How Songwriters can make Money
Although we have recording artists who write their own songs, many artists still rely on songwriters to help them churn out hits. Many of the famous songs in the world were written with the help of various songwriters. Nowadays, artistes work with several songwriters to help them perfect the lyrics of their songs. How then do these songwriters make money from the songs they have written? Artists often pay these songwriters a fee/advance in exchange for writing the songs.
However, a songwriter’s biggest mistake is collecting only a fee as the sole payment for a song written. This is because there are many other streams of income that are a songwriter is entitled to, which can earn way more than the fee/advance collected. Some songwriters are willing to forgo or reduce the fee/advance collected in exchange for a higher percentage in the split sheet.
One of the most significant ways songwriters can make money is through Performance Rights Payments, paid by the PROs (Performing Rights Organisation) or CMOs (Collective Management Organisation). These bodies collect and negotiate license fee agreements with the users of music, ranging from radio, televisions, streaming services, concert halls, shops, malls etc. They give these users the right to perform and play the music and lyrics of their members publicly. The most popular PROs are ASCAP, BMI, PRS, SESAC, SACEM, GEMA. In Africa, we have PROs/CMOs such as SAMRO, MCSN, COSON, GHAMRO, MCSK.
Songwriters also make money from mechanical royalties, both physical and digital. Physical, mechanical royalties are obtained from the sale of CDs and vinyl records, etc., while digital is obtained from downloads and streaming of the song digitally. Although physical sales of songs have drastically reduced, physical–mechanical royalties are still a significant revenue stream. This is because there is still a market for physical copies of music. It is important to
note that the royalties differ per country and territory.
A songwriter can also make money from synchronisation fees (sync). Synchronisation is when a musical work is synchronised or used in/with an audio–visual, e.g. film, series, adverts, video games etc. The permission to use a song in an audio–visual is referred to as a synchronisation license, and the fee varies, depending on the negotiation between the parties involved. Hence the fees for using a song depends on the user, the length, the song etc. In practice, a sync license for an opening theme is often more expensive than the fee for a 10-second use. A songwriter can also write a theme song on request for an agency, company, movie etc., and
be paid for such.
Lastly, a songwriter can make money from publishing companies, who deal with the underlying composition or publishing rights in a song. Just as record labels general are
responsible for the monetisation of the sound recording copyright, and as such, are always looking to sign and invest in artists, so are publishers also looking for songwriters to monetise their catalogue in exchange for an advance fee. Such an advance serves as a source of revenue for songwriters. The advance fee paid varies, depending on the success, the volume of the catalogue, leverage, and negotiation tactic employed by a songwriter. It is important to note that such an advance is like a loan and is recoupable. This means that all the bulk of revenue generated from your catalogue and songwriting will go into recouping the advance paid to you.
Other sources of income for a songwriter include songs in lyrics, nonfiction books, magazines, sheet music, greeting cards, toys that use music, lyrics on merchandise etc. To ensure you collect all the revenue due to you as a songwriter, you must register with a PRO, as they will collect the bulk of the payment for you.
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at S.O.A., right here.
