Quick Answer: Collecting Music Royalties as an Independent Band
Zac and The New Men realised they might be losing money without knowing. Collecting music royalties felt scattered and easy to ignore. Melody Rights changed that. It showed them every income path their songs touch and keeps it all organised while they get on with the creative work that moves their career forward.
Start collecting the royalties your music is already earning. Join Melody Rights.
A Band That Found Its Sound Long Before It Understood Its Royalties
Some bands take years to find their chemistry. Zac and The New Men found it in lockdown. They were college students with nowhere to be and nothing certain ahead, so they filled the empty hours by jamming and experimenting. Out of that strange, suspended time came a fuzzy, crunchy alt rock sound that felt bigger than the room it was born in.
When life reopened, the world moved quickly for them. BBC Radio One picked up their tracks. They stepped onto stages that many independent artists only dream about. The Royal Albert Hall. The Troubadour in London. Spaces where the ceiling feels high and possibility feels close.
To ground the story in Zac’s own voice, we asked him to describe those early days.
Q: Can you start by telling us how Zac and The New Men formed?
Zac: “We came together during the Covid lockdown when we were all in college, just jamming and hanging out. Since then, we’ve had multiple BBC Radio One plays and played venues like the Royal Albert Hall and the Troubadour London.”
From the outside, everything looked like progress. The shows were growing. The traction was real. The sound was cutting through. Yet behind the scenes, something wasn’t keeping pace. The royalties. The registrations. The rights. All the quiet, invisible work that decides whether a band actually earns from the music people love.
Like many independent artists, they were moving forward on stage while standing still in the admin. And without realising it, they were leaving money behind.
Why Independent Bands Miss Royalties Without Realising It
Royalty confusion rarely feels dramatic. It creeps in quietly. A song here. A live session on radio. A video that begins to travel. Each step feels exciting, but underneath those moments sits a system no one teaches young bands how to navigate.
This is where their experience mirrors thousands of others.
In the bands own words:
“Before Melody Rights we’d only briefly heard of sync licensing and neighbouring rights. We didn’t know where to start.”
The industry gives you the stage but not the map.
That is why so many bands unknowingly leave money behind.
Eventually you reach the point where the confusion costs more than the music itself.
If you want a simple breakdown of the different royalty types artists often overlook, read our guide on the difference between master and publishing royalties.
What Attracted Them to Melody Rights
At some point the admin becomes too scattered to ignore. For Zac and The New Men, that moment arrived when they saw how many royalty paths existed outside their distributor.
Q: What first attracted you to Melody Rights?
Zac: “It handled everything altogether in one platform without having to follow up and track down all of your royalties. It all just comes into one place. Distributors barely do anything when it comes to royalties, and we didn’t realise there were so many different paths.”
Most music royalty companies only handle one piece of the puzzle. Melody Rights handles them all.
This is why Melody Rights exists. It is not another distributor. It is a rights-first system built to collect income from every platform, society and usage type an artist qualifies for.
If you want to understand the registration steps most artists miss, read how to register your music properly.
Letting Admin Run Quietly in the Background
Independent bands do not need more admin. They need time. They need headspace for writing, rehearsing, touring and recording.
Q: How has Melody Rights changed the way you approach royalties?
Zac: “It is so simple to upload and let it work in the background as you get on with being creative, booking tours and practising. Which is the stuff you really want to be doing.”
This is what royalty management for bands should feel like. Not another chore. Not a spreadsheet. A quiet system that collects your income while you move on with the parts of music that matter.
Discovering Income They Didn’t Know Existed
Most independent artists assume the money they see in their distributor dashboard is everything they earned.
It is rarely true.
Q: Has the platform helped you uncover income or rights you weren’t aware of?
Zac: “Yeah. We didn’t realise how many different avenues there were for royalties and using Melody Rights has opened our minds to so many other platforms which we didn’t know about before.”
For many bands, this is the turning point.
The moment they realise the issue isn’t low streams.
It is missing registrations.
Where Royalty Income Slips Through The Cracks
Here is a simple snapshot of the royalty paths Zac and The New Men had never encountered before. Most independent bands are in the same position.
| Royalty Type | Who Collects It | Why Bands Miss It |
| Publishing royalties | PROs like PRS for Music | Bands assume distributors handle publishing |
| Mechanical royalties | MLC (USA) and MCPS (UK) | Requires separate registration unless you have a publisher |
| Neighbouring rights | PPL | Many artists do not know this exists |
| YouTube Content ID | YouTube | Not automatic unless the track is registered with a Content ID partner |
| Sync royalties | Publishers, sync libraries and agents | Often viewed as something only labels handle |
For a deeper guide on how these payments work together, see how to make money as an independent artist.
When Zac and The New Men joined Melody Rights, they realised the problem wasn’t that income wasn’t being generated. The problem was that none of these streams were registered in the right places, which meant the money had nowhere to go.
A Workflow That Actually Fits How Bands Work
Q: What has the onboarding and upload process been like?
Zac: “Uploading is super simple and way less hassle than going to multiple sites. Everything is handled by the team. The workflow is intuitive.”
Royalty admin should not feel like a maze. It should feel like a single, clear path.
A Human Team When Something Goes Wrong
Q: Have you had any issues while uploading?
Zac: “There was one small technical problem but the team fixed it the same day. We were back on our feet and the upload was successful.”
Most platforms hide behind automated emails.
Melody Rights does not.
How Melody Rights Compares to Other Royalty Platforms
Artists compare notes all the time. It is how bands figure out what actually works. So we asked Zac how Melody Rights felt next to the platforms they had used before.
Q: How has Melody Rights compared to other services you’ve used?
Zac: “Melody Rights was super fast to set up an account. Super fast to upload and get a few details in and it’s a great experience. It keeps up to standards, if not above, compared to other platforms.”
Speed matters when you are a band juggling uni, jobs, gigs and travel.
Clarity matters even more.
Most royalty platforms feel like admin first and music second. Melody Rights flips that. It gives bands the structure without the weight of another complicated tool.
This is why so many independent artists use Melody Rights alongside their existing distributor. One handles delivery. One handles everything that actually gets you paid.
Melody Rights is the only rights-first platform that brings publishing, neighbouring rights, mechanical royalties and sync opportunities into one clear dashboard for independent artists.
Staying Independent and in Control
For a band making original music, the rights matter as much as the songs. Without control, the income disappears before it has a chance to grow.
Q: How important is it to stay in control of your rights and earnings?
Zac: “Melody Rights helps us maintain that control and creativity over our music whilst getting it into the world in many different avenues.”
Independent artist royalties only work long-term when artists keep ownership and clarity.
A Tool Other Bands Talk About
Q: Do you feel Melody Rights helps independent bands stand out?
Zac: “Yes. When we chat to other bands about royalties, Melody Rights comes up. It becomes a talking point and a tool other independent artists want to know about.”
Understanding your royalties builds confidence.
Other artists can hear it in your voice.
What’s Next for the Band
Zac and The New Men are recording new music through December and January, releasing more live footage over Christmas and booking their spring tour. Their creative momentum is growing. Now their royalty admin can grow with them rather than behind them.
Find Zac and The New Men
Follow the band on all platforms at @zacandthenewmen for new releases, live footage and updates from their upcoming tour.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zacandthenewmen/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zacandthenewmen
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpKdNyjlKz2PnWBGdOzLqsQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zacandthenewmen/?locale=en_GB
Before and After Melody Rights
Before
A scattered workflow
Missed royalties
Multiple dashboards
Confusing registrations
Time lost to admin
After
One dashboard
Clear royalty paths
Uploads in minutes
Human support
More time for the music
Advice From Zac and The New Men
Q: What advice would you give to other bands thinking about joining Melody Rights?
Zac: “If you’re unsure what royalties are out there or you want more time to be creative, then Melody Rights is a great option.”
Three words summed up their experience.
Efficient. Time saving. Game changer.
Start collecting the royalties your music is already earning. Join Melody Rights today.
These are the questions Zac and The New Men had to learn the hard way, and they are the same questions most independent bands ask once they start collecting music royalties properly.
FAQs: Collecting Music Royalties as an Independent Artist
How do independent bands collect music royalties?
By registering with royalty organisations and making sure every track is accounted for. This includes PRS for publishing royalties, PPL for neighbouring rights and the MLC for mechanical royalties. Melody Rights keeps these registrations organised so bands stop losing income.
Do distributors collect everything for you?
No. Distributors are not music royalty companies. They deliver your music to streaming platforms but do not manage publishing royalties, neighbouring rights, mechanical royalties or sync income.
Is it common for bands to miss royalties?
Very. Most bands think their streaming dashboard shows the full picture, but without proper registrations radio play, background music, sync usage and live performances often go unpaid.
Is Melody Rights a royalty management platform for bands?
Yes. It centralises rights, registrations and royalty flows so independent artists can collect income from every source in one place.
