A Q&A with Songtrust
Songwriters! Have you heard of Songtrust?
Songtrust is the World's largest publishing administration company, and our partners on this year's Hotlist20. What is a publishing administration company you ask? Well if you're a songwriter and your songs are being streamed (on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music etc), played on the radio or TV, or you're performing them at live shows, then those songs are earning royalties. Without a music publishing deal, you'll be missing out on collecting much of these royalties. Songtrust is a transparent, artist friendly way of ensuring your songs are registered all over the world and you collect what you're due. Unlike a traditional publishing deal, you retain full ownership of your songs, Songtrust just charges a 15% administration fee on what they collect before paying it through to you. There's a special promo code for iluvlive blog readers who want to open a Songtrust account, getting you 50% off the $100 registration fee. Visit Songtrust and use 'iluvlive' to claim your discount and start accessing what you're due.
We spoke to the Director of Business Development Lara Baker for an insight into her role and Songtrust as a business:
Describe your journey to becoming the Director of Business Development for Songtrust?
I always wanted to work in music, so at 18 I did a BA in Music Industry Management at university and whilst doing that course, I started what would become a 13-year job at AIM, the trade body that represents and supports independent labels and artists in the UK. My role at AIM grew and evolved as the organisation did, and I went on create AIM's events programme of conferences as well as the AIM Awards, which I ran for 8 years. The AIM Awards was one of the first major platforms to recognise great British artists such as Dave, Little Simz, Ghetts and Stormzy. Having became Marketing & Events Director in 2015, I eventually left AIM in 2018 to begin my consultancy business, which led me to working with great clients such as BBC Music Introducing Live, The Great Escape Festival, the Music Managers Forum, the Musicians Union, and the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), amongst others. In May 2019 I joined Songtrust, attracted by their commitment to a writer/artist-friendly business model that puts the power back in the hands of the creator and allows them to keep their rights whilst still collecting everything they're due.
Describe Songtrust in 1 sentence:
Songtrust is a flexible, transparent, and writer-friendly solution for collecting global music publishing royalties, administering the musical works of more than 350,000 songwriters, producers, and other rights holders, with a catalogue of more than 3,000,000 songs.
Can any type of artist sign up to Songtrust?
If you're a songwriter and you haven't already signed a publishing deal, then you can register with Songtrust to access your global publishing royalties. Whatever genre of music you make, whatever stage of your career you're at, if your songs are on streaming services, being played on the radio or TV, or being performed live, then you will be due royalties, and you can use Songtrust to ensure your songs are registered and these royalties are being collected for you.
What do you find most inspiring about your role?
Songtrust puts the power back in the hands of the creator. For many years, music publishing has been a murky world that can be very hard to understand. Songtrust has a commitment to educating creators and helping them to understand this area of the business (we offer free webinars and the 'Modern Guide to Music Publishing' and run regular publishing workshops), and provides a transparent and artist-friendly way for writers anywhere in the world to access the royalties they're due. It's changing the industry for the better, so felt like a natural home for me after spending so long supporting the independent music community at AIM.
How important do you feel the work of Songtrust is? It's super important! The amount of money being left on the table by creators who don't realise they're not receiving everything they're due is staggering! If you're just registered with your PRO (PRS in the UK), you'll be receiving royalties but these royalties are only a portion of what you are earning. Without Songtrust or a publishing deal, it's extremely arduous to register your songs around the world, meaning you're losing out on a large amount of the royalties owed to you. Understanding the music publishing world and having an effective publishing administrator in your corner is vital.
If you have any questions, you can contact Lara Baker, Director of Business Development, UK & Ireland - lbaker@songtrust.com.
You can find Songtrust on their socials: Instagram, Facebook & Twitter