I do pay performance royalties on others' songs I perform live, but I'm not recording these songs and putting them up for sale.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I was releasing EPs by myself, I was generating royalties. And when I signed, I thought I'd put those royalties into other artists. And interestingly, streaming is most of the income for those artists.
You get royalties from certain songs that you do when you do background. It's according to the work that you put in.
Royalties are not how most writers or musicians make their living. Musicians by and large make a living with a relationship with an audience that is economically harnessed through performance and ticket sales.
I've made sure that in any situation and with any record label, I'm allowed to write my own music.
I cannot with any real integrity perform songs I've done for 25 years. I don't need the money. What I need is to feel that I am not letting myself down as an artist and that I still have something to contribute.
If you are a musician who has released albums, it would perhaps be morbidly interesting to know how much you would be owed if everyone who now has your music had actually bought your record.
I do work a lot. I mean, most of my income, I would say, comes from live performances. And then you've got publishing, you've got record royalties.
I've copyrighted 3,000 songs.
I had a very unusual contract. Most artists actually pay for their record dates and it comes out of their royalties. I paid for nothing.
There's this thing called compulsory licensing law that allows artists through the record companies to take your music at will without your permission.