ION INDIE MAGAZINE February 2016, Volume 21 | Page 67

registered with CCLI (a licensing organization for churches), with its corresponding registration number. Audio and video
recordings can also have their own registration codes. For released albums, you’re probably familiar with UPC codes.
But do you know about ISRC codes? Think of them as a UPC code for each sound recording--even remixes and edits
each require a separate ISRC code. Are they important? They’ve been mentioned as part of the Spotify lawsuit, so yeah,
they’re important.
2. Credits. A publisher is the official source for proper credit on a song, including writers and publishing companies (especially if there's more than just yours), copyright notices and official lyrics, including foreign languages. This can be important if a song becomes popular in another country. If you read CD booklets like I do, you’ve seen these and may not
even realize it. An example might read as “© 2015 Mesa Sand Music (ASCAP)/Robert Ferrari (BMI). All rights administered by Mesa Sand Music.” Giving the exact wording of how you want the credits to be shown are your responsibility as
publisher--and must agree with other publishers on the song.
3. Uses. If all goes well, your songs will get used (or “placed”) in TV shows, commercials, films and other artists' records. A
publisher will need to keep track of any contracts or licenses executed on behalf of songs in their catalog. This becomes
crucial to collecting any fees or royalties associated with those usages, including any disputes.
Your most important job now is to develop a system to maintain a complete set of records. Many artists getting started do it
with a combination of spreadsheets, digital files and folders, physical files and such. Major publishers have custom built
database systems. Another option is hiring another company, such as SongTrust, to do the work for you.
WARNING: BLATANT SELF PROMOTION AHEAD!
We had the exact same problems keeping good records for my wife’s original songs, and was tired of looking through folders
and spreadsheets. This problem of record keeping is the reason we developed SongNook. It’s designed to track songs,
contacts and pitches, as well as audio and video recorded versions. We launched SongNook in January to give independent
songwriters the ability to properly manage their song catalog on their own.
Next time, we’re gonna step back a bit and cover one of the basics of the publishing world. We’ll cover performing rights
organizations in more detail--including one you may not even know about, that is paying more to indies.
Paul Bordenkircher has spent the last three decades building a wide base of knowledge in the fields of studio production,
live sound, publishing, marketing and promotions. Mesa Sand Music, part of the Mesa Sand Ventures, LLC family, offers
independent artists the kind of background and knowledge gained only from hands-on experience in the challenging entertainment industry. In addition to teaching at University of Nevada Las Vegas, he's also the developer for SongNook, an
organizational tool for songwriters. His Music Biz Blog is at: www.mesasand.com