Get paid for
your music.
set up
Six sign-ups, one afternoon. Tick them off as you go; this page remembers.
- 01
Lock your artist name
One spelling everywhere. A second spelling is a second artist, and your money goes to them.
- 02
Pick a distributor
Puts your tracks on the platforms and pays your master share.
Check it gives free ISRCs, lets you credit legal names, publishes its AI policy, and what happens if you stop paying.
- DistroKidYearly fee, unlimited releases, fast. Stop paying and your music comes down, unless you've paid its Leave a Legacy fee per release.
- TuneCoreYearly plans. Runs its own publishing admin (step 04), so one login covers both.
- CD BabyPay once per release, plus a share of earnings. Stays up if you walk away.
- DittoLow yearly price. Check what each tier includes.
- RouteNoteFree for a share of earnings, or a yearly fee to keep it all.
How to choose
- Choose on what happens when you stop paying, not on the first-year price.
- One or two releases a year: pay per release. Six or more: a yearly plan.
- "Free" means a share of your earnings, or upgrades later.
- Switching later means taking tracks down and uploading again. Reuse the same ISRCs and your play counts carry over.
- 03
Join ASCAP as a writer
Collects your songwriter money when your songs are played: clubs, radio, TV, streaming. Worldwide, through its sister societies.
Online. Your legal name and artist name, ID, and a W-8BEN tax form in place of a US social security number. No minimum plays.
Why ASCAP, not MACP
- Already with MACP? Stay. Your plays are covered.
- MACP asks for 1,000 streams, 3 broadcasts or 3 commercial plays before you can join. ASCAP asks for none, so you are registered before the plays, not after.
- You belong to one society only. Your Malaysian plays are still collected: MACP passes them to ASCAP, a little slower.
- MACP is the better home if your money is mostly Malaysian radio, TV and gigs. It pays in ringgit, direct.
- ASCAP holds back 30% US tax on US earnings. Malaysia has no tax treaty with the US, so nothing reduces it.
- Pick once. Moving societies later takes notice and leaves a gap.
- Human work made with AI tools is accepted. Songs made entirely by AI are not.
- 04
Get a publishing administrator
Collects the mechanicals your society can't, worldwide. Unclaimed money ends up paid to someone else.
- TuneCore PublishingUS$75 once, keeps 20%. Easiest if you distribute through TuneCore.
- SongtrustUS$100 once, keeps 15%. Works with any distributor; cheaper once your songs earn a few hundred dollars a year.
- 05
Register your recordings
Clubs and radio pay the recording owner and the performers separately.
PPM if you own the master. RPM as the performer. SoundExchange for US digital radio.
- 06
Turn on Content ID
Earns from every YouTube video that uses your track.
Through your distributor. Only tracks you fully own: no library loops, no DJ mixes. Whitelist your own channel.
Before every release
For DJs
- Your mixes
- Not yours to register. Keep them out of Content ID.
- Bootlegs
- Can't be registered. Claims can hit your whole account.
- Official remixes
- Agree the deal in writing first. Usually a fee or a master share.
- Your own tracks live
- File your set lists with your society. ASCAP OnStage covers US shows.
Learned the hard way
AI filters can flag a whole album, so release anything uncertain as a single. Keep your project files; they are your proof. Distribution and publishing review separately, so read every review email the day it lands. Money arrives months after the plays, and small at first; registering now is what makes it findable later.
Sources
Every requirement above comes from the organisation that sets it. Terms change; check the source before you sign up.
- ASCAP: join as a writerFree writer membership; non-US writers file a W-8BEN
- ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN on AI registration28 October 2025; partly AI-generated works accepted
- MACP: music creatorsMembership criteria for Malaysian writers
- PPMRecording owners, Malaysia
- RPMPerformers, Malaysia
- The MLCUS mechanical royalties
- SoundExchangeUS digital radio
- Spotify for ArtistsProfile verification