There's HUGE differences between the three, especially for a solo artist and each one is gonna affect you dramatially differently.

Album: "The overall picture" of who you are as an artist/group etc. The track layout is critical and the quality has (obviosuyl) got to be on point (called "Broadcast" quality, meaning "ready for radio as is"). Could be any number of tracks. "Album" also puts you in a whole differnet class legally since it implies that the legal on your CD is all straight, meaning any samples are paid for, everyone is credited, all copyrights are in place to their proper owners, etc. "Album" also means that your work is intended to generate more than 1500 copies and intend to make a profit, which means that you're in the line of fire if a company wants to sue you for use of a sample without their permission if they chose to do so, either now, or down the line.


Mixtape: usually full of tracks that can't be cut on an album for mechanical reasons or aren't broadcast quality. Does a great job of building a fanbase, but a bad job of painting the over all picture of who you are since track arrangement isn't critical and usually irrelevant. Tracks can be any degree of rough with any number of tracks as few as you want or as many as you can squeeze in. If your legal isn't straight, and it's considered "not for profit" (meaning intended to promote the artist ONLY, not to make thme rich) it would be classified as a mixtape.


Demo: Demos are ONLY for labels, A&R's, Publishing companies, Independant A&R Co.'s, songpushers etc. They're what someone in the industry will listen to in order to gauge their interest in you. A DEMO IS NEVER MORE THAN 3 TRACKS!! usually one of each type. Industry heads don't need to nor have the time to hear a CD full of tracks by you, and one track alone dosen't tell them about your consistency or overall style and range.


Hopefully this helps to clear up some of the confusion and aid you in choosing the corect title for your work.

And don't forget..ALWAYS COPYWRITE YOUR WORK!!

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Just a dumb question, but how do you properly copywrite your work? Is it as simple as putting it on Soundclick and using their copywrite option, or do you actually need to go somewhere and copywrite it?

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Protecting your work? That's not a dumb question lol. You don't need to go anywhere to copywrite your work because legally speaking, anything you create musically is already copywritten by you the exact moment you finish it. The diffuclty comes in proving it. The "proper" way is through the copywrite office, requesting the neccesary forms (there's different forms for different types musical copywrites, by song, lyrics, beat, etc), then sending those forms back with a check or money order and wait 2+ months to get your confirmation. This now becomes "copywrite protection".

The "Improper" way is to mail your self a copy of your work AND NEVER OPEN IT!!! This is legally applicable because the gov't stamps on your package proves that you generated this work on - as the originator - specific time, date, etc. Someone using your work or a variant of it can be sued for infringing on copywrites and you'll win if your records show you came up with it first.

Sweet.

as for SC, I never used their copywrite option (since publishing your music on their pages automatically makes you the copywrite owner of your uncopywritten materials) so they'd either just be A: saying it to people publically, or B: asking you for your copywrite number.

You're already covered, no matter how you look at it. Just make sure you can prove it

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Man, Apexx is dope.

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lmao............ i didnt know kids were actually confused on wat the difference was........ somethin like how to copywrite is very understandable............ but just the difference between the different names of CDs is funny

and also....... i see a ton of cats that also hand out their demos to people on the street, infront of concerts, and shit like that..... so its MAINLY for like labels, but i dont think its the only use............ cuz the average person wont sit down and listen to like 16-20 tracks of someone they have no clue about and randomly met on the street.......... but theyd prolly listen to those 3 tracks and also get a basic idea of ur music

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...The real Renegade before Hova...

Good thread.... I've gone through all three, and all worked effectively for what I was aiming for. As for copywriting, that 'mailing it to yourself' doesn't stand up in court - some guitarist got nailed in L.A. or jacked as it were, and he only had the mail it to self method. I guess some dude pretty well jacked all his music he had written and used it for a solo - which HE then copywrote. haha... That's ownage. word.

1

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Blak Maj: so wher's my copy of the mixtape

Phen, was dudes mailing date before, or after the other guy? lol, that's the only thing that'll matter is the date, not the method.

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^^^^^^^^^^ i also herd that don't hold up in court ..idk if it's true or not

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HELLLZ YEEAHH !!!!

That "poor man's copyright" is a myth.





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Youtube Video for my song "CARRY ON"

Well, I did mad research into copywrite law and how you're protected and so on and so fourth. It bols down to this:

nothing beats the registered copywrite. A plain envelope being mailed back to you = no eevidence what so ever since it's highly fakable, for example, mailing your self an unsealed envelope to get the post date, then putting your own work at any ol date and sealing it back up.


THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT YOUR SELF WITH THE POOR MANS COPYWRITE IS...


with one of these:



^^A certified letter. this works because for starters, it's sealed with a govt issued green sticker with a barcode across it that will (obviously) be damaged in order for you to open the envelope, therefore showing if it were tampered with or not. It's got a green tag that's glued to the back that coveres the closing flap and the body of the envelope, again, showing if it were tampered with. It' signed for by a govt employee, and it also shows the original mailing date AND when it got to you and who signed for it (you again) on the date it got to you. Unlike a normal envelope that you drop in the mail box, Certified Mail has a tracking number that can be verified with a gov't establishment, the post office. They have records of the exact times and dates, something that stolen material can't beat. Your only hope.

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Certified mail is our friend. Just dont forget that nothing beats a registered copyright!

1: Depends on what type of work you're trying to copywrite. some may want to copywrite an album as one work, some, just their vocals, some, just the beat, and some, just the lyrics. Can you be more specific?

2: Depends on how many tracks, and what type of copy write you're looking for. On average though if you're looking to copyright one track it's about $20-$30 bucks.

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Sweet........................... cleared a lil shit up..?.. i guess

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LOYAL TO THE GAME IN ANY WEATHER



(X)CeeD

^^say what?

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