The Focusrite Guide To Releasing Music: Part 2

Words: Chuck Fishman

In the first part of this four-part series, I talked about how to ready your songs for release, including the necessary steps to get a proper mix and final master that will sound great on streaming services and on physical music products like CDs or vinyl. (Check it out here.)

In this second part, I'll cover two main tasks a musician should tackle once their music is mixed, but before it is actually released as a digital or physical product. First, I'll talk about protecting your original songs from being duplicated or sampled by other artists, through copyright registration. Secondly, deciding between a self-release plan or working with an independent record label to get your music out there. This includes discovering labels, pitching them, and negotiating a deal.

I'll caveat this section with a quick reality check: there are so many ways to approach this, so many different tools to reach the same goal, and a multitude of different opinions offered from one expert to another. My perspective is generally one of self-protection, so I tend to advise being extra careful when it comes to protecting your music and livelihood. So, as ever, I urge you to take this advice and build on it. There are plenty of links throughout this piece to help you discover more on the topic. I'll also add that my advice here comes from a US perspective. If you live outside the US, I advise you to research your local laws to gain as much knowledge about your rights in your part of the world. The more knowledge you have on this complex world of copyright, the better - it'll help you choose your own path to a place where you're on good legal ground, in a good relationship with your releasing partners, and happy that people are hearing (and paying for!) your music.

Also, regarding copyright: I am making the assumption that your songs are 100% original compositions written by you and / or your bandmates or co-producers. If you have used samples of other songs in your own, you won't be able to copyright the song as an original work, and the process of getting a copyright for what is called a derivative work' is much harder.

Why is copyright important?

Technically once you have recorded a song, and burned a CD of it or put it on any other physical device - like a USB drive - your work is copyrighted, but the copyright needs to be registered with an official office. Registering your copyright will protect your songs - the music and the lyrics - from being duplicated or sampled by other artists. If another artist covers your song, samples it, or replicates it any other way without your permission and you have secured the copyrights, then you have legal recourse against them up to $150,000 wilful infringement. You can only file a lawsuit if you have registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and they have made a final ruling on your application.

LINK:	https://focusrite.com/en/news/focusrite-guide-releasing-music-part-2...
	See more stories from focusrite

Most recent headlines