I know that your music is supposed to be protected on platforms like soundcloud, there are also some websites that offer copyright services for a fee so that if your music gets stolen and you find out about it you can go to court and attest that this was your music in the first place.
You could also share only 30sec extracts.

Thank you👍

I don't have any actual experience with a situation like this, but how I see it is like this:
I share my music for feedback. No one cares.
If someone does, that means my music is good enough for someone to steal. This is a good place to be in. If that's the case, I will probably have the resources to claim anything they might have stolen from me.
The contrary! They might be doing you a favor and providing you with free marketing!

In the US you have an automatic copyright as long as you have it down somewhere with a date stamp like in a DAW or even a voice memo. I have also heard that people don't really steal music. If your music is good enough that people want to steal it take it as a compliment then wait until it becomes a big hit and then sue them for a lot of money!😃

Unfortunately some people in the industry rip off music all the time and get good at doing it in a way that doesn't infringe copyright - close but not close enough kinda thing. And sometimes if the music is commissioned, people are actually asked to copy but not copy references so to speak. So unfortunately you can't really avoid that to be honest. And yeah, if your track is good enough for people to want to rip it off, then you're doing really well! That means you hold a lot of promise, and your ability to write/produce songs is so good others want to copy it! And that is a skill that is worth more than a single song - because that skill can lead to many more songs, working with other artists etc.

Also there's SO much music out there, even if you're not trying to copy someone, it's very likely someone else will stumble on something similar on their own - at least some aspects of it. There's apparently 100 000 new spotify tracks uploaded everyday https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&q=how+many+spotify+tracks+are+uploaded+every+day
So originality isn't necessarily what makes someone listen to your track rather than someone else's, it's more so the marketing and your connections and your listeners etc... which takes a while to build up. It's pretty rare to just release a track that's really good and then have that kickstart your career.

In terms of others just taking your recorded track and using it, you can ask it to be taken down etc - or to be credited. If you've uploaded it to bandcamp/soundcloud or distributed it and it's on spotify, itunes, etc, then it'll be clear that you released it first.

So like some of the other comments said... don't worry so much about this. If it's a blatant rip, you should be able to do something about it if you want to - just save multiple sessions and versions in your DAW - maybe upload old versions to dropbox or google drive etc - that way it's also dated.

If someone posts your song on YouTube for instance, and you can prove that it's yours (for instance if you've previously released it through distribution etc), you can ask it to be taken down, or you can contact the person and ask to be credited (perhaps the better option as it could be good promotion for your music).

But otherwise, I think you risk more holding yourself back from not releasing your music than the risk of what happens if someone copies it.

So... success in the industry as I understand it is not so much about how awesome your track is - it has to be good of course - I think it's more so about your connections, your network, your relationships, your ability to create what people want and collaborate well, do the work, your ability to promote yourself etc.

In terms of where to share, you can share on soundcloud, bandcamp, or just go through a distributor to get your stuff on itunes, spotify, etc. Here's an article on the different music distributors: https://aristake.com/digital-distribution-comparison/

Hope this helps at least a bit!! Goodluck (:

If you eliminate all the risk you also eliminate all the opportunity. Stuff gets stolen. Mostly it's not worth it to go after unless the song becomes a hit. If it becomes a hit then your label or publisher can sue for you based on the revenue that hit record makes.

But you do need to keep your evidence & notes from writing the song. It's not that hard to trip up a liar on the witness stand if they claim they wrote it but can't describe the process. Somewhere their story's going to break down if they are lying & the contrasting story of the real author will make sense.

It's almost impossible to describe the song writing process unless you went through it. The details will destroy you every time. Plus the song writer would have had to have overcome various obstacles. Comparing the two testimonies would reveal a thief if properly questioned.

If you don't share it, what's the point? If people listen and get inspired, you've won!

I would worry more about improving your craft and actually finding an audience long before you start worrying about anyone stealing your work. The internet is oversaturated with music, unless the stuff you're writing and producing is S tier you really ought not create unnecessary anxiety over something that will in all likelihood not happen.

Thank youu alll!! I appreciate your comments! 👍

use a distributor like distrokid or cd baby (among others) they will take care that your music will be shared and protected at the same time

Don't worry. I'm still at the stage where I'm not happy enough with my work to share it. So the fact that you're now ready to risk it being stolen because you're ready to share it - is a great milestone. One that I hope to reach within the next 3 months. Best hopes for solving the risk problem!