Made It In Music: Interviews With Artists, Songwriters, And Music Industry Pros · Full Circle Music: A Nashville Recording Studio & Online Music Education Academy

Making Money in Music: Your Questions Answered (Part 1)

·46 min·2 clips

A third of the money can disappear if writers do not register the song in every portal.

Riley Taylor opens the episode by welcoming listeners into a live online Ask Me Anything with Seth Mosley from the Song Chasers community. The focus is making money in music. The tone stays relaxed and direct from the start, and Riley sets it up as a chance to answer questions around that month’s theme. Seth agrees and keeps the conversation rooted in practical, real-world music business questions. The first part of the conversation turns to the difference between master rights and publishing. Seth makes the split clear. The master goes to whoever owns the master rights. That could be the artist if they funded and paid for the recording. It could also be a label if the label ultimately owns it. Publishing is separate and belongs to the writers with credit on the song. Seth explains that BMI is not involved with the master side. BMI only handles publishing. That means both systems need to be set up correctly if the goal is to get paid. A listener then asks about a 200 percent registration issue. Seth says he is not fully sure what the person is referring to, but suggests BMI may handle company-name registrations differently and may allow up to 200 percent in that kind of setup. Another listener asks whether registering a song in TuneCore proves ownership of the master. Seth says yes. The conversation then moves toward radio play and how songs get pitched. The questions keep the focus on the business side of music instead of the fun side, and Seth makes clear that this is the work required to actually monetize songs. The episode closes with a reminder that the show has a large back catalog of interviews and other resources for listeners who want to keep learning.

As heard by us

A clear rights-and-revenue check-in for musicians who want the basics sorted.

The episode keeps its focus on the business side of music: what gets paid, who gets paid, and how master ownership differs from publishing. Seth Mosley does the clearest work here, turning rights-admin confusion into a few plain checkpoints, so BMI, TuneCore, and setting up a…

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Why you'd press play

If your song income feels fuzzy, this AMA clears up how master rights and publishing get paid.

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