Episode 77: Music Business Q&A: Royalties, Publishing & Common Mistakes Answered

This episode is a Q & A session where I take questions from listeners and provide answers. A range of topics are covered and explored. Tension sits at the heart of modern music careers: protect your rights, move faster, and still make work that feels like you. We take that knot apart with practical guidance on AI, publishing, growth, and the day-to-day moves that actually change your trajectory.First, we separate AI’s ethics from its utility. Training models on copyrighted catalogues without consent or payment is unacceptable, but opt-in, time-saving tools can remove drudge work and speed up mixes, edits, and idea generation. The difference is compensation, consent, and control. From there, we dive into whether songwriters really need publishers. If your goals include cuts, writing camps, sync, and rigorous global collection, the right publisher accelerates everything. If not, smart self-admin plus your PRO might be enough. We also unpack distributor “publishing collection,” outlining when that extra 20 percent is worth delegating and when to keep it in-house.Growth strategy gets concrete. Bands win when streams and ticket sales rise together—that’s what agents call a catch. We share simple steps to turn online traction into rooms that move: gig swaps to test markets, live video that proves demand, and ads guided by real audience data. On playlists, we point to credible platforms with strong curator standards, so your spend behaves like targeted PR rather than wishful thinking. If you’re stepping into management, start with an IP audit to lock splits and performance clearances, then map a clear 12-month plan to clarify costs, cadence, and the team you’ll need. Writers and producers get a session blueprint too: ask goals, prep references, bring tailored sketches, and start strong.We close with a frictionless EPK checklist: three bio lengths, high-res images, quotes, music files as well as links, live footage, achievements, future plans, and clean contact info—hosted in a well-organised, instantly accessible folder. Across every topic runs the same theme: clarity. Know your rights, your aims, and your next small move, and momentum starts to compound.If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more creators can find it. Reach out to me ! Support the showWebsiteswww.jonnyamos.comhttps://themusicbusinessbuddy.buzzsprout.comInstagramhttps://www.instagram.com/themusicbusinessbuddypodcast/https://www.instagram.com/jonny_amos/[email protected]