How To Earn More Music Publishing Royalties

If you write original songs then you stand to earn music publishing revenue, most of it in the form of mechanical royalties, performance royalties, and sync licensing fees.

That’s right, someone owes you money every time your music is played on the radio, streamed online, performed in a venue, downloaded internationally, or used on television. With CD Baby Pro, they’ll make sure you get paid everything you’re owed — worldwide.

Lots of artists ask, though, once they’ve signed up for CD Baby Pro, “What now? How can I earn more music publishing royalties?”

Here is a list of things you should do to increase the publishing royalties you earn

1. Pursue sync opportunities for the usage of your music in film, TV, games, commercials, and more.

2. Sell your songs as sheet music, the original form of “music publishing.”

3. Submit your music to Pandora.

4. Log all your live performances with BMI or ASCAP.

5. Get your music played on the radio (including college, community, satellite, and internet radio).

6. Encourage other artists to legally cover or sample your music.

7. Register with SoundExchange. The kind of digital performance royalty that SoundExchange collects isn’t technically a publishing royalty (since it’s related to the usage of the master recording of a song, NOT the underlying composition) — but you should register all the same, especially if your music is getting played online.