Do you find this topic confusing? Let’s get this done away with first. YES, Music Distribution and Music Publishing are two different things.
If you were today years old when you found this out, welcome to the club!
As a music artist, you know that writing and recording awesome music is just one aspect of making a career in this field. There are more technical aspects if you want to earn money through your music including music distribution and music publishing.
These two terms are easily misunderstood in the industry and people think they are one and the same but in reality, they are two very different processes. So let’s get to basics first:
What is Music Distribution?
Very simply put, it is the process of getting your music to stores. Earlier, it meant taking CDs or tapes to physical stores but now with digital distribution, it helps you take your music to streaming platforms or digital stores, like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, YouTube, etc. People can stream, download, and buy your music and in exchange you receive royalties.
What is Music Publishing?
Music Publishing is simply owning and exploiting songs in the form of copyrights. The business started because earlier, ‘publishing’ sheet music was one of the only ways to earn money from musical copyright.
If you’ve composed original music, you own the copyright to that particular piece and you get to decide how it is exploited. It means that you can use your composition in a way that generates more money in the form of royalties or licenses.
Why do you need a music distributor?
Distributors/aggregators take upon themselves two core roles:
- Distributing releases to digital streaming platforms
Now, this is important because most of these sites including Spotify don’t allow direct upload of your song and it has to come through a distributor since it’s difficult for them to work with artists directly and deal with unstandardized metadata.
It also makes the artist’s work easier as all these stores are likely to have different metadata standards. - Royalties Allocation
They make sure you get royalties for your song as every time someone streams or buys your song, you are owed money. It’s easier for the artist to get royalties from all the stores through their distributor.
Perks of Music Distribution
Apart from this, the benefits of distributing your music include:
- It releases your music to the world quickly
- It lets you keep 100% rights to your music
- Helps you earn money for your songs
- Gives you stats on how your songs are performing
You can avail of all of the above benefits and a lot more by signing up to Deliver My Tune’s distribution services. We get your songs to over 60 stores worldwide including Spotify, iTunes, Gaana, etc. You get to keep all your rights and receive 90% royalties.
Sign up for DMT music distribution services now!