Let’s set the record straight: if you think music collaborations or “features” are reserved for big artists, think again. Collaboration is common no matter the level of success and fame. In fact, the music industry subsists on creative collaborations and connections.
Take, for example, J. Cole’s Dreamville, which brought together a number of renowned producers and artists of different backgrounds and levels of fame to a studio in Atlanta for a few days of non-stop grind and music-making. Artists and producers were hopping on each other’s songs, providing verses, and recording vocals for each other all day, every day. The end result was an unforgettable album, Revenge of the Dreamers III, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019 BET Awards, and Best Rap Album at the 2020 Grammys.
There are different degrees of collaboration to choose from.
Firstly, you can request a feature with an artist that has a big following. These can be hard to come by because bigger artists are much more selective with their work, and can charge a hefty price on top of receiving a cut of the royalties. If you do get to work with such an artist, however, your numbers will evidently skyrocket as their audience visits your profiles to check out what you do.
Secondly, you could associate yourself with a musician whose community is equal in number to yours. The interest of a feature here lies in the type of audience that follows the artist with whom you collaborate. You can choose whether to work with someone whose demographic is similar to yours to grow your following, or with someone who makes very different music from you to get your name out there. It goes without saying that not every fan who listens to your feature will become a new fan, but by collaborating with someone, you are inherently growing your visibility.
Finally, you can decide to collaborate with an artist with a smaller audience. Beyond the fact that your partner (or you) can become even more successful in the future, it is important to state that there is no wrong audience. Every person who will listen to your music is a potential future supporter. So don’t overlook anything or anyone.
By appearing on another artist’s song, you are providing a service, and there is money involved in this. There are two ways to earn money from features.
You can charge a fee for every feature you do. This means you get paid upfront and right away. This also means, however, that you may have to give away your cut of the royalties on the masters (sound recording), as you were already compensated for your work.
You do not charge a fee, but take a cut of royalties. A song’s royalties are split into two categories: composition (publishing), and sound recording (masters). Pub splits cover who created the song, and masters splits cover who performed and promoted it (artists and labels). No matter what, if you wrote any lyric or produced any sound on the song, you are entitled to your fair share of publishing royalties. However, if you charged a fee for your feature, you were already paid for your performance, so by industry standard, you will not get a cut of the masters unless you are a very big artist.
Note: Each type of royalty pays differently. Writers (those with publishing splits) are paid better from radio play, while artists (and labels) are paid better on streaming platforms. If you don’t have a radio hit, try to push for a cut of the masters.
It’s as easy as sending them a DM. If you know them personally, it can be a simple, “wanna hop on this song?”. Don’t hesitate to reach out to artists around you on social media and send them an idea or proposal. For bigger artists, you may have to contact their team instead. Do so by email to avoid getting your messages lost in their social media traffic.
From there simply figure out the best way to either record together or virtually, file share, and agree on splits. Voila! You’ve just gotten a feature! Check out more collaborative do’s and don’ts in our other article.
