Steve PMHThe way the music industry has changed throughout the years is simply staggering. Think about how easy it is to access millions of songs today through such programmes as iTunes and Spotify. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, you would have had to buy each individual album or song.
Now, we simply download it. The way music is produced has changed as well. Before, each song would have had to be recorded in a studio, This still happens to some extent but alternative methods have become increasingly popular.
You no longer need a record label to be a successful music artist anymore which has opened doors to new and exciting artists.ea
The internet is a wonderful tool and for the music industry which helps to provide those artists unlimited opportunities. There are publishing administrators that will help to advertise and collect royalties anytime your song is used as well as provide other features to help grow your reputation.
Two of the most popular services are SongTrust and Tunecore. Throughout this article, I’m going to discuss what each service provides, the similarities and differences and finally which service is the better option for you.
Let’s have a look at SongTrust and Tunecore provide.
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SongTrust
SongTrust is not a performance rights organisation but instead work with traditional and well-known organisations to help your music gain popularity, in turn generating more royalties. Principally, SongTrust has two main services that it focuses on. It focuses on the making sure your song is properly registered.
They do this by registering the song with the correct collection societies so your song can collect as many royalties as possible.
The other focus is on making sure that you get paid for your music. They are partnered with worldwide mechanical agencies to make sure that the royalties you should receive from your songs are done safely, quickly and minimal fuss. You don’t even get this service with a professional!
SongTrust shouldn’t be considered a standard music publisher because they don’t take partial ownership of the song or anything else like that. As you can imagine, this really benefits small, independent music artists because you are free to make your own music without any interference. SongTrust does come with a small upfront cost of $100 and they charge 15% commission on any royalty which is fairly reasonable.
Finally, SongTrust works in a really simple way. When you use the service, you can register the song for internationally royalty tracking. It is then assigned an ISRC code that tracks the songs progress on the streaming services SongTrust has connections with.
Once the song is played, this is recorded. The pay-out is then calculated quarterly. If you are unhappy with SongTrust, you are free to leave anytime after one year compared to a traditional publisher that will let you leave after three years.
Your music is everywhere! The more popular it gets, the more money you make.
Pretty easy to use right?
Tunecore
Perhaps one of the best and most renowned music distribution platforms, the simple and easy to use design has made Tunecore extremely popular with independent music creators. The main thing that Tunecore has all the required tools to sell music online. All you have to do is register for the subscription service and that’s it!
Bear in mind that the subscription service is free to cancel at any time. Once you’ve cancelled your subscription, it can take up to a week for your music to be removed.
The subscription cost depends on what you want to publish. For a single, its $9.50, for a ringtone its $20.29 and for a full album it is $34.46. Each service you use is a yearly subscription so bear that in mind.
The pricing does change if you stay signed on for a year or more. There’s also a one time set up fee of $71. Theres a 15% commission charge and, if you choose to use it, a 20% sync commission option.
Whilst expensive, you do get a lot of helpful features though.
There’s a couple of unique administration services that Tunecore offer. They use Sentric’s Rights App Technology to make sure that you get the royalties you deserve. So, what does this mean?
Well, it means that Tunecore has direct links worldwide to collection agencies which means that you get paid even faster than any other service. They also offer the opportunity to collect royalties from T.V shows and movies should your music be selected which is another good way to build popularity.
These features are fantastic!
One of the key things it provides is an in-depth statistical breakdown to help you engage with the correct audiences. This is a vital tool if you want to grow your popularity as it allows you to engage with your audience and understand what types of music work and what types of music don’t work. Using this tool, you can really find your market and uniqueness which all music artists want.
You keep a good amount of the commissions you make too which is wonderful. Tunecore has an abundance of streaming platforms that they are connected to such as Amazon Music, iTunes and even Spotify. This means it’s an ideal service to build your music business and diversifying your fan base.
Alongside the analytical tools at your disposal, Tunecore also provides a number of social media tools, access to publishing administration, sync and master licensing, full distribution credits and finally you can withdraw your royalties at any time due to the ultra-fast response time.
If you are interested in using the Tunecore, I would recommend doing some research into the additional features that it can offer as some of them are very specialised. It just depends on what you’re looking for!
Similarities
Both services are ideal for small and independent music artists. The main objective of both platforms is to get the music to as many ears as possible as well as providing several tools to do this. Both are easy and simple to use with good support teams.
Both SongTrust and Tunecore provide an easy way to attain the royalties that you earn. Seen as both are targeted at new individual artists, creating enough royalty and commission is one of the most important things that you will want to consider when using the services. Whist the methods of payment are different, the main idea of a quick and easy way to get the royalties you have earned is consistent across both platforms.
Both offer a wide range of streaming platforms and agencies too. This is ideal for growing interest in your music as well as providing a good amount of variety. When you want to get noticed, having your product on a wide range of platforms gives you the best possible chance.
The final thing that both these services have in common is that they are both extremely generous in terms of the commission they take (15%) and the royalties they pay too. Both SongTrust and Tunecore provide really competitive commissions that you should look at very closely.
Tunecore does offer a few different options in comparison to SongTrust whereby you can have s sync option. This will take 20% of your commission but feel free to look into that if you feel it would be worth it.
Differences
One of the major differences is how SongTrust operates in comparison to Tunecore. Whilst they both focus on publishing your music in the easiest way possible, the features to do this are already included in the SongTrust package. You are free to pick and choose how you want to publish your music with Tunecore.
For example, you might choose to release a single instead of a whole album. This can be a beneficial feature depending on how much experience you have with music. SongTrust focuses more on just publishing your music to as many streaming services as possible.
There are also a few differences in the features that they offer. SongTrust has features that allow you to publish and distribute your music with a few additional features. They have a wide variety of streaming services that they are linked to.
These are all very basic features that any music artist would want. They are designed to help anyone develop an audience.
Tunecore offers more detailed features. Obviously, they still have the facilities to help publish and distribute your music in a variety of ways, most notably the fact you can get paid when your music is used in a T.V show or movie, but they offer a few more in-depth features to help your music grow as well.
They offer data analytic features, social media tools and different licencing options. This would be perfect for a more experienced music artist as it provides more scope for adaptation within your music.
The final major difference is that SongTrust is not a subscription service whereas Tunecore is. All you have to do is sign up with a one time fee for SongTrust and you are free to leave after one year which is excellent. However, Tunecore is a subscription service and is relatively expensive aswell.
As previously mentioned, you do get more features with Tunecore but the subscription can be a little bit expensive if you aren’t making enough money to cover the cost. There are a lot of services that Tunecore offer and if you select them all, including to one time payment of over $70, it can be very expensive to use.
Conclusion
Whilst they both serve a similar purpose, I think that SongTrust is the better service to select. I like SongTrust due to its competitive commissions, ease of use, and the fact that they don’t take ownership of your music when most other companies would.
I also feel that it is more applicable to the majority of music artists when compared to Tunecore. The amount of streaming services that they have is also good.
The major drawback to SongTrust is that there aren’t as many features as you would perhaps like. One of the main things that it misses is the ability to interact with fans and have some sort of data on responses.
If you are a new artist, this should be one of the main things that help you to select which genre works best for you. SongTrust simply doesn’t have that facility.
I would suggest Tunecore to someone who has a little more experience and understands their own music and market a little better. The best thing about Tunecore is exactly what SongTrust lacks, the data and social features. This extra detail can really help you to develop the music that best suits your audience.
This is where the issue comes with Tunecore though. I would suggest that the extra features that you subscribe for are not worth the cost. Whilst it would be nice to have those features, there are alternatives that work out cheaper. SongTrust does a very similar job, just in a different and more user-friendly way.
So, I would recommend SongTrust to anyone who wants to start earning some money from their music, no matter what stage you are at in your music career. Just bear in mind that there are alternatives and I would encourage you to do your own research on each service as they are both fantastic in their own right!
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