Founding Cohort - 50 Spots

🐘 Every student gets a free 2-hour 1-on-1 with Michael ($300 value). Contract review, demo feedback, career strategy, royalty audit — your call. 2 hours, redeemable within 60 days of purchase. When the 50th spot sells, the bonus is gone. The course stays. The bonus doesn't.

Comprehensive Music Business Knowledge

Understand the two distinct copyrights (and their related royalties) that drive the entire US music industry.

Clear, Practical and Up-to-Date 

"How to" videos showing & explaining the administrative steps needed to get paid all the money you have earned.

Guidance from Real  Industry Experience

Learn from an instructor with over 30 years of professional experience working with artists, labels, song writers, studios and more.

About

Most musicians don't know they're losing money. Not because they aren't talented — because nobody taught them where the music industry hides the money, or how to claim what's already theirs. That's the elephant. The part of the business everyone walks past because contracts are confusing, royalties are scattered across six different systems, and the people who run those systems don't make it easy to find them. The Elephant In The Music Business is 9 chapters and 47 lessons that walk you through every piece of it. The two copyrights that drive everything. Publishing — what it is, who owns it, what happens when you sign it away. Sound recordings, neighboring rights, and the SoundExchange royalty most artists don't even know exists. Sync licensing — film, TV, ads, games — with music supervisor Ashley Neumeister (Disney, CBS, Lionsgate, A&E, Netflix) explaining exactly what gets a track on screen. Split sheets. Work-for-hire. Reversion clauses. Where to register your songs, in what order, with which organizations, so every dollar you've earned actually makes it to you. One royalty registration you didn't know about can pay for this course. The math is that simple. One of my students registered with SoundExchange after week 1. Eleven days later his back-pay check covered the course twice. Another found $4,800 in unclaimed royalties in a single afternoon of audit work. This isn't a textbook. It's the version of the music industry I wish someone had handed me 30 years ago — before the bankruptcy, before the contracts I signed too fast, before the publishing I gave away without understanding what publishing actually was. Self-paced. Short videos you can come back to whenever the question shows up. Sample contracts, flowcharts, and the music industry acronym cheat sheet included. Built for songwriters, producers, artists, and managers who are done learning the hard way.

Meet Your Instructor,  Michael Surprenant

Michael has produced music for Skywalker Sound, Disney, Marvel, and Paramount. Played drums with Grammy-winning Delfeayo Marsalis and Donald Harrison. 30+ years in the music business. Worked with 250+ independent artists. He's been broke in this industry, signed contracts he shouldn't have, and learned every lesson the hard way. This course is what he'd tell 25-year-old him.

Course Curriculum

9 Chapters · 47 Lessons

  1. 1

    Introduction to the Music Business

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Welcome to The Elephant In The Music Business!

  2. 2

    Copyright

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      What Is Copyright?

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Copyright

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Public Domain

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Cover Songs

  3. 3

    Publishing

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Publishing

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Songtrust

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Subpublishing

  4. 4

    Sound Recordings

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Neighboring Rights

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Record Labels

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Distributors

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Recording Academy vs. RIAA

  5. 5

    Collaborations

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction: Why Agreements Matter

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Joint Works (Part 1)

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Joint Works (Part 2)

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Derivative Works

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Interpolations vs. Samples

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Who Gets Publishing, Who Gets Master

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Split Sheets

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Work For Hire

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Reversion Clause

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Writing Up

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Scenario 1

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Scenario 2

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Points vs. Percentages

  6. 6

    Royalties & Rights

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction: The Main Royalty Streams

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Performance Royalties

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Mechanical Royalties

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Synchronization & Master Use Licensing

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to Ashley Neumeister - Music Supervisor for Disney, CBS, Lionsgate, A&E, Netflix

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Print Royalties

  7. 7

    Where & How To Register Your Songs

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      CMOs, SongTrust & The US Copyright Office

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      The MLC (The Mechanical Licensing Collective)

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      SoundExchange

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      US Copyright Registration

  8. 8

    Resources & Final Notes

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Final Message

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      To Do List

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Sample Administration Agreement

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Sample Split Sheet - Writer

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Sample Split Sheet - Master

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Sample Split Sheet - Writer & Master

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Royalties Flowchart - Composition/Publishing

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Royalties Flowchart - Artist/Sound Recording

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Music Business Acronyms

  9. 9

    Credits

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Credits

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