Self-Publishing: 'Ways to get your music published yourself'

In my previous post I talked about what publishing is and highlighted some of the big named music publishers in the industry, and today I want to continue on this topic by showing you ways of how you can publish your music yourself through “self-publishing”. In this technologically run world new platforms and mediums exists that enables us to do, by ourselves, what we never could before, such as recording and producing a complete song on our laptops and self-publishing without the help of a record label or major publisher.

This article gives some helpful tips on getting your music published via a publisher or self-publishing. In this post I will focus strongly on self-publishing but will give a brief summary of publishing via using a publisher. On the site, WikiHow, it states that you should choose a genre and stick to it; create a demo; submit your music to publishers directly; network with the music industry; and when you’re offered a publishing contract, get a lawyer. I agree with all these statements but the last. I don’t think that you should wait until you are offered a contract before getting a lawyer. I believe you should have one from the outset especially in the case of copyright infringement/misuse, as well as someone publishing your work without your permission. The article then goes on to say that for self-publishers you should record your songs onto CD’s and sell them at shows, through your website and/or through a third-party website. Another great way to self-publish your work is through websites such as YouTube, Vimeo and Worldstarhiphop. These sites will allow the user to submit videos onto their sites, which would then be displayed and viewed by all their users, which is a great way to get the word out about you and your music.

The article also mentions about selling your music through a third-party and what better third party than iTunes. Many artists’ goals are to release their music on iTunes but the question plaguing them is, “How do I get their music on iTunes?” A very easy and simple way is through TuneCore. TuneCore is a great platform to publish your music through and more importantly to get noticed. Some of TuneCore’s digital stores include iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Mp3 and Rhapsody. They offer different prices depending on what you need. For a single distribution they charge $9.99 a year whereas an album distribution (2 tracks or more) costs $29.99 for the first year and $49.99 each year thereafter. They charge a one-time setup fee of $75 for their publishing administrative services and retain 10% of the publishing royalties they collect for you. TuneCore also offers ringtone distribution. Another great site for getting your music published is CDBaby. This company offers similar online distribution as TuneCore but they also offer physical distribution, such as Vinyl and CDs, as well as royalty collection, etc. TuneCore or CDBaby is a must when it comes to distributing or publishing your music yourself as it is an easy and affordable option versus finding someone to publish your music for you.

Another great resource for self-publishers is publishing associations. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is the leading trade association in the United States for music publishers, serving as a voice and advocate on behalf of music publishers and songwriters in the press, the halls of Congress and the courtroom and federal agencies. A benefit of being a member of the NMPA is that you will be kept informed of important music publishing issues and developments and more importantly be able to add your voice to discussions.

            In concluding, remember that unless you have the good fortune to get signed with a major record/publishing label then the only choice you will have is to do everything yourself. The key is not to be overwhelmed by it all but instead to utilize the many resources that are available. Remember there is nothing wrong with starting small and building up your career in stages as if you overreach from the outset then you could find that you could have set yourself up to fail!