Sheet Music Publishing at MusicaNeo: Little Tricks

The uniqueness of the music platform MusicaNeo consists in the fact that from the moment of creating a personal site to receiving the author’s fee the entire process of sheet music publishing is automatic. From time to time, our Customers Support team receives emails from composers and publishers with various questions: whether the information about a certain composition is correct, how to avoid difficulties, how to raise interest in their music. The following hints from the MusicaNeo administrators will help you with the nuances of publishing sheet music online.

1. The process of your creative work promotion is not limited to sheet music publishing. A personal site at MusicaNeo is a powerful tool for promoting your music, while your photo is a business card – it is the first thing the visitors see on the portal at the homepage, in the Community section, in the Contemporary Composers Index and at other sections of the site. More attention is paid to personal sites well filled with information. It is important to create a distinctive atmosphere and start an open, honest “conversation” with the visitors to give them the key to understanding your music.
2. Your site’s address is the place where your music lives! The more often you post this address in the Internet, the more people will learn about your creative work. Share it with friends, colleagues, your music fans – everyone who you would like to invite. It is the only way they can find their way to your place.
3. Do not underestimate the description of your sheet music. The more interesting, figurative and detailed, the better. Provide recommendations and instructions for performers, describe the process of the composition’s creation, its graphic structure, as well as events and emotions that inspired you to write this music piece – any important moment related to the creative process. You never know, which information will become an impetus for the potential customer.
4. Make sure to upload audio files and mark a few pages for the preview of your sheet music! It will significantly raise interest in new compositions that are still not known to the wider public. It also gives your composition a chance to make it to our list of Featured Sheet Music.
5. It’s better to upload audio-samples in .mp3 format. In this case it will be possible to listen to your music right in the browser with the help of the built-in music player.
6. When setting the price for a performance license, please take into consideration the fact that the licenses are sold only together with the sheet music file. It means that the price for a music score with a performing license should not be lower than the price for a music score without one (of course, except for the cases when the author aims to stimulate the demand for the licenses).
7. Pay attention to what your sheet music looks like after publication. At the moment the official file format at MusicaNeo is PDF, and the page size is A4. You can speed up the appearing of your sheet music in the catalogue by uploading the scores in this format. Do not forget to leave at least 1.5cm of blank space at the bottom of the page for the automatically added information about the author’s rights.
8. Talking about the author’s rights, it is essential to mention that any materials used in your sheet music – including texts and images – could be protected. Uploading the music scores, make sure that you own the necessary rights for publishing all materials used.
9. The catalogues of music instruments, genres and authors at MusicaNeo contain more than 35 000 names and items. Before adding something new, please check if the instrument, genre or name you need is not already in the catalogue. Let’s take care of the clarity and brevity in music categories together, so that the process of search for your music scores is easier.
10. Have you noticed an ambiguity in the title, a mistake in the sheet music or simply would like to change the price? There is no need to delete the old publication – it can be edited in your profile at any time. If there is a need to make changes in the list of authors or if you have difficulties – contact our Customers Support and we’ll correct everything as soon as time permits!

Do you still have questions regarding the publication of your sheet music at MusicaNeo platform? Visit our F.A.Q. section, send us an email or simply leave a comment under this article.

^{Photo: Music sheet by Toshiyuki IMAI, CC BY-SA 2.0, Flickr}