How Does Andante Music Work?

Andante Music provides worldwide distribution services and publishing administration to independent artists, songwriters, composers, producers and labels. With Andante Music as your administrator, your work will be registered with performance and mechanical collection societies worldwide in order to collect royalties from digital streams, downloads, live performances, radio airplay and TV broadcasts, etc. You can choose which songs and/or albums you would like us to administer on your behalf.

What is Digital Music Distribution?

Music Distribution is the business of collecting royalties for Sound Recordings. Digital Music Distributors supply music to global digital stores and online streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music etc. Andante Music distribution services, with our network of global partners, distributes to over 350 major stores and streaming services. All your music, once registered and licensed, is being tracked and royalties are then collected on your behalf.

What is Music Publishing?

A major aspect of the business of Music Publishing consists of collecting royalties generated by songwriters for their Compositions. A composition is defined as a work consisting of melody and/or lyrics and melody written by one or more songwriters. An "Arranger" and/or "Producer" is also considered a "Writer" for any given composition. 

Writers are entitled to three types of music publishing royalties:

1.   Performance Royalties

2.   Mechanical Royalties

3.   Sync and Micro-sync Royalties

Nearly every country has its own royalty collection organisation. To collect royalties from each country the Writer must be registered with those organisations. To ensure that our clients are registered worldwide and that they receive all the royalties they’ve earned everywhere across the globe, Andante has partnered with the British company Fairwood Music Group, a leader in international independent music publishing administration.

What are Performance Royalties?

Performance royalties are paid to the artists, songwriters (composers, lyricists), and publishers, whenever their music is performed in public. Even if you’re listening at home on headphones, your stream is considered as a public performance. Every time your music is streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc., it generates royalties for your master rights (to be collected by your digital distributor) and performance royalties that are collected by your publishing administrator.

What are Mechanical Royalties?

Mechanical royalties are generated when a copyrighted work is reproduced in digital and physical formats. The rights to the composition are usually owned by the composer or their publisher. Permission is obtained through a mechanical licence (audio-only) or synchronisation licence (video). Songwriters or their publishers are paid mechanical royalties per song downloaded and/or streamed on digital platforms.

Please note: not all Performing Rights Organisations (PROs) collect mechanical royalties. You must be registered at separate collection agencies collectively called Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) to have your mechanical royalties paid. These royalties are hard to collect without a large publisher or a publishing administrator in the picture. 

Did you know that each time your song is streamed, it generates a mechanical royalty that is not paid through your distributor? You need a publishing administrator like Andante Music to collect this on your behalf.

What are sync and micro-sync royalties?

These are royalties earned by the synchronisation of music with moving images in online platforms like YouTube and TikTok, including user-generated videos (via Instagram or Facebook).  It is very important to note that a micro-sync revenue on a platform such as YouTube generates both mechanical and performance royalties.

Music used in streaming video clips on social media platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook can also generate both Performance and Mechanical royalties. These are called micro-sync royalties. 

Can Andante Music collect my YouTube royalties?

Yes, as an Andante client, you are entitled to YouTube monetization as part of our worldwide distribution & publishing administration services. Videos are split into 3 types of assets on YouTube: the visual component, the audio component, and the composition itself, which generates both performance and mechanical royalties for songwriters and publishers. 

Please note that we cannot monetize videos that do not meet YouTube’s eligibility requirements (YouTube’s new eligibility requirement as of Feb 20, 2018). In order for us to place ads on and monetize a video, the video must be on a channel that has at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time over the past 12 months.

Why do I need a publishing administrator when I’m already using a Distributor (like Distrokid, for example)?

A DIY-Distributor (like Distrokid or CD Baby) will only pay for streaming and downloads. Your other sources of revenue from performing and mechanical royalties can only be collected by a publishing administrator. For a list of performing and mechanical affiliation rights, please see the list below:

Why do I need the services of digital distribution when I can upload my songs directly on platforms like Bandcamp or SoundCloud?

Direct artist platforms like Soundcloud or Bandcamp offer only a small fraction of the plethora of digital distribution resources, from streaming services of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Google Play Music, and Tidal to social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and everything in between. 

Andante Music distribution services, with our network of global partners, distributes to over 350 major stores and streaming services.