Independent Artists Need to Treat Music Like a Business

An artist can spend months creating a song, paying for production and promotion, and building an audience, only to discover that the business side of the music was never properly handled. Ownership, copyright registration, royalty collection and licensing can determine whether an artist actually benefits financially from the work being created.

Independent artists should make music-business education part of their creative process instead of treating it as something to learn after a song becomes successful. Understanding basic rights and royalty systems can help artists protect their work and make more informed decisions about their careers.

The money moving through the global music industry demonstrates why this knowledge matters. According to the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), creators worldwide generated a record €13.97 billion in royalties in 2024, with music accounting for €12.59 billion. Digital revenue increased 11.2% during the year and surpassed €5 billion for the first time. Those figures demonstrate that music rights are connected to a significant global revenue stream.

The U.S. Copyright Office also identifies ownership and payment information as important issues within the music marketplace. Its music licensing study found broad industry agreement that creators should be fairly compensated and that authoritative information about music ownership and licensing should be available to market participants. The Copyright Office’s educational materials also explain different ways songwriters, composers and performers can receive income from their music.

Royalty collection is not simply theoretical. SoundExchange reported that it distributed $991.5 million to artists and rights owners in 2025 and has distributed more than $13 billion since its creation. SoundExchange also states that recording artists and sound-recording owners must register to receive certain digital performance royalties from noninteractive services such as SiriusXM, Pandora and iHeartRadio.

Critics could argue that artists should focus on creating music and leave contracts, copyrights and royalties to managers, lawyers, labels or other professionals. Professional assistance can certainly be valuable, but relying entirely on someone else does not eliminate the artist’s need to understand the basic terms of their own business. An artist who does not understand ownership or royalty collection may have difficulty recognizing whether an agreement protects their interests.

The solution is not to turn every musician into a lawyer or accountant. Artists should instead receive basic music-business education before releasing commercially intended music. They should know who owns the recording and composition, document agreements with collaborators, understand relevant royalty organizations and learn when professional legal or business advice is necessary.

Music is both creative expression and intellectual property. Independent artists invest their time, money and talent into their work. Learning how that work generates revenue should be considered part of making the music, not an optional step after the opportunity arrives.

PHOTO CRED: DOMINIQUE WHITE