I didn't fifty-fifty have to ready a checking account to receive checks under the business name, since ASCAP does direct deposit.

If you've racked up 150K streams of your music (beyond all platforms), you should probably join Songtrust.

According to Songtrust, that's approximately the indicate at which they collect enough on your behalf to cover the setup fee and commission. In other words, you've got zippo to lose!

If yous're already receiving both writer and publisher royalties from your PRO, and have less than 150K streams, the decision is more difficult.

If 10% of your streaming earnings is more than 15% of your publishing royalties, y'all'll probably come out ahead with Songtrust. For most of us, that's difficult if non impossible to forecast.

Beyond the fiscal uncertainty, at that place'due south besides the psychological uncertainty. Are yous okay with non knowing how much you could've received?

To brand your decision easier, readers who sign up with the discount code PASSIVE-ST get twenty% off the $100 setup fee.

And I'll make a small committee, which will go towards future experiments!

Other options

CD Baby members are no dubiousness already familiar with CD Babe Pro, which is powered by Songtrust.

With CD Baby Pro, royalty drove is bundled with digital distribution. Y'all pay $20 more per unmarried and $twoscore more per anthology. They take the same 15% committee.

If you simply have a release or 2, and have no plans to ever switch distributors, CD Baby Pro might exist a meliorate option for you lot. Personally, I'd rather pay in one case and exist washed with it.

TuneCore charges a 1-fourth dimension $75 fee and 15% committee for publishing assistants. They'll even pitch your songs for picture show, television, and video game opportunities (minus 20% commission).

At that place's a catch though: TuneCore requires that you piece of work with them exclusively for licensing.

And don't forget, yous're paying $10 per single and $50 per anthology every year simply to proceed them in distribution! Who knows if they'll proceed to pitch and collect royalties for songs they no longer distribute.

Take you tried Songtrust, CD Baby Pro, or TuneCore publishing?

If not, what are y'all waiting for? Are there any other options I overlooked? Please share your feel in the comments!