There’s an app for just about everything.
That’s good news for songwriters, who have a whole world of great apps to help take their music — and earnings — to the next level.
Whether you’re wrestling with writer’s block, wrangling with royalties, or just looking to smooth out your sound, there’s an app for that. Here are a few to put on your short list.
Know Your Worth
by Royalty Exchange
Have you ever wondered which streaming service gives you the best return on your work? Royalty Exchange’s new app has the answer for you. The next time you’re sipping your morning coffee, you could be assessing which platform gives you the best deal via the app’s built-in “Latte Index,” which tells you how many streams on each service it takes for your songs to earn the price of a Starbucks latte. The app offers a host of other functionalities, pulling together the details from your performance statements then distilling them down into a host of useful metrics, such as a full accounting of earnings across your entire catalog, top-performing songs and delivery formats, and a real-time estimate of the catalog’s fair market value.
You can find out more or log into Know Your Worth at worth.royaltyexchange.com.
Restrictions: None
AWAL
by Kobalt
Audience is critical in any creative endeavor — and songwriting is no exception. These days, when most of your listeners are on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, there’s a wealth of data available on how best to reach them with your music. Accessing that data, however, can often be a pain. Enter AWAL: designed by Kobalt Music to help independent artists find audiences on streaming services, and refine their business to better target their most engaged fans. It offers information about which songs are being played and engaged with the most, and by whom — demographic information includes age, gender and location, but also more specific metrics such as time of day, allowing songwriters of all stripes to know their audiences better than ever before.
Visit https://portal.kobaltmusic.com/login to log into AWAL’s web-based portal.
Restrictions: You need to be an AWAL member to use
SCORE
by Sony
If you’re looking to get more heft in your royalty checks, one of the first things to do is seek out more information. Evaluating how your earnings are stacking up now versus in the past; analyzing your work’s performance across titles, time periods and territories; and knowing which platforms and media give you the best return on your investment is key to successfully running your music like a business. The SCORE app by Sony/ATV is one way to do all of that. Offering comprehensive access to a wide range of information about your work, the web app offers full export of data into various file formats, including spreadsheets, PDFs, and text, while the mobile versions of the software allow you to keep tabs on your business wherever you go.
The SCORE app is available for bothAndroid and iOS.
Layla
by Audiam
What started out as a tool to mine Youtube for royalties revenue is now a full-fledged income tracking service. Layla combs through income sources as wide-ranging as Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Rhapsody, Beats, Amazon Prime, Mood Music, TouchTunes, Youtube and more to help artists and publishers make sure that they’re getting the revenue they’ve earned from as many different sources as possible. Built by former spinART Records owner Jeff Price, Audiam currently represents catalogs the likes of Bob Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, and Jimmy Buffett, among others.
You can learn more or sign up to use Layla at https://www.audiam.com/.
MyBMG
by BMG Rights Management
MyBMG is a royalties app that allows BMG-signed songwriters to better harness the data behind their royalties and improve their earnings over time. The app was designed in collaboration with Grammy-nominated songwriter Jenn Decilveo, Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, and Broadway composer Maury Yeston. In addition to historical performance data, MyBMG also offers projected payouts across songs, types, territories, sources, and more.
MyBMG is available for both Android and iOS, and offers a browser-based login as well.
Royalties Estimator + Reports
by Songtrust
Songtrust Royalties Estimator is a Spotify-backed music royalties feature designed to help artists determine how much they may be owed based on historical averages. For a one-time registration fee and 15% commission, their rights management platform will give both beginning and experienced artists, bands, and songwriters a personalized royalties dashboard, song registration services and interactive royalty statements. In addition, Songtrust offers a YouTube Monitor, which alerts you whenever your work appears on YouTube in video form - be it a cover, live recording performance, or other clip - in which songwriters can claim for royalties.
You can find Songtrust’s web app by going to https://songtr.st/RoyaltiesEstimator, or learn more about what the company offers at https://www.songtrust.com.
