How We Tripled Users For Our Music Licensing Business [Update]
This is a follow up story for Easy Song. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 5 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hi again, this is Aaron Green, and I am the Vice President/Director of Sales and Business Development for EasySong.
Since our first Starter Story interview, we have changed our business name to simply "Easy Song." We made this change because we have expanded our operations beyond just song licensing services.
Not only do we continue to serve the independent artist community with mechanical and custom licensing for any type of song clearance needs, but we have also greatly expanded our B2B offerings with the growth of our Cover Song Licensing API, Licensing Brokerage services, and our newly available Marketplace, where users can browse and instantly license master sound recordings of hit songs.
In addition, our established Publishing Administration and US Copyright Registration services help songwriters collect their royalties and protect their works from infringement. This new dimension to our business model has been a blast, and we feel good about the impact we’re making in this arena.
In addition to collecting global royalties, our publishing service features an administrative assistance program. This program sets up links or portals on our clients’ "Contact Us" pages, allowing third-party prospects to connect with our team directly to explain the music use, project synopsis, and the media rights they need.
This is a full-service program from start to finish, where we thoroughly screen each request, suggest action plans to our clients, and execute these deals with formal agreements, invoicing, reporting, and collection on their behalf. Our partners hardly have to lift a finger.
This eliminates the time and energy our clients normally spend evaluating, negotiating, and answering any general licensing questions. Our company operates as an extension of their customer service department to ensure their catalog has strong representation to make better deals at fair market value.
Our Copyrighting Service has also been a nice boost for our company since we launched it in October 2021, and we have seen consistent growth since. Many independent songwriters struggle with registering their original works with the US Copyright Office (USCO), which can be an intimidating process. There are plenty of variables regarding what one can or cannot register concerning compositions and master sound recordings.
We have kept our ear to the ground for several years with these pain points, and our team has completely immersed themselves in this entire process with the US Library of Congress. We have now reached the point where the USCO has collaborated with our team to survey and suggest system improvements for their user experience.
Easy Song has been blessed with such talented staff who are passionate about serving the community in this endeavor and have truly become experts in how to successfully legitimize our clients’ hard work into tangible and legal form.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
Since 2022, we’ve grown to over 197,000 users, compared to 60,000 when we published our first Starter Story in 2018. Our reputation continues to develop in representing individuals who have little-to-no music industry connections and need to be educated on music rights and licensing procedures. Growth of this nature only serves to highlight the importance of the services that we provide for our diverse array of clients.
We have expanded our marketing to include more independent artists, bands and labels, production companies, filmmakers, advertising agencies, community groups, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, schools, churches, and colleges. We have pursued more partnerships within the music distributor area, production companies, and artist promotional services.
They're coming on board, partner after partner, to help fill this music licensing void with a better customer service model for their users within their current systems by turning to the Easy Song team to answer all of their music rights questions, tailoring and assessing what should be done on a case-by-case basis for each project.
If that wasn't enough, our new Marketplace is a game-changer in backing track licensing. Our vendors are producing professional replica recordings of today's Billboard hits in every genre, plus a vast catalog of cover songs from the past 50 years.
This platform allows us to sell these recordings to the public and license them. We also help to broker the licensing deals to these third parties, taking a perfect marriage of our current systems and bringing them into one beautiful digital store of music commerce.
Our new Marketplace is an innovative platform that offers professional replica recordings of current Billboard hits across all genres along with a vast catalog of cover songs from the past 50 years.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
Since the implementation of the Music Modernization Act, we've seen a slowdown in our mechanical song licensing division. This service files, reports, and issues cover audio song licenses to artists who wish to re-record a composition they didn’t write (covers with no copyright alterations and no original composition added) to be released in an audio-only product (like a single, EP, or album format). Ten years ago, this was our main source of revenue, but now it occupies roughly half.
Since the MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) was established in the US in January 2021, it now operates as one of the central sources to represent all registered publishers to process digital mechanical licenses. This is mandatory for interactive audio streaming platforms (such as Spotify).
However, our company is still allowed to issue mechanical licenses for digital downloads and physical media, such as CDs or vinyl, which still have a decent market with plenty of independent artists.
Luckily, we anticipated this new shift in our industry a few years in advance since Congress had been going back and forth with music publishers, digital distributors, and performing rights organizations to create this new establishment.
We had already begun plans to expand our service offerings, such as our Custom Licensing division (for any song request that requires special permission from the rights holders, such as music videos, films, advertisements, lyric changes, master sound recording sample use, theatrical/live stage use, or any form of composition print rights), Copyrighting, Publishing Administration, and Marketplace.
The constant entrepreneurial reminder keeps ringing in our heads as each new phase of our business passes: “To survive and thrive as a small business, we need to keep reinventing ourselves every 3-5 years,” which is the creed we have always followed since 2005.
the ability to visualize every aspect of your business model and understand its path to success is crucial. This isn’t about vague hopes; it's about having a clear, detailed blueprint in your mind.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned over the past year is navigating the ever-changing landscape of the music business while maintaining an efficient and effective team. Our industry requires adaptability and a team capable of handling a wide variety of tasks, including song research for licensing, customer service, royalty payments, and other daily business operations. Balancing the workload among our team members has been crucial. It’s a constant challenge to ensure that no one is overwhelmed while keeping our team lean and agile.
Another key lesson has been the importance of top-notch customer service. To achieve this, we’ve focused on building a strong, cohesive team that can handle the diverse demands of our business. This involves not only hiring skilled employees but also continuously evaluating and adjusting workloads to prevent burnout and maintain high levels of productivity.
Striking the right balance between having enough staff to meet our needs without overextending resources has been essential for our success. By prioritizing efficiency and fostering a supportive work environment, we’ve been able to meet our customer service goals and keep our business running smoothly.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
In the upcoming year, we plan to continue growing the services that our customers know and love about Easy Song, including licensing, publishing, copyrighting, and more. A major focus will be on expanding our new Marketplace, which is a game-changer in backing track licensing.
This innovative platform offers professional replica recordings of current Billboard hits across all genres, along with a vast catalog of cover songs from the past 50 years, as well as other recordings such as 8-bit and 16-bit covers, original compositions, and more. The Marketplace aims to provide a one-stop shop for high-quality, diverse music tracks, making it easier than ever for our users to find and license the perfect backing tracks for their projects.
Over the next five years, our focus on music rights for creators and users will drive our core mission to foster music creation and enrich music experiences. Our strategic plans include increasing our sales, expanding our user base, and growing our team.
We aim to become a leading force in publishing administration, establish ourselves as a go-to source for music education, and launch a music supervision department. By advancing these initiatives, we believe we can support the music community more effectively and continue to innovate in the realm of music rights and licensing.
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
“Get a Grip” by Gino Wickman. We use Gino’s Entrepreneurial Operating System at Easy Song, and it has definitely transformed our business. This book is a great addition and has helped us get organized, solve issues, and be more efficient with our time.
The book provides practical insights into key business components like vision, people, data, and processes. By following the journey of a fictional company, readers gain valuable lessons on building a cohesive leadership team, fostering accountability, and creating efficient systems. This relatable and actionable approach has been instrumental in enhancing our operations and aligning our team towards common goals.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
While it might sound clichéd, the ability to visualize every aspect of your business model and understand its path to success is crucial. This isn’t about vague hopes; it's about having a clear, detailed blueprint in your mind. Approach this with strict, unbiased logic and mathematical precision. When you have this clarity, it’s then about dedicating yourself fully, putting in consistent effort every day to turn that vision into reality.
Success requires a relentless focus on solving every variable, anticipating obstacles, and assembling a team that shares your entrepreneurial mindset and work ethic. If you truly commit to this process, nothing can stand in your way. However, if you find yourself giving up halfway, it’s a sign that the desire wasn’t strong enough. True dedication means persevering through challenges and continually pushing forward until you achieve your goals.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
