Ask For Master
The music industry has a lopsided precedent for the compensation of producers and songwriters. Producers are often pulling in money from production fees, points on a master, and a slice of the publishing. Fees upfront, while master points recieve royalties as they come. Songwriters, on the other hand, are mostly pulling in revenue from co-equal slice of the publishing. For the most part, they only pull in back-end royalty money if a song streams well, gets played on radio, or received a large sync. There are exceptions to this custom, but these are largely accepted industry norms. That needs to change.
Songwriters, like producers, have had their role evolve over time. They are no longer just writing songs one session that will be cut by an artist in the next. Frequently, they are helping to develop an artist in the room or, at the very least, develop a song with an artist that fits their identity. Often times it is the songwriter who is helping to direct an artist's diction and delivery and arrange background harmonies to thicken out the production of the track. These duties, which were formally entrusted to a vocal producer, impact the recording, the production, and the final master. Songwriters often have a hand in returning production and mix notes as well.
Despite these shifts in the songwriting process, publishers and songwriters alike have failed to advocate properly for a shift in how songwriters are compensated. And yet, a shift is necessary. In my opinion, songwriters can and should set a precedent for asking artists for points on the master. The bulk of streaming revenue is delivered to owners of the master and songwriters deserve a cut of it. Likewise, producers should be sharing a portion of the production fee with writers who are helping them lock in cuts with their amazing top lines. Co-writing is a team sport. Without master ownership or a share of the producer fee, a songwriter, especially an independent one, cannot make a living wage at their job.
The precedent for a shift in payment custom can be found in the trend of giving producers a share of the publishing. Up until the turn of the millennium, industry precedent reserved publishing money for songwriters. As CD sales declined in the early aughts, producers sought to shore up their lost revenue by asking for part of the publishing. Songwriters obliged. Now that we're in a streaming era where songwriters too have seen their revenue decline, it is time for songwriters to think like a producer and ask for profits that have not been historically guaranteed to them. In other words, songwriters need to ask for a share of the master.
In 2024, we must, all of us, reevaluate industry norms so that we can determine if we are being compensated fairly for our work. In the case of songwriters, it is obvious that we deserve more. One way that we can ensure that songwriters are compensated fairly is if we ask artists to cut us into ownership of the master.
