Do music producers get royalties for their music production work? Royalties are the percentage of money that is distributed according to a person’s contribution to a song or album, typically agreed upon prior to work.
Yes, music producers can get paid royalties for their work. Music producers can be paid via advances, flat fees, and royalties which can range between 3% and 4% per stream or sale.
In this article, we will go into how much music producers can earn with royalties, how you can get paid royalties, and the types of royalties there are.
How Much Do Music Producers Earn From Royalties?
The rate of music producer royalties varies greatly and music royalties can range from $0.00001 to $0.0005 per music stream depending on streaming music services like Spotify, YouTube & Pandora.
Music producers are typically paid advances or flat fees that can range anywhere from $5,000 to $150,000+ depending on the music produced and who is producing it. However, for an independent songwriter and producer, music royalties can be a very important and lucrative income stream.
Music royalties are music payments that you receive as payment for music compositions and music productions. Rights to music compositions and music productions can be bought and sold by music royalty companies like BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC (who represent songwriters, composers, and music producers)
If your music is picked up by a music royalty company, this often happens under two scenarios:
- You come across music royalty companies in your music production process (who offer music royalties as music production music).
- Music royalty companies approach you (after spotting your music on social media, YouTube & Soundcloud).
How Do Music Producer Royalties Work?
So how do music producer royalties work? Here’s a step by step guide:
- Signup and apply for membership with music royalty companies like BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC who represent music producers, music composers, and music songwriters.
- Music royalties are collected by music royalty companies from music streaming services like Spotify & YouTube as music stream payments for music compositions and music production music licensing contracts after a pre-determined time has passed (e.g 30 days from the first music stream).
- Total music royalties are then divided by music royalty companies based on the number of music streams per music composition and music production music contract.
- The music royalty company then sends an annual music royalty check to each music producer or songwriter that was involved in creating that particular piece of music.
If you’re interested in music production music royalties, here are specific music royalty companies that offer music producing music where you can sell your music production music rights:
- BMI Music Producer’s Rights (music producer website)
- Harry Fox Agency (music production music)
- APM Music (music licensing music for video games & music production music website)
- Samuel French, Inc. (music licensing music for film & TV music producer website)
- Sound Exchange
While music royalties are an important source of income to consider as a music producer, music royalties should be considered a music production music bonus and not music producing music your primary source of income.
Types of Royalties In Music
When it comes to music, there are four types of royalties: performance, mechanical, print, and sync royalties.
What Are Performance Royalties?
Performance royalties are collected whenever music is played on the radio, television, or public venue (bars, restaurants). The music royalty collection agencies ASCAP and BMI collect these royalties for songwriters and music publishers – not music producers.
Music producers collect performance royalties only when their music is being played. On the other hand, music publishers collect performance royalties even when music is being used in the background of a scene for television or film.
What Are Mechanical Royalties?
Mechanical royalties are royalty payments made to music producers for every copy of music sold (on CD, cassette, vinyl record, etc..).
The music distributor collects these royalties from stores that sell music products, while music publishers collect performance royalties from music stores. The music royalty collection agencies ASCAP and BMI also collect music publishing royalties for music producers.
The music producer typically makes 3% to 4% of the wholesale price of a new music CD or any other format in which their music appears.
For example, if the music producer had a music CD with 10 songs which costs $10, they would get 3% to 4% of the wholesale price of that music CD. In this example, the music producer would make approximately 30 cents for each music CD sold which is distributed by their label or other distributors.
What Are Print Royalties?
Royalties are collected from the sale of printed sheet music, musical notation, and lyrics. Printed music royalties are generally paid directly to the publisher and will vary depending on the usage (physical or digital). These types of royalties are less common these days.
What Are Synchronization (Sync) Royalties?
Sync royalties treat the producer and recording artist more equally in terms of getting paid. get paid. The songs produced are typically less dependent on current trends or streams, as the music is purchased for creating a mood.
The amount paid for the license is determined either through a negotiated contract or through newer online licensing.
Summary
Music producers can get paid royalties for music production music. Music royalties are a percentage of sales or money earned that companies pay music producers according to their music contribution, typically agreed upon before production starts.
There are four types of music royalties: performance, mechanical, print, and synchronization (sync) music royalties. In most cases, royalties should be considered a bonus and not music producers’ primary source of income.