Does TuneCore Charge a Commission?

Dear Rich: I am an independent artist, possessing all of my songs and sound recording material. For uploading my music to Spotify and other platforms I use a music distribution company called Tunecore, which states ''Keep 100% of your sales revenue & copyrights''. If I want to have a Sync Licensing for a TV or movie of one of the music that I licensed to the TuneCore service, would I have any problem or reduction of my percentage?

According to TuneCore, the service allows "any musician to sell their songs worldwide while keeping 100% of their sales revenue." In other words, revenue from digital stores like iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, and TikTok is not commissioned by TuneCore. However, if you sign up for TuneCore Publishing Administration -- a separate arrangement that covers publishing and sync royalties -- TuneCore acquires exclusive synchronization rights and the company takes a commission of 20% for fees and royalties related to synchronization uses. That's in addition to a $75 setup fee, and a 15% commission from publishing and performance royalties. In summary, if TuneCore distributes your music to online stores, you get 100% of revenue, but if you opt for non-sales publishing/licensing revenue, TuneCore applies a commission. (We discuss the various publishing income sources in this blog entry.)