We're excited to announce we now enable over 150,000 songwriters collect their publishing royalties worldwide!

Thanks to the internet, streaming has become one of the primary ways people listen to music, whether on their smartphones, at home, on their computers, or elsewhere – but that doesn't mean it's been easy for songwriters to sort out the process of getting paid for all that exposure. Royalty rates are set at a variety of different percentages, usually based on the digital service’s gross revenue for a period of time, and even industry pros and publishing execs who have been in the industry for decades can find themselves confused.

BASED IN Dallas, TX, Brigitte Mena is a singer-songwriter, that, over the years, has been involved in several music projects including folk pop duo, TBA, and former Dallas indie rock band, Oakheart. She’s known for her powerhouse voice and writing lyrics with a raw and pure nature. Most recently, she released her debut solo album, “Maslow” and has plans to tour locally. In addition to songwriting and performing, Brigitte enjoys learning about the business side of music and collaborating with other artists.                        

A Nashville music publisher says she hears the words “I want a publishing deal” more often than “Let’s grab some coffee.” A traditional music publishing deal might seem glamorous to new songwriters, but when do you really need one and do you need one to manage the business side of your career? The answer might actually be no, or at least not straight away. In fact, many top music publishers say they’d rather work with writers who already understand how the business works, and their favorite clients bring them industry knowledge and experience along with great songs.

Songtrust works globally to collect songwriter's composition royalties from performing rights organizations and mechanical rights societies.

Performing Rights Organizations (aka PROs) are an important part of any songwriter's career – even when a songwriter doesn't realize it. While PROs collect royalties for songwriters when their works are performed publicly, such as played on television and AM/FM airwaves, through internet radio services like Pandora, at a club, inside a restaurant, or at a concert, most organizations don't stop there. Many tackle other issues impacting their members, such as fighting music piracy and keeping up with changes to the industry that have resulted from the advent of digital music. They advocate for artists and writers in their countries or origin, too. We strongly believe that it’s important for songwriters to learn about the PROs in their territory and around the world. Here's a quick overview of just some of the biggest players in the industry:

Understanding how royalties are generated, collected and ultimately deposited in your bank account is as important as songwriting and performing - and it’s not as complicated as you think. The more you know about the business life cycle of a song, the better you’ll be at making smart decisions about your work when it’s released.

Imagine coming from a world where nothing is accessible - where food, water, and education are always a daily battle. Growing up, I was fortunate enough to never have to worry about the mere essentials of living. All the things that got me to where I am today, to writing this blog post and working as Marketing Coordinator at Songtrust, were all provided to me, with some bumps in the road, that now looking back at it - are so tiny in the grand scheme of things.

When songwriters think of making it big, it usually inspires thoughts of winning an industry award or a beloved artist performing their songs. But a major part of making a career as a songwriter is understanding that the music business is, yes, a business – and that means it's up to every songwriter to seek out education, to learn how to network, and get organized as much as any big CEO would.

A PROUD native New Yorker, Julia is also a pop music lover and cappuccino enthusiast. She began her career in music singing in choirs, and eventually writing songs and playing in bands. Her interest in the business side of the music industry began when she attended the Music Business program in the Steinhardt School at New York University. As a longtime fan of songwriters, she pursued many internships in music publishing, a favorite being at Downtown Music Publishing. Coming back to Downtown to work at Songtrust, empowering songwriters to make a living from their work, is a dream come true. After all, Julia’s strongest belief is that without songs, there would be no music business.