MUSIC PUBLISHING

MUSIC PUBLISHERS

The primary job of today's music publisher is to link up new songs by songwriters with suitable recording artists to record them, with the intent of creating a hit record and generating large numbers of sales and airplay. Promoting such songs, supervising the collection and payment of publishing royalties for sales to their writers, placing writers' songs in other media such as movie soundtracks and commercials, and handling copyright registration and "ownership" matters for published songs, are among other jobs handled by a music publisher. 

Music Publishers are constantly seeking new songwriters and composers who write quality music to add to their books. Part of the Publishers job is to ensure that these individuals are paid for the use of their music by licensing, promoting, managing and safeguarding the copyright of their work. A songwriter/composer sells part or all of the publishing rights to their composition which entitles the publisher to print copies of the song for sale and to promote the song to record companies and artists. They do not take royalties on the 'recording' of the song. This enables the song to be licensed and performed by many artists at different times provided that permission is obtained and correct payments made to the publisher and/or writer.

A songwriter or composer is not required to be a performer to be signed by a publishing company, although many are ex-artists who are established writers or co-writers working with recording artists and the preferance is towards performing artists as it increases the possibility of the songs being used/recorded.

Writers/Artists should not expect a publisher to become involved in developing their career, whilst they may sometimes be the first to demo a band, offer creative advice, fund a tour or single release, they are not pro-active in the same manner as a Manager or Record Company, plus their main objective is to successfully obtain established artists to 'cover' material provided by the writers.

Traditionally, music publishing royalties are split fifty/fifty, with half going to the publisher (as payment for their services) and the rest going to the songwriter – or songwriters, as the case may be. Other arrangements have been made in the past, and continue to be; some better for the writers, some better for the publishers. Occasionally a recording artist will ask for a co-writer's credit on a song (thus sharing in both the artist and publishing royalties) in exchange for selecting it to perform, particularly if the writer is not well-known. Sometimes an artist's manager or producer will expect a co-credit or share of the publishing and occasionally a publisher will insist on writer's credit, these practises are listed in descending order of scrupulousness, as regarded by the music industry.

It is important that any work you produce is copyrighted prior to presenting it to a publisher, record company or any third party (which includes live performance!). Most major publishing companies tend to be owned by the same groups that own the major record companies, although there are a host of independant publishers and smaller companies who only publish artists signed to their own label. Unlike record companies who may sign an artist for a limited period, a music publisher can control and sell the same song for decades.

Besides searching for new talent the publishers spend most of their time controlling the use of their copyrights, collecting royalties and keeping their writers informed. The income due is often collected by a society like MCPS who were established to represent publishers and songwriters, protecting their rights, negotiating agreements with those who want to use recordings on CD's, cassettes, vinyl, video etc.

Presentation to Publishers
Approaching a publisher for a contract utilises the same methods as those you would use for a Record Company. They both have A&R departments (although a publishers A&R personnel are often refered to as Professional Managers) and their jobs are similar with the exception that they will also seek pure songwriters as well as performing artists/bands.

Take time to research a publisher before attempting to present your material as some cater to certain types of music whereas others have a broader spectrum of critera, either way a folk song won't get much attention from a Heavy Metal specialist publisher!

An unproven, non-performing writer is unlikely to receive a particularly lucrative deal unless they are writing with an established perfomer or has a song that the publisher feels is strong enough to pitch to an act or record company immediately, however, a deal can enable you to become a full time songwriter.

Collaborators should always agree a split and sign an agreement to avoid disputes at a later date. You should also be aware that a however good the relationship with your co-writer, if you have a disagreement and the co-writer refuses permission for use of their input into the song, you will be unable to gain a contract or perform the works until their material is removed..........usually means a re-write which may lose the initial appeal of the song!

A music lawyer/solicitors advice should be sought before signing any agreements or contracts. Click the link for an example of the Terms of A Publishing Contract.