The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is collaborating with the Save The Music Foundation on “Junior Music Rights Week” October 11-15, an initiative aimed at helping young music creators between 13 and 18 years old – and their parents or guardians – learn more about the business side of the music industry and specifically, the mechanical licensing process.
Developed by Dae Bogan, The MLC’s Head of Third-Party Partnerships, in collaboration with the Save The Music Foundation, “Junior Music Rights Week” is designed to address a surge in recent years of young aspiring artists taking advantage of economical tools to produce new music on their own and utilizing user generated content (UGC) platforms to release that music out into the world.
The initiative is centered around two webinars hosted by The MLC and a fun, virtual pop-quiz for participants with questions covering the music business and mechanical licensing, as well as the release of both a series of FAQs for teens and their parents or guardians and an animated explainer video on The MLC. At the conclusion of the week, participants will have gained a basic understanding of music copyright, their entitlements as young copyright owners and the numerous ways teenage music creators just like them utilize social media apps and websites to create revenue streams.
“Thousands of songs are being uploaded every month to traditional digital music services and other online platforms created by promising teenage artists, and virtually all of the music these songwriters are releasing has the potential to earn royalties when it becomes available on digital music services,” said Bogan, who teaches music business courses at several prominent universities in addition to his role on The MLC’s leadership team. “As a result, it is important to provide these teen music creators with a basic understanding of music copyright law early in their careers so they are prepared to move forward as knowledgeable and empowered professional music creators in the future.”