Any musical piece (for example, a song) you make in FL Studio comprises the following: the master recording and the song (the song can be considered the music). If you understand that, you can understand the entire songwriting industry. Your musical production (song) in FL Studio is made up of the master recording (sometimes referred to as masters) as well as the music in the song. The music/song is owned by you alone if you made the harmonies that embody the song. Otherwise, it can be split 50-50 with a lyricist because, inside a song, the music is 50 percent and the lyrics are 50 percent. If there is more than one lyricist that created original lyrics for the song, that portion may be split by two lyricists. In that scenario, the music is 50 percent and the lyrics would be divided into 25 percent each. That would represent an even split; there are many cases where it may not be exactly even. It is purely based on business and negotiations.
The music is the notes or the sequencing of the Piano roll in FL Studio, and may or may not include lyrics. The master recording is the entire production transcribed onto a physical medium.
If you sell music to a film production company, they will be buying the master recording as well as the music. The master recording is the master use license and music is the synchronization license. The synchronization, meaning the music inside the song that is synched with visual images, is also your clout as a songwriter and part of your publishing income.
The music within a song is also the entity that can be used to create cover versions (those who choose to make and distribute covers must pay a fee to the original songwriter).
If you single-handedly create your own original song in a fixed, tangible form, you are instantaneously the copyright owner, composer, and publisher of your work. This is an amazing thing that the US government recognizes. To be safe, you will also want to officially copyright your music productions with the US government so they have it on record. In the US, you may use the website www.copyright.gov and enter into their online eCO portal, which allows you to register, pay, and upload songs directly online. A cool thing about copyrighting a batch of songs is that there is only one payment needed for a group of songs. Knowing this, it may be wise to get as much material as you can together in order to copyright it all at once. If you want to use paper forms, you can use the form SR for sound recordings and mail in the works you want to copyright along with your payment and physical CD.
A copyright means that you have exclusive rights to use and distribute your work for a limited amount of time in order to make money. If anyone infringes on those rights, you can take them to court. This is your song, your idea (transcribed onto a physical medium or device like a CD), and your intellectual property.
When registering, the US government will want to know the type of work (usually sound recording and music), application title, title, copyright claimant, date of creation, date of publication, nation of first publication, and authorship on application. The authorship allows you to specify if you are the creator of the sound recording, performance, production, music, and lyrics. You can always resubmit a copyright claim when new people in your network seize different parts of the song.
In today's day and age, there have never been more opportunities for a songwriter or music publisher. Songs are published by companies of various shapes and sizes, and they are as close as a Google search. On Google, conduct a search for music production libraries or something similar. Each library generally has its own niche. There are varying degrees of quality and licensing terms. Of course, there are humongous music publishers such as Universal Music Publishing.
A music publisher's job is to get music into all media. There are in an incredible number of places thanks to the Internet and digital age; you may get music into streaming online content, apps, and any audio-visual medium. You may also try to exploit the music (exploiting is a super nice term in music publishing because you find a home for the music) in films, TV, trailers, promos, commercials, radio, video games, and all the new media or those that will be available any time in the future.
Exploiting, in music publishing terms, is a positive term and not a negative one. Exploiting your music in media is good because it means it is coupled together with another medium, which is usually advertising and audio visuals. You can think of exploiting as finding a place for your music. Finding a place for your music isn't just good—it's awesome! As a music publisher, you earn an upfront fee when you license the music into media. Sometimes, a songwriter signed to a publishing agreement receives a portion of the upfront fee.
If this is a TV series or film that later makes it to broadcast television, you earn additional royalties directly from a separate entity in the music industry: performing rights society (PRS). This is paid out as a 50-50 split between the publishing owner and the songwriter. This is known as the publisher's share and the writer's share. When played in public places, it is known as a performance royalty. The broadcasting companies know who to pay because they will read cue sheets, a very important term in the performing rights industry. This also means you must register your music at a PRS. You will need to specify the ownership rights of both the publishing share and the writer's share. If the TV series has lots of reruns on broadcast TV, guess what? You get royalties every time it is played. If the TV series gets distributed to a different country and plays it on their station, you earn royalties, which are called foreign performing royalties.
The purpose of PRS is to collect money from public places such as radio, television, live venues, satellite radio, and elevator music. These types of companies are paying for the right to play songs in public. A PRS then directly pays 50 percent to the songwriter and 50 percent to the publisher. If a songwriter has a percentage of the publishing rights, they would collect that money directly from the publisher, after the publisher receives it from their PRS.
There are varying terms in music licensing, so you will want to hire a good entertainment attorney. You will want someone who has experience in your niche, not a slick-talking salesman who has cash but no real experience.
So, as a songwriter, the world is wide open. You can start your own publishing business or try to sign a publishing deal with a music library. If you have your own publishing business, you can then be the judge of the type of music you want to include in your catalog and what type of composers you will sign, if any, to agreements in order to exploit your whole catalog.
When peddling songs in any type of song transaction, there is usually a question of a non-exclusive track / agreement versus an exclusive song agreement. When you sell an exclusive track, the music cannot be sold again to a third party. This is also known as a buyout deal. An exclusive agreement is coveted much more in the industry. At high levels, a large company will want to have sole rights of a particular piece of music. This is so they can have the proper branding and control the distribution. Therefore, a publisher will sometimes want to have exclusive rights over your music in order to make it more desirable to ad agencies and other media. Sometimes, there is a fee paid to a songwriter from a music publisher in order to gain rights on an exclusive track. There are then back-end royalties, in varying amounts, depending on the agreement a songwriter signs with a publisher.
As a songwriter, you have to decide whether you want to keep your songs non-exclusive. This means you can have them in various libraries around the world. However, what if the company who wanted an exclusive track has many networks and connections in the industry? It is up to the songwriter how he or she wants to handle their music catalog. Sometimes, it is best to let music publishers do their job. You can always write new songs.
As a songwriter, you want to be honest and generally have original works. This means they don't infringe upon or include any music from a third-party source. Original works are works that serious companies will want to have, otherwise a lawsuit may ensue. If you do happen to sample something, it will usually have to be cleared or agreed upon by the master recording and songwriter of the song. Otherwise, you could be knee deep in legal battles.
As a songwriter, you may also earn revenue from mechanical fees. This is when a record company wants to use your song on a record. There is a 50-50 split between the publisher and the writer and various circumstances, legal verbiage, and rights. The mechanical rights means a record company wants to sell and distribute the song. If your song is part of an album that is distributed, a record company has to pay you for every copy sold. It is governed by a legal term called a Compulsory Mechanical License rate, which is handled by the US government yet again!