After putting more thought into my project, I realized that an important aspect of of the music making process in modern times is royalties, splits, and performance rights organizations. I knew this topic would be more “scholarly” since it is so closely related to the industry and large corporations. Sure enough, there were significantly more results in the databases than my other searches. I found an article with a title that can’t be closer to what I wanted to discuss.
Performance rights organizations, or PRO’s, are organizations that allow copyright holders (artists, songwriters, publishers, producers) to collect royalties they deserve. There are many types of royalties but I’ll get into that later. These organizations are the only way to receive the money from royalties and essentially, there are only two legitimate ones: BMI and ASCAP. These two organizations do the same things but have plenty of differences. Coincidentally, I just signed my first legally biding contract with BMI last week. I am officially and legally stuck with them until 2021. My first source is an article comparing the two organizations which is important and relevant because there are only two that the entire world uses. Regardless of if your music has been streamed ten or ten million times, you must go through a PRO to get payed. This article goes into a detailed explanation of how this works and how the two organizations differ.
My second source is closely related but hones in on an important issue. This is relevant to my life and project because it is specific to the producer. While the music making process involves various roles such as A&R’s, engineers, record labels, and managers, this article makes suggestions for producers like me. Like the previous source, this article compares and contrasts BMI and ASCAP. However, this article breaks down the different types of credits for each role in music making. This is important because of the current condition of the music industry. There is discrepancy in the music industry about credits, splits, and who deserves what percentage. This article breaks this down and makes suggestions for music producers on how to approach the process.
Music Production - All You Need To Know 