INDIE CHECKLIST: SoundExchange

Photo and Article by: Jeff Watkins

Sign up for SoundExchange. NOW.

Over 45,000 artists have signed up so far. $614 million in royalties have been paid, $250 million of them just last year. If you’ve been around a while, you’ve probably signed up. If you’re a new band, though, this should be towards to top of your band’s checklist. It’s fast, it’s easy, and there’s potential money for you.

SoundExchange takes royalty payments from non-interactive streaming music providers (XM, Pandora, Live 365) and pays them out to the artists and copyright owners for sound recordings.

All you need to do is register at SoundExchange, giving a few bits of info:

  1. Enter Contact info
  2. Enter Bank information
  3. Fill out a tax form
  4. Add info on any non-US PRO’s you’re apart of

The importance of SoundExchange was brought up again and again at SF MusicTech, repeatedly getting mentioned as one of the few areas that’s having real growth in the music industry. Perhaps even cooler than total growth, the average payment to artists grew 80% last year to $2,800. Everyone needs to check this off of their to-do list early! Go now if you haven’t!

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jeff_watkins

jeff_watkins

Previously employed by Universal Music Publishing Group currently studying at USC Gould School of Law and will be the graduating Class of 2014.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 9:00 am. It is filed under Jeff Watkins and tagged with , , , , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to “INDIE CHECKLIST: SoundExchange”

  1. avatar Laura at SoundExchange says:
    May 13, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Thanks for helping us spread the word, Jeff! We’re standing by to answer any questions, and to help with registration. Customer Care is on hand M-F, 9-6 ET, at 202-five two four-7839.

    Oh, and did we mention registration, membership, and collecting your royalties are always 100% FREE?

    Still not sure? Still skeptical? Sound too good to be true? It’s legit! Check out SoundExchange in the LA Times; Billboard; or check out testimonials from your favorite artists on our website.

    Then get registered! We want you to get paid when you get played.