Music Production Knowledge (2025)

21/10/2022

Music marketing and advances go hand in hand. Even though the latter is not a strategy to achieve the former, technically speaking, it’s still a crucial part of becoming a music producer. Therefore, we believe it’s a good idea to define the basics of how they work and why you should care. Advances: What are Those? As mentioned in our entry “Getting Paid: Music Producers’ Income,” advances are those payments a record label makes before you do the work....

If you want to make in the world of music marketing, you should learn everything you can about advances beforehand.

20/10/2022

In this entry we’ll tell you all about getting paid—specifically, the music producers’ income. That is to say, we’ll let you know what to expect when you want to embody this important figure in the music creation process. Music Producer: the Job As you are, by now, most likely aware of—given that we’ve dedicated a whole other entry to this figure and their doings—the music producer is the person in charge of coming up with the best strategies to release an album or a song....

The music producers’ income is usually determined on a contract by contract basis. In them, you can get advances and royalties.

19/10/2022

In this entry we’ll tell you all about getting paid—specifically, all about the music mixers’ income. That is to say, we’ll let you know what to expect when you want to embody this important figure in the music creation process. To begin with, very generally speaking, we can define a mixer as the engineer who takes all the tracks and helps with the arrangement and sound of the songs an artist creates....

The music mixers’ income usually starts slowly, but it grows as you build up a name for yourself.

18/10/2022

Beat stores have become more popular as the possibilities of the digital world expand. Simply put, these are online shopping places where you can buy—and sometimes sell—preexisting rhythms. Many users, in networks such as Reddit, recommend plenty of links to access these sites. Some online experiences suggest that, whenever you feel like your song is missing something, beat stores are the place to get readily available material for your advantage....

Beat stores are online shopping places where you can buy—and sometimes sell—preexisting rhythms. Simply put ...

17/10/2022

Beat stores and copyright go hand in hand, even if it doesn’t appear as such at first glance. The reason for the legality of this type of transaction, where a party purchases something that someone else produced, seems even obvious: everyone has the right to sell what they own. However, when it comes to these platforms, issues of copyright come to the fore....

Beat stores and copyright go hand in hand: the most crucial aspect for using them is that you clearly understand what you’re buying.

15/10/2022

There is an important number of myths about fair use going around in the digital arena. The Internet can be a very fruitful place because it is an insurmountable source of information, yet it’s also a site where half-truths and utter lies abound. When it comes to using music legally, the best idea is to approach reliable materials that provide you with the necessary tools to understand this industry....

Myths about fair use abound on the Internet, so it’s better to stay on the safe side and consult reliable sources to avoid...

14/10/2022

Another key concept when thinking of using music legally is that of public domain. Generally speaking, whenever someone says that a certain work is from the public domain, they’re saying that that piece is no longer under copyright protection. And that is true—for the most part. The idea is the correct one, but there are nuances worth considering. For this reason, this entry explores the aforementioned considerations so that you have a clearer idea of what you’re getting into....

Learning about public domain in the music industry helps you enhance your creative freedoms.

13/10/2022

If you’re an emerging artist and beginning your music marketing journey, one of the main resources for understanding neighboring rights is Money in the Air, an Acast podcast. The people who host it are members of the International Association for Artists and Rightholders (IAFAR). In case you’re not familiar with it, this is a non-profit organization from the United Kingdom that aids worldwide artists with problems that affect the collection of the aforementioned rights....

If you’re beginning your music marketing journey, one of the main resources for understanding neighboring rights is Money in the Air podcast

12/10/2022

Just as in the case of sampling and remix, copyright and mashup go hand in hand: it all runs down to using music legally. Given that, today, we’ve all the facilities to listen and produce music at the tip of our fingers, it might be tempting to get into the field of derivative creations. Sampling, remix, and mashups are an example of these....

Just as in the case of sampling and remix, copyright and mashup go hand in hand: it all runs down to using music legally.

11/10/2022

Just as in the case of sampling, remix, and mashup, copyright and interpolation go hand in hand: it all runs down to using music legally. The digital world offers a limitless array of options when it comes to creating music: you can find tracks, stems, loops, and beats that make your own tunes the extraordinary pieces you’re looking for. Regardless, there’s a downside to this infinite offer: some of these are not yours to use at your disposal....

Just as in the case of sampling, remix, and mashup, copyright and interpolation go hand in hand: it all runs down to using music legally.

10/10/2022

Watching a video on Youtube, or a clip on TikTok, have you ever wondered how copyright and cover coexist? I would argue that, in Youtube’s infancy, one of the most popular ways in which emerging artists came into popularity has to do with the production of covers. In this contemporary economy, in which even the music business is fueled by who owns what idea and its benefits, it’s no surprise that musicians take particular vigilance of their songs....

Whenever you watch a video on Youtube, or a clip on TikTok, have you ever wondered how copyright and cover coexist?

08/10/2022

This is the second part of our article on Cover Copyright. Cover Copyright: Step 3 (cont'd) Since the point of getting to all this trouble is not only to be respectful to your musician peers, but also to get the economic reward, you must then unlock your royalties. If done correctly, your cover can become a hit overnight. Even if the progress goes slowly, you must be ready to produce the cash you earned, even if these don’t stem from the underlying composition of the work (which is owned by the original song owner)....

Cover copyright is an indispensable tool whenever you’re delving into the intricate world of music promotion.

07/10/2022

Cover copyright is an indispensable tool whenever you’re delving into the intricate world of music promotion, in particular if you’re an emerging artist. This entry is part of our series on copyrights and derivative works, which include sampling, remix, mashup, and interpolation. When writing the cover portion of this series it came to our attention that, even if it’s a very popular practice and that some platforms aren’t as jealous and severe with its rules on covers, it’s still necessary to know the basics to avoid infringing the law....

Cover copyright is an indispensable tool whenever you’re delving into the intricate world of music promotion.

06/10/2022

Copyright basics are an essential topic for anyone who’s interested in music production and, thus, its promotion. Here’s the thing: there’s no easy way to comprehend everything that this theme entails in one sitting. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to understand; it just means that we have to break it down. For this reason, we’re here to share the most fundamental elements of this concept so you can ease down your journey....

Copyright basics are an essential topic for anyone who’s interested in music production and, thus, its promotion.

05/10/2022

Using music legally isn’t something you should be scared about; quite the contrary! This topic is a means to be respectful of someone else’s intellectual property and making sure yours is just as safe. This entry is related to both copyrights and royalties, but mostly to the former. We’ll explain how to use someone else’s music and what to do if someone uses your music unlawfully....

Using music legally is a means to be respectful of someone else’s intellectual property and making sure yours is just as safe.

04/10/2022

Copyright and sampling go hand in hand when it comes to using music legally. Given that we live in an era in which innovative and provocative tunes are literally at the touch of our fingers, any creator must be especially careful when it comes to the production of their own songs. In this day and age we must celebrate the technological and creative advancements that make inspiration possible....

Copyright and sampling go hand in hand when it comes to using music legally: it is separating a part of an existing sound and...

03/10/2022

Just as in the case of sampling, copyright and remix go hand in hand: it all runs down to using music legally. Today’s panorama includes a complete dive-in into a virtual sphere where we can very easily access music without even getting into a recording studio or going out to the store to buy a physical record. In this sense, the Internet makes any musical creative element, such as instruments or vocals, readily available to us—and that can be tempting....

Just as in the case of sampling, copyright and remix go hand in hand: it all runs down to using music legally

29/09/2022

The Fund Part II is a continuation on the topic of the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, an non-profit organization whose former CEO, Dennis Dreith, described as the other side of SoundExchange. (If you want to consult Part I, click here.) Beyond the initial recommendation we made, and beyond what the fund can do you as a performer, we want to round up what this organization does in terms of your music marketing journey....

The Fund Part II aims to explain how to obtain the royalties you deserve as a non-featured artist or someone who has made a contribution

Music Production Knowledge