1) Copyright Everything: This goes without saying, copyrighting your music is a MUST. There is no reason why an artist should not copyright his or her music. There is no excuse. The copyright office has made the process super simple with an online submission site. Simply register with ECO (Electronic Copyright Office) and submit your music. There is a small fee to register your music. The most important part is reading through the instructions to make sure you are properly submitting all material. If you don’t like to read, find an uncle that graduated from college with no less than a 2.5 grade point average and you will be fine.
2) Lock in Your Distributor: One great debate is what music distribution company an artist / musician should use to get their music to the masses. Of course, do your research but I will draw a line in the sand for you if you’re an independent artist. There are many music distribution companies like CDBaby, Songtradr, Landr, etc., BUT at the top of the list is TUNECORE and DISTROKID (I use both for various reasons). After you have selected the distro company, add your projected SINGLE(s) and ALBUM(s) for the next sixth months to your discography.
3) Publishing Duh: Register with a nationally recognized publishing company. After registering with a publishing company, immediately register your music to ensure you are getting paid when your music is played/used. There is an open discussion somewhere on the planet about which publishing company is the best: SESAC, ASCAP, BMI or Harry Fox Agency? Personally, I am registered with ASCAP but I have heard great things about the opposing companies. Bottom line, do your research. Ask your artist friends, see what their thoughts are, and then go with your gut (hoping it’s not gas).
4) Get Nielsen: It’s a very interesting thing that many artist don’t know about Nielsen Sound scan. Nielsen has a very powerful place in the music industry and I would love to explain what that is but for the sake of time, visit the website and see for yourself. Register with Nielsen Virtual Encoding (may require sending an email to customer service to create a login) to ensure that your music has an identity when being played on the Radio and TV airways (a indolent explanation). Upload every song in your catalog and make sure you have your UPC number and release date available for each song.
5) Sound Exchange: Sound Exchange is a very unique entity controlled by the government oddly enough. They collect royalties from internet radio stations and other internet media outlets. Year after year, Sound Exchange collects millions of dollars that go unclaimed because many artist have no clue that they need to register their music with S.E... Take the time out of your schedule to make sure that your music is registered with S.E. to collect optimal profits for your creativity.