Ready to release a cover song?
Awesome!
Don't forget that mechanical license.
Down the Rabbit Hole
If you've looked into this before, you know how confusing it can be.
Go ahead and Google "mechanical licensing" … which service do you want to go with?
How many downloads do you estimate?
How many physical copies will you sell?
How many streams?
What's the "song code"?
Who wrote the song?
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition - especially not for releasing a cover song!
Get Out Your Wallet
Now you get to shell out cash based on those wild guesses of how many downloads and streams you estimated.
Seriously.
And to top it all off, who's going to keep track of how many streams, downloads, etc… you really make over the years?
Here We Go Again…
I went down this rabbit hole a few years ago when obtaining the licenses for Winter's Song.
Gabrielle will be releasing more covers this year, so I knew I had to bite the bullet again 😬
However, after some research, we found something …
A Better Way?
What if there was a way to get our music delivered to all the major streaming platforms and get that mechanical license?
There is! (otherwise I wouldn't be writing this 😂)
No, they're not paying me to write this - the service is just so awesome, I wanted to share it!
How It Works
DistroKid is perfect if you're releasing singles - both originals and covers - regularly. You pay a reasonable annual subscription (less than $50). They deliver all the music you can produce to all the platforms (Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, etc…).
Handling the mechanical licenses is an extra $12 per year for each cover song. It doesn't matter how many plays you get. They've got you covered (that bad pun was completely accidental 😅).
Did I mention there weren't any horrible forms to fill out or "song codes" to look up?
Another Perspective
Although $12 per year isn't much, you might be wondering whether that's going to pay off… it takes quite a few spins to earn your $12 back.
Here's the thing:
Cover songs are a fantastic way for new listeners to find your original music!
Unless you're already super-famous on the Internet, getting discovered by new listeners is hard. Releasing cover songs on a regular basis closes that gap.
Those potential listeners are searching for songs they already know and love. Cover those songs, and they'll discover you and all of your other music.
They get more great music, you grow your audience.
Everyone wins!