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You put so much effort into creating your song.

Put that same effort into the admin side of your music.

An important part of being a creator is keeping track of your entire catalog including your metadata, musical works or sound recording registration, and identifiers.

It sounds small but these things are what will make sure you're credited and paid correctly when your musical work or sound recording is used.

Here are some of the best ways you can keep track of the admin side of your songs.

Register your musical works and sound recordings.

This is the first thing you should do, and do it with your CMO Collective Rights Management Organization as soon as you know you'll be releasing your song commercially.

Then there's never any doubt about ownership of your musical work and sound recording.

It helps to do the registration while all of the metadata is fresh in your mind.

Keep detailed records.

Create a system for keeping records for your songs.

Both if you contributed to a song or had creators collaborate with you on your own songs.

Make sure you include all the metadata and identifiers.

Information about splits, publishers, and any agreements or licenses you have.

Use technology.

Take advantage of the tools and websites like song metadata and royalty-tracking software, which help automate metadata capture and track your music usage and royalties.

Audit your catalog.

Regularly go through your catalog and inspect your musical works, your sound recordings and royalty statements.

It will help you make sure your information is up to date and that you're receiving the right royalties when your songs are used.

Be involved with the music industry.

Talk with other creators and music industry people.

Take some courses.

Subscribe to some newsletters, read industry websites and books to stay up to date to industry trends, changes and best practices.

Royalty and Metadata Good Practice

2 min read

How to track usage of your musical works and sound recordings to make sure you get credited and paid.

To keep track of your musical works and sound recordings and get paid for their use, the most important thing to do is to register them with all the right information.

An important part of being a is keeping records of all your contributions to , , and , and them in all the right places to help track their . Doing this will ensure that you’re properly and paid for the use of your music.

Here are a few tips.

Keep detailed records

This includes , , information about , and other collaborators, , , ownership of your musical works and sound recordings, any agreements or you may have, and any uses of your musical work or sound recording you are aware of.

Register your works and sound recordings

It's important that your musical works and sound recordings are registered with your so that your are correctly documented, identified, and represented and to ensure that you receive proper credits and payments. Registering the musical works and sound recordings should be done as soon as possible and always before a sound recording is commercially released. Depending on your situation and country, and unless someone else does this for you, you may have to register your musical works and sound recordings with more than one CMO.

Even if you have a record label or , there is no one other than you, the creator, who better knows the truth about what you contributed to the creation of a musical work or sound recording, so capture the information in any way possible. See our page on Creators' Responsibilities.

Use technology

Many tools are available to help creators capture and keep accurate records about their music and contributors. Take advantage of relevant tools, websites, and software that can help automate this process, and share it with your other collaborators. They, too, need to keep track of your contribution whenever you are collaborating together.

Regularly audit your catalog

Regularly audit the documentation and use of your of musical works and sound recordings and review your . This will help ensure your information is complete and up to date and that you’re receiving the right payment for the use of your musical works and sound recordings wherever and whenever they are used.

Keep up with the industry

Learn more on CLIP and other information sources. Talk with other creators and music industry professionals, subscribe to newsletters and podcasts, follow , and read industry websites. This will help you follow good practices and stay up to date on industry trends and changes. If you’re a member of a CMO or a professional organization, get involved and take advantage of the resources they have to offer their members.

Video credit: Tiffany Orvet, Daniel Sundström, Eric Ivar Persson, David Wells, Tobias Leo Nordquist, Ponny Höijer, William Engström, Parapix