Where is the best place to sign up for music publishing? Music has been said to be a form of communication that works when words fail, and making music is just part of what it means to be alive. Whether you play in a symphony or you just like humming along to your favorite Taylor Swift song in the car, music is something that impacts everyone. Considered divine in some cultures and just a way to connect emotions and ideas in other cultures, music - especially creating and publishing your own music - can be the ultimate expression of your personal style, emotions, and the story you want to tell.
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TuneCore is a digital music distribution service that also offers music publishing where you retain 100% ownership of your work. On this platform, you can expect releases and publishing at competitive costs with a wide distribution network. TuneCore bills itself as your "independent" music distribution company that promises administration, publishing, and promotional tools that help you grow your audience and your income from your music. If you're an indie artist looking for a leg up, this is a great place to begin.
Quick start with paid and free options
To get started with music publishing at TuneCore, you need to make an account. After signing up and a quick verification email, you'll be shown the prices. You can pick one of TuneCore's three plans with a variety of features, or choose to "continue without a plan". Once you join up, you can see a clean dashboard with easy access to your revenue, numbers, and uploads for singles or albums. If you don't have a membership, you will be on a "pay per release" plan. Uploading your music is simple: you fill out the details of your music, choose your preferred stores and social platforms, upload the tracks, and finish out the artwork.
Beginner-friendly tools
TuneCore has a solid digital network for music publishing that includes 150+ digital stores and streaming options. You also get access to an "audience development program" that helps you accelerate your revenue. All of the distribution for subscriptions is unlimited at TuneCore, and your work will be distributed worldwide. On top of that, TuneCore offers an in-house graphic design program that helps you create cover art, so if you're not sure how to begin or you don't have cover art yet, this is a particularly beginner-friendly service.
Subscription from $22.99 to $49.99 and just publishing for $75
TuneCore has three different subscription plans and a pay-per-release option if you don't want to subscribe. The lowest subscription tier is the Rising Artist option, which costs $22.99 per year. This includes unlimited release to 150+ digital stores, automatic Spotify Verified, and standard-level artist support. The next tier up is the Breakout Artist, which includes the features of Rising Artist plus advanced features like the cover art generator and daily trend reports from Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and faster customer service. This tier costs $39.99 per year. Finally, the top-tier subscription is the Professional plan, which includes custom label names, unlimited releases, and exclusive services like pro panels and advice, promo opportunities, or brand partnerships. This costs $49.99 per year. If you pay per release, you can choose to just purchase TuneCore's music publishing, which costs $75, and TuneCore will collect your royalties for you. Otherwise, if you want to pay per release, your singles will cost $22.99, and your albums are $39.99 (though you will need to renew your albums at $49. 99 per year).
Competitive non-exclusive agreement
TuneCore's artist agreement for music publishing states that you will allow TuneCore to distribute your music for you to other parties and collect your royalties. Your royalties are 100% yours and will be paid out by TuneCore, which makes its money off your publishing fees or subscription plan. The agreement with TuneCore is non-exclusive, meaning you retain your rights to your work while being represented by TuneCore, and you will get the benefits of TuneCore's copyright infringement services to help keep your work safe. You can cancel your membership with TuneCore at any time.
High praise for customer service
Like many of the music publishing sites in our review, TuneCore holds an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau for failing to respond to complaints on the BBB platform. However, its feedback on third-party review sites is more balanced. It currently holds a 4.1-star average out of 5 on Trustpilot with over 11,000 verified reviews. Recent reviews were posted within 8 hours of the time of our review, highly praising the customer service at TuneCore. Some musicians felt the entire process was helpful and easy to use, though there are a few complaints that the AI features need to be fine-tuned to be truly useful. On the other hand, most clients agree that when there are issues with your distribution or publication on TuneCore, you can easily get them resolved with their top-notch customer service.
Flexible and reliable service
If you're looking for a music publishing site that offers the flexibility of pay-as-you-go or signing up for an annual, inclusive membership, TuneCore is definitely worth a look. You've got a competitive distribution network and, at the higher tiers, features that help you market your work and design album covers from scratch. This program allows you to grow, too. So if you're just starting out, you might like the base tier, and you can upgrade as your music needs increase over time. For these reasons, and the impressive reviews for customer service, TuneCore earns a very high score in our review.
Continued from above...
Music has been said to be a form of communication that works when words fail, and making music is just part of what it means to be alive. Whether you play in a symphony or you just like humming along to your favorite Taylor Swift song in the car, music is something that impacts everyone. Considered divine in some cultures and just a way to connect emotions and ideas in other cultures, music - especially creating and publishing your own music - can be the ultimate expression of your personal style, emotions, and the story you want to tell.
If you're creating music, publishing your pieces is the next natural step. In basic terms, music publishing is the business side of managing music compositions (including the song rights, lyrics, and melody/notes). Publishing your music allows you to earn money on your hard work through film, TV, radio, and streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music.
You can choose to self-publish music or work with a music publisher. If you work with someone, you'll get benefits like copyright management, promotion of your music, and assistance with royalties through the publishing networks. If you prefer to keep your music 100% in your own hands, you can register your work yourself and collect all of your money without giving a percentage to a publisher.
When deciding to start music publishing, you'll need to decide what kind of earnings you're hoping for and how much help you want. Keep an eye out for green flags like royalty reporting, so you get real-time updates on your current music earnings. You also want to find a publisher that will allow you to retain ownership of your work. Finally, check on the distribution network offered by a particular music publishing firm. Make sure that your work will be shopped out to the major streaming services and storefronts.
If you decide to go through a more self-publishing-style service, you're going to be responsible for a lot more of the heavy lifting. You'll need to be prepared to do the business management for the distribution of your music, marketing and promotions, and tracking your royalties yourself. Some industry experts explain that it isn't necessarily harder to get your music on major streaming services when you do your music publishing yourself, but there are extra steps you need to take since you can't directly upload music to Spotify. So, depending on how tech-savvy you are, a service that does the work for you may be more up your alley.
Regardless of how you want to do your music publishing, you're ready to start putting your music out there. Congrats. Whether you're new to the industry or just want a change, it can be hard to know which music publishing services to trust. Here are some factors to help you out:
Whether this is your first single release or you're an old hat with albums to your name already, finding the best place to finish your music publishing is the first step to getting to the top of the charts. To help you get your indie, pop, rock, metal, or film score out there for people to enjoy, Top Consumer Reviews has researched and ranked the top music publishing services out there today. This way, you can relax and feel confident that your music publisher will have your back, and you can enjoy earning money doing what you love!
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