BMG and Concord Just Built a Music Giant — Here’s Why Independent Artists Should Care

While fans spend most of their time watching streams, charts and release dates, some of the biggest moves in music continue happening far away from the spotlight.

BMG and Concord completed their combination at the beginning of September, creating a significantly larger global company operating under the BMG name. The combined operation now controls or represents millions of musical works across recorded music, publishing and other areas of the business.

To the average listener, a corporate merger may not sound as exciting as a surprise album or a chart battle. For artists, however, the story touches one of the most important subjects in the entire music business: ownership.

Songs are assets.

A composition can generate publishing income for years. A master recording can produce streaming revenue, licensing revenue and opportunities in television, movies, advertising, gaming and other media. A song may be sampled years after its release. A catalog can be sold, licensed or inherited.

That is why major music companies continue spending enormous amounts of money acquiring rights.

Independent artists should look at those moves and recognize that the industry is telling them exactly what it values.

Streams matter, but streams are only one part of the business.

An artist can have a million plays and still not fully understand who owns the master. A songwriter can create a successful record and discover later that splits were never properly documented. An artist may sign a distribution or recording agreement without understanding what rights they are giving away.

Those mistakes become much more expensive when a song starts making real money.

Artists should know who controls their masters, who owns the publishing, how songwriting splits are divided and whether songs are properly registered. They should understand what happens if somebody wants to license a record for a television show, commercial or movie.

That paperwork isn't the glamorous part of music. It is, however, often the part that determines who gets paid.

The BMG-Concord deal also shows where major music companies believe the future is heading. Rights, technology, catalogs and relationships with creators are becoming increasingly important assets.

Independent artists should adopt some of that same thinking.

Don't only think of yourself as somebody making songs for Spotify. Think like somebody building a library of intellectual property.

Get excited about streams. Celebrate playlist placements. Promote the record and run the numbers up.

But when everything settles, ask the most important question in the room.

Who owns it?

Because everybody loves talking about the music until the check arrives.

Then the conversation becomes business.

Jalen Cross
BTS Music Group — Join the Movement.