Wassup Thunder Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Me and musician buddy Souperion recently started a pet project of creating a collection of original songs inspired by games we played on the SNES. As we've had a lot of fun doing it, I've been considering publishing the completed work, maybe on bandcamp or my youtube channel. Not with any hope of really making money (as I don't expect that to happen), but as a personal accomplishment for both of us. My interest is in a low-key thing. I'm aware that publishing commercially is a large, multifactored process and I'm only considering a small-scale option. And I have discussed this with Souperion and he's onboard if its something we can do. But before I try anything and put any of this stuff on the internet, I wanted to see if I could get any advice on posting original music like this. Anyone have any experience/suggestions/guidelines for doing stuff like this? I'm not committing to anything yet, wanted to learn something before deciding on a course of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Probably need some more information before worthwhile answers could materialize here. "What advice can you give me?" for something like this is too broad to really go with even if you're not expecting to make money off of it. We would need to know what you feel like you don't know or know enough of before starting your publishing plans. Wassup Thunder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wassup Thunder Posted March 31, 2022 Author Share Posted March 31, 2022 Good point, I shoulda considered that more thoroughly. Lessee, one thing that I don't know much about is any good practices to protect one's creative property. I've never attempted to put music anywhere on the internet besides Thasauce.com and youtube. My possible scenario of publishing the music on bandcamp and then making a youtube video of the collection. What would be some good practices in that scenario? Would it be advisable to put the content on Youtube? I also don't know any other places to consider putting music. Over all, I really don't want to screw up and put me or my friend's creative work at risk of being in a risky place. Not that I think it'd be worth someone time to steal it, but just wanna be careful. HoboKa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboKa Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 (edited) On 3/31/2022 at 9:58 AM, Wassup Thunder said: Good point, I shoulda considered that more thoroughly. Lessee, one thing that I don't know much about is any good practices to protect one's creative property. I've never attempted to put music anywhere on the internet besides Thasauce.com and youtube. My possible scenario of publishing the music on bandcamp and then making a youtube video of the collection. What would be some good practices in that scenario? Would it be advisable to put the content on Youtube? I also don't know any other places to consider putting music. Over all, I really don't want to screw up and put me or my friend's creative work at risk of being in a risky place. Not that I think it'd be worth someone time to steal it, but just wanna be careful. Whatever the case, it won't be free. Pretty much all Distributors charge some kinda fee...some of them monthly as I have learned the hard way. But Bandcamp ALONE is a bad idea imo. As I don't know if Bandcamp offers any IP protection. Does your friend use SongSecure or some other blockchain/encoding service? Not talking NFT's of course. At any rate your friend has to do his/her own due diligence to protect their work, foisting that all on you is kinda unfair as it costs $$$ to do so. (EDIT) Well, Bandcamp IS free, but it's equally as unsecure as YouTube, as there are workarounds to download the "walled-off" content. Literally just google "Bandcamp downloader" and at least 3 applications will show up. So make sure your friend has some way to ensure he can prove his work is his IF the worst happens*. Hope this helps. Edited April 1, 2022 by HoboKa Wassup Thunder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Coop Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 First and foremost, copyrighting. If these are original works, then get those works copyrighted before you upload it all (aka "publish" it). You don't have to wait until the piece of paper shows up in the mail (which will take 2-3 months), just get the application submitted before you publish the music, and then release the stuff on Bandcamp or whatever. The reason I say this, is because the copyright will be effective as of the date you submitted the application, not when you get the actual paper. Just make sure you don't fuck up the application, or you'll have to submit it again and pay for it again. But first, you'll need to group the songs into three categories, since there's two of you... - Wassup Thunder songs (one only you wrote) - Souperion songs (ones only they wrote) - Wassup Thunder and Souperion songs (ones you both wrote) Each group will need it's own copyright submission. However, you can do up to ten songs together in one $55 submission as long as each song has only one "author," or the same authors for each song. So, that'll save some money. There's an option for 20 unpublished songs for $85 supposedly, but that wasn't available when I did my "Vol. 3" album. HoboKa and Wassup Thunder 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wassup Thunder Posted April 11, 2022 Author Share Posted April 11, 2022 Some great information, thank you. I'll carefully consider this decision, especially the option of copyrighting. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillRock Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 (edited) Ok so I'm going to say something a little controversial here? Maybe? I feel like you're overthinking this a tad. Copyright... your music is copyrighted from the moment you create it, getting it "copyrighted" is just an official documentation of ownership. Besides, are you planning on suing them if they copy you? You know? I once saw a comment from Lemmy about people stealing/copying your music, and all he had to say was "I'd just do it back!". I mean Jimmy Page got Sued for copying the riff in Stairway To Heaven but the guy waited 45 years because he had more to gain the longer he waited to sue. I don't know how much you need to take that stuff seriously at this stage. My honest to god advice? Stop worrying about the logistics of it. It seems like you're aware that you're not going to make much money, so try not to spend any at this stage that you don't need to. No reason to go out of pocket needlessly. Look at Distrokid, CD Baby or Tunecore for distribution, get it distributed on Spotify etc, post it on bandcamp, post it on youtube (distribution will do that anyway but you're better off doing that yourself imo). One thing I would consider if you're serious about getting it out there - look into a label to get your music promoted, if you want people to hear it. There's a few in the VGM community like Tiny Waves and Gamechops depending on the genre, and there are some in other places you can look, again, depending on the genre. You can talk to them about copyright issues if you get a label interested in your work. But ultimately? Just get it out there. Don't worry too much about what if scenario's at this stage. Get it on distrokid and bandcamp, release it, tell your friends about it, see what happens. Maybe that's bad advice, but that's my take. Edited April 11, 2022 by WillRock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Coop Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 8 hours ago, WillRock said: Copyright... your music is copyrighted from the moment you create it, getting it "copyrighted" is just an official documentation of ownership. Besides, are you planning on suing them if they copy you? You know? ... I don't know how much you need to take that stuff seriously at this stage. I'm not going to bash you or anything, so don't take this response in that way. it's not intended as such. That said... Whether you're someone who's just getting started, or if you've been in the business for decades, protect your work. Keep it safe so that if someone does steal it and starts selling it or claiming it's theirs, you have legal options. As for the "it's copyrighted the moment you create it," that's only a half truth. The copyright exists once it's fixed to a tangible medium of expression (paper, audio tape/CD, computer disk, etc.). But as you know, there are ways to dick around with files and such if someone else wants to try to claim they did it first. Registering your work before publishing broadens the protection of the 1978 Copyright Act that you referenced. So even if someone doesn't sue because they don't have the money to take on the ones using their work illegally, they can still contact the people and/or the website/company hosting the material and see what can be done to rectify the situation as the sole, registered copyright holder. I mean, my music isn't popular by any stretch of the imagination, and yet even my stuff got copyright claimed more than once by someone else trying to make some money off of my work (I was able to reverse that by proving I alone held the copyright). So why not take that extra step before releasing it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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