Record­ing at the Sibelius Acad­emy

Published 13.3.2025 | Updated 13.3.2025

Recording needs and scale of the project

Before making a recording plan, it is a good idea to reflect on and make it clear for yourself why you want to record music. Putting personal or professional needs into words and critically examining them helps in allocating resources to the right things. Producing a full-length album that sustains multiple listens is a laborious, long and resource-consuming undertaking. Could your needs be met with a smaller-scale recording project?

Common motives for recording

• Credibility of one’s personal career
  • You might think, “am I taken seriously as an artist if I haven’t released my own album?” Recording seems to be considered an obvious part of a musician’s portfolio. Things that are viewed as self-evident should always be questioned.
• Work sample
  • A recording may be beneficial in job search. When a potential employer is not familiar with their applicant, a work sample in a digital and easily shareable format can serve as an introduction. But could a one-take home demo produced independently serve this purpose just as well, or do you need a product with all the bells and whistles?
• Learning process
  • Playing music in a studio and constructing the end result from several different takes is very different from performing in concerts and preparing for them. If the intention is to get a taste of what recording music is like, it could be a good idea to record a single or to be featured in some other person’s recording project in the role of a session musician.
• Leaving a personal mark with one’s own sound
  • It is possible to reach a larger audience with a recording than with a single concert, although there are no guarantees for that. A recording is also a permanent mark that lives on after the musician who recorded it has passed away. However, the world’s servers are being filled up with new music all the time, and people do not spend increasingly more time listening to it (could even be the opposite). What is the weight of your own mark in the midst of the masses and the noise?
• Source of income
  • For most music creators, record sales and streaming royalties are fairly negligible. Earning money requires making musical choices that please the majority of the population so that the general public takes a liking to the music. If your music is featured on playlists compiled by Spotify, your streams may gain a surprising boost. Could music be marketed as having a certain function, e.g. being suitable as background music for relaxation, cooking or working out?

The purpose of the recording determines its scope. Different lengths and formats include, for example, single, Extended Play i.e. EP, LP, CD, double CD and digital release (with no set standards on length).

The release does not have to be your very own. In some genres (e.g. in rap music), it is common to have songs by two or more artists on the same album release. A collectively produced album release can be a more cost-effective way to get your own music out there.

Support for recording

Folk Music Recordings Series

The Department of Folk Music has its own recording series, and its releases have varied production formats. The releases are usually co-productions with a record label outside the university. The series is, above all, a communications concept, and the recordings are promoted as part of the series, helping the Sibelius Academy gain new listeners. If your recording can be categorised as “folk music”, please contact the head of the Degree Programme in Folk Music.

SibaRecords

SibaRecords is the Sibelius Academy’s own small label that distributes music digitally and through physical copies. The recordings are partly or fully funded by the Sibelius Academy. The funding comes from the budget framework for music releases and publications. The artist does not receive separate financial support for their work (recording work is part of the person’s studies or an existing employment relationship), and in general, you must apply for separate funding for performance fees. Currently, production calls are carried out every two years, in which case funding can also be used in a time period of two years. There are usually 10–20 applicants, and 3–4 of them will have their recording project produced by SibaRecords.

DIY recording in halls

Concert halls have “do-it-yourself” recording systems installed, making it possible to produce both sound and video demos. The system is easy to use, and you can find instructions for it in the form of a  Moodle course. After completing the course, you will be granted the access to use the control rooms in halls. You can ask to book a room for recording max. 3 weeks prior to your session via the Taito portal.

Form for applying for recording support

If a DIY recording session on a short notice is not suitable for your recording project, you can apply for more extensive support (space, equipment, recording engineer) using the recording support application form. A prerequisite for being granted support is that the project is related to your studies or work plan.

Music technology students can include their own recording projects in their studies. If you do not already know someone who you could ask to join your recording project, you can apply for a recording engineer’s help once per academic term using the recording support application form (check the deadline in the description text of the form). The music technology student must carry out the recording tasks at least partly as part of their studies. After the application period has ended, music technology teachers will try to find a recording engineer for the project.

Copyright

A musical work is subject to copyright, which may cover the composition, lyrics and arrangement. When a work is recorded for the first time, permission from the copyright holder is required. In general, already recorded works can be freely recorded. Arrangements do not automatically obtain copyright, and instead, you must send an application to Teosto, and their ohjelmistotoimikunta committee will assess each application to decide whether the arrangement constitutes an independent work or not. To receive royalties for your music, you must join Teosto as a member. Teosto’s one-time membership fee is €125.5. The copyright of a work remains in force for 70 years after the copyright holder’s death.

When a piece of music has been recorded, two new copyrights are formed, namely the so-called related rights:

1. Related rights of the producer i.e. master rights. The holder of the master rights has the right to decide what the recording is used for, as well as the rights to exploit the recording commercially. Unless otherwise specified, the master rights are vested in the financial producer of the recording.
2. Related rights of the performer. A permission from the performers is required for the release, commercial exploitation, and any other use of the recording. The licences granted by the performer are agreed in the agreements of the recording musician (main artist) and studio musician (other musicians).

To be eligible for remuneration for having your music tracks played in public (e.g. on the radio), you must submit a Gramex report for your recording within 1 month of its release.  You can set up a Gramex account and sign a client agreement free of charge. The report must include information on the performers and their contributions (soloist/musician/conductor) for each track. At a minimum, you need the full name of each performer and their date of birth or Gramex client number for submitting the report.

Technical terms

• Label ID: an identification code set by the record producer with sequential numbering, e.g. SRCD-1029, SRCD-1030, SRLP-1031
• EAN 13 / bar code: a personal sequential bar code assigned to the record producer.
• ISRC codes: an identifier set by the record producer for each audio track with sequential numbering.
• ISWC codes: An identifier set by Teosto for the work. This is usually not needed at any point.

If you do not have a record label, the distributor alone will probably be able to provide the necessary codes for releasing music.

Cover art

A music release always needs cover art, even when it is digital. Cover art can entail a photo, a work of fine arts, a typographical element or any other visuals. You can make the cover art yourself, ask for help from a skilled friend, order a job from a professional, or formulate a message to the Academy of Fine Arts’ student email list to let people know that you are looking for an illustrator:

kuva.opiskelijat@ uniarts.fi

Academy of Fine Arts students can include their personal projects in their optional studies.

A physical recording contains a lot of surface area for visuals:

• Front cover, back cover, possible inside covers. There are various packaging options (cf.  Digipak, for example)
• Label on the record itself
• Booklet i.e. liner notes

Releasing music

At minimum, releasing an album requires a digital music distributor. SibaRecords has an agreement with Eclipse Music Digital, and another Finnish and self-evident partner is the digital music distributor Musiikin Digitaalinen Jakelu. Eclipse Music Digital pays for a membership with the music aggregator Distro Direct and offers Distro Direct’s distribution platform to their own customers, who are charged royalty commission. Distro Direct distributes the music to all possible streaming services. When an artist’s recording business is small-scale (and low-profit), it is cheaper to make an agreement on a reasonable sales commission than to pay for a fixed and continuous customership.

• The digital distribution platform requires the uploading of the audio tracks, cover image file and metadata. The system generates a bar code (EAN) and ISRC codes for the release if they do not already exist.

If you want a physical release of the album, find a record label or just a physical distributor and sign an agreement. When making a physical copy of a release, you need to submit  an NCB application and pay a licence fee resulting from physical copies. The copyright holders (Composer/lyricist/arranger) will receive an invoice for the licence fee, administered by NCB and Teosto. As for digital releases, copyright fees are accrued from individual streams.

A digital review package will be sent to potential music reviewers. Look into which music journalists might be interested in your release and find out their contact information.

• The music review package should include:
  • Audio files or a link to streaming services
  • Text for a media release
  • Cover image
  • PDF version of the booklet (if the release includes a booklet with notes)

Contact the SibaRecords producer and the Sibelius Academy communications team concerning your release. If and when your recording project is linked to your studies or work, we may possibly market it to the public in some way on our communication platforms.

After releasing your music

One possible way to benefit financially from a recording is to negotiate its use in some AV production, i.e. to have your music synced. Finnish Sync Sauna is one possible way to bring your music to the attention of production companies.