As an artist, we all have the same goal which is, we want people to hear and experience our product. Fortunately, we live in an age where there is an abundance of options for connecting your music with fans online. The problem though, is that not all platforms are created equally…in terms of policies and rights, but more importantly, not all platforms have your best interests in mind.
It may seem like something we take for granted after being desensitized to all of the ‘user acceptance agreements’ that must be accepted on practically every piece of digital software that we use. While most of these you can get away with simply scrolling to the bottom and accepting, some of the larger licensing platforms can be a bit tricky, and downright threatening to your career, and should be read through much more carefully. To help illustrate this, I would like to share a personal experience so that you may be able to avoid some similar pitfall in the future.
To protect the parties involved, names have been changed. Early in my career, being overwhelmed by the amount of information available, I chose to partner my musical career with…BNI. After joining Family Tree Records, it was their wish that I be licensed under…ASDAP like all of the other artists as ASDAP has much better benefits for their artists. Without having a single piece of music licensed under BNI, and just holding an account with them, they are now able to prevent me from releasing any music outside of them until the account expires.
Please note, it was not just my music that they now have restrictions on, but my entire brand. In order to release and license any new music, I must do it under BNI, or delay the releases by another 6 months, or spend money with an attorney to take legal action. This may be an extreme example, but every bit of media that you place online, from your audio to your video, is subject to an ownership / usage policy that may restrict how you can use YOUR media after posting it to THEIR site. Take the time and know what rights you are signing over, or involve an attorney if you need help deciphering any of the legal jargon.