Getting started
how to use Bemuso.com

Quick start site guide

Bemuso is all about the music business for DIY artists and independents. Here’s a quick introduction to the site for beginners and some tips for finding your way around. If you want to dive straight in the Getting started page gives an overview of the DIY music biz. The music business is very complicated. Don’t be surprised if you can’t digest it all in one go. It took me years to understand all this and I’m still learning.

Getting startedAbout web sites
Here you’ll find…
• getting started
• the main points
• DIY summary
• things to do
Simple UK music royalties diagramHere you’ll find…
• basic costs
• what you need
• about web hosts
• complexity
• special files
Simple web site context diagram
What is the music biz?DIY music checklist
Here you’ll find…
• what it means
• what is here
• what isn’t here
Diagram: promotion costs v. word of mouthHere you’ll find…
• business steps
• tax and accounts
• running a label
• online retail
• DIY choices
Music business diagram for the main steps in setting up your own label and selling records
About record labelsAbout independent labels
Here you’ll find…
• history
• market share
• about Majors
• about indies
• trade bodies
Music business diagram of record labelsHere you’ll find…
• what is indie?
• DIY advantages
• making records
• publishing songs
• basic costs
Comparing DIY, indie and Major businesses
About music publishersCopyright
Here you’ll find…
• history
• music publishing
• about publishers
• trade bodies
Music business diagram of record label incomeHere you’ll find…
• what does © mean?
• protecting songs
• how long it lasts
• copyleft and CC
• public domain
Music business graphic of the C and P copyright symbols
Writers, songs and recordings
Here you’ll find…
• various ID codes
• CAE, ISWC, ISRC
• releasing a track
• notifying societies
Composers, works and recordings - codes identifying people and musicHere you’ll find…
• MCPS, PRS, PPL
• joining societies
• some disadvantages
• reasons to join
Notifying royalty collection societes about releases
Collecting music royalties
Here you’ll find…
• collecting royalties
• royalty societies
• mechanicals
• performances
Music business diagram showing the main UK retail, licensing, royalty collection societies and distribution transactions for labels, publishers and artistsHere you’ll find…
• self-written gigs
• black box money
• foreign royalties
• rest of the world
Music business diagram of worldwide royalty collection between different countries: writers, performers, artists, labels, publishers, mechanicals, performing and neighbouring rights
CD mail order, cost breakdownDownloads cost breakdown
Here you’ll find…
• mail order CD
• cost breakdown
• cost calculations
• DIY CD example
• High Street example
CD mail order breakdown pie chartHere you’ll find…
• aggregator costs
• cost breakdown
• cost calculations
• DIY download example
• Big Label example
Download cost breakdown pie chart

Finding stuff

There is a vast amount of information on this site and several ways to find your way round it.

Lists and indexes

Searching

Menus and pages

The whole site is organised under the menus shown at the top of every page (and the bottom of most).

Most pages also have these three navigation aids at the bottom.

go to the top of this pageback to the top of this page   go to the main menu for this pagejump to the index for this section   go to the home pagejump to the site home page

go to the top of this page  go to the main menu for this page  go to the home page


© Rob Cumberland 2002–2013, all rights reserved • This is a UK web site • About Bemuso