Remember that arrangement you wrote for your band and it’s still stored on your computer’s hard drive? Did you know that you can sell it and still make some extra money? Or maybe, it can even become a business. Do you want to know how? Stay with me on this post and you will thank me for the golden tip.
You must be wondering: But can I sell my musical arrangements that are under copyright? Or just my own compositions and public domain songs? If you are thinking of selling your arrangements on your website, or trading them directly, you need to deal with all the legal bureaucracy, obtain the documents that authorize you to sell the arrangements and protect yourself from possible legal processes. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about any of that.
Online Sales Platforms
There are already platforms that work with the Market Place system. In this system, the platform itself negotiates with artists and composers and obtains the right to sell arrangements of their works. Since they have a contract for the assignment of rights and sharing of earnings on sales, these platforms create a list of copyrighted songs and you, the arranger, can choose from this list to make your own arrangement and submit it for sale. .
Arrange Me
I will present in this post two platform alternatives. The first one is the Arrange Me website operated by Hal Leonard. You can upload your own arrangements, any public domain music or pick one from the list of copyrighted music eligible to arrange and sell. In the case of Hal Leonard, you upload the score to the website arrangeme.com and within three days your score will be available for sale on the Music Direct sheet (sheetmusicdirect.com) and Sheet Music Plus (sheetmusicplus.com) web sites.
In addition, you have the possibility to upload the arrangement audio and even post a link to your video on You Tube with the music perform. In this case, it is also worth leaving in the description of your video the link to the sites that are making your arrangement available for sale.
Music Notes
The second option is the website Music Notes. When you access the website via the link musicnotes.com, is directed to the sheet music sale area, but if you access the site musicnotes.com/marketplace, you will be directed to the site area where you can create your account to register your arrangements for sale.
In the case of Music Notes, you are allowed to upload only 10 arrangements without joining the members area. Unlike Arrange Me where you can upload an unlimited number of scores. In Music Notes, if you want to upload more than 10 arrangements, then you have to pay an affiliation fee.”As of the date I write this post, this is a one-time payment. You will have the option to click and upgrade, where you’ll see a button indicating it’s a lifetime membership.”
Tips for those just starting out
If you’re just starting out, I suggest working up to the 10 song limit with Music Notes and using the Arrange Me platform as your main source of income. as long as you have a considerable number of arrangements sold and feel that working with both platforms is worthwhile, then pay the subscription and increase your sales possibilities.
These platforms work in the same way as image banks. You own the arrangement, so you can sell the same arrangement on different platforms. However, read the contract when registering to avoid any changes in the terms of services that may eventually ask for exclusivity.
How Do I Create My Arrangement?
The first step, of course, is writing your arrangement, and for that you need a sheet music editing software. There are several paid versions like Sibelius and Finale, but for me Musescore, which is open source, works great. And after all, those who are starting want to reduce costs as much as possible. All versions of Musescore allow you to generate the score in PDF and also generate the audio, but the most recent version at the time of writing is the Musescore 4, which lets you use samples and actually generate audio that sounds like real instruments.
Musescore has versions for Windows, Mac and Linux. To download and install go to: https://musescore.org/en/download. To learn more about Musescore take a look at our posts:
- “Musescore 4 is simply Amazing“,
- “How to make your Musescore Playing sound Great” , ,
- “How to add any chord Symbol in Musescore”
Using Samples in Musescore 4.
If you already use Kontakt, for example, you can load a different timbre for each instrument. Just keep in mind that the more features, the more processor power you need.
In addition to Kontakt, I like to use Decent Sampler which is open source. When I use Kontakt it allows me to work up to 15 minutes and after that it blocks the resource, but Decent Sampler doesn’t have that limitation. You can find more about the sampler on the website https://www.pianobook.co.uk/sampler/decent-sampler/
After finishing your arrangement, you can then export the audio in different formats and also the scores in PDF format. It is possible to generate one PDF file for each part or to combine all parts with the main score in the same file.
About the audio format, at the time of writing this post, the Music Notes website does not have an option to upload the audio, only the video link on YouTube. However, in Arrange Me, you can upload the audio in MP3 and also leave the video link on YouTube.
Creating your Account on the Platform
Once you have your arrangement in PDF and the audio in MP3, it’s time to register on the Arrange Me website or Musicnotes Market Place and create your account. By doing so, you will enter your data, create your password and agree to the terms of service. There you will have the option to set your price, respecting a minimum price the platform defines.
In the following picture I show you the the Arrange Me website landing page showing the button to sign up for free. Both Arrange Me and Music Notes web sites are in English, but you will be surprised by the amount of international music licensed so, you can find songs from all over the world to arrange.
Submitting your Arrangements
After making your account, you will log in and enter the platform. If you have already sold arrangements, you will be able to see the most recent sales as soon as you log in. To re-arrange a copyrighted song, click on “Song Search” and search for the song.
By clicking, you have all the information on how the website service works and what is the step by step to upload your arrangement. As an example, I searched for Girl from Ipanema, a Brazilian composition by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. I did the search in Portuguese to demonstrate that you can find songs even if it is not in English.
File Types
After searching, the same song may have different versions, so just choose the one tha best suits for you and click it. You will see the option to choose between selling a PDF arrangement or an interactive arrangement. I won’t go into detail regarding the interactive arrangement because it’s already a subject for another post. The difference between them is that in the interactive arrangement you can change the tone of the music, but I don’t particularly like it, because when I choose the tone I am taking into account the extension of the notes on the instrument and the fingering in the case of the guitar. I think it works well when it’s just melody and chords, but not for an instrumental arrangement.
Also, the sound that the person will hear from your arrangement will not sound like played by a real instrument. The PDF gives you the option to upload the MP3 that can be recorded by real instrumentalists or synthesized using Musescore with samples from Kontakt or Decent Sampler.
It is also important to mention that on the Arrange Me website, in addition to sheet music, you can also sell tablature and even your audio in MP3.
How do I get paid for my Sales?
In the process of submitting your arrangements for sale, you will set the selling price. The amount you will receive is a percentage of that amount that will vary depending on whether the music is in the public domain, copyright or under copyright. For your own compositions and for public domain music, the percentage will be higher, generally around 50%. For copyrighted music the percentage is lower, generally in the 10% range.
After you start selling, you will have to wait for a minimum amount to withdraw. In the case of the Arrange Me site, this value is US$20.00 and in Music Notes, it is necessary to have at least US$100.00 in commissions to withdraw.
But how does this withdrawal work? In both cases you will need to have a PayPal account and you need to register the email referring to your account in the payment receipt area of the site. In some cases you also have the possibility to receive it direct in your bank account, but this procedure varies from country to country.
You also have to complete the US tax form. Both Arrange Me and Music Notes pay by the United States, so you will fill out the form according to your tax situation in that country. For non-resident foreigners, the form to be completed is the W-8 BEN. Each platform will clearly direct you to answer the questions.
If your country that do not a taxation agreement with the United States, expect having withheld up to 30% of your earnings, but it is still worth it because it is passive income. You make the arrangement only once and sell it unlimited times.
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