Music Publishing 2, What do they do?

1. Music Publishing Pt 2
Why you need a publisher?
www.musicstudentinfo.com
Chris Baker

2. We will see:
• What they do
• Why it's all about the song

3. Music Publishers What they do ?
 Collect money
 Publishing companies exist to administer the rights of
songwriters and composers.
 They will collect mechanical and performance royalties
when the songs are recorded or performed and pay
them on to the composer.
 For this service they take a share of the money,
according to the terms of the writer's contract with them.

4. This is very similar to what the MCPS and PRS do
 This is similar to the functions that these two societies
perform.
 In fact, this part of a publisher's job is exactly the same.
 Most publishers are members of these societies and will
use them to collect their clients' money to some extent.
 That means they pay commission to them in the same
way that you as a writer member would - and then
deduct their own commission on top.

5. So if publishers are only collecting money
through societies that you can join
yourself, and charging you for it, why
bother ?

6. Music Publishers Selling Songs
• They will actively sell your songs.
• They work to place your songs with major recording
artists - something that's very hard to do on your
own.
• They will often pay you advances on your publishing
royalties to keep you going until your career takes
off.

7. Music Publishing Artist Development
• Publishers deal with • They may be more
songs rather than willing to help a writer
recordings of them, develop creatively.
which gives them a • That can be as simple
rather different view of as giving you advice but
the world from record it can extend to putting
companies. you with co-writers to
• They can afford to take a improve your song
longer term approach to writing skills
an artist's career • Or paying for studio
because they don't have time or touring costs.
recording, manufacturing
and marketing costs to
recover.

8. Music Publishers Chasing Money 1
• They will fulfill a function • You don't need a
called 'royalty tracking' - publisher to query
making sure that you've payments with the
been paid everything that collection societies but
you are due. you may need some help
keeping track of usage.

9. Music Publishers Chasing Money 2
 If you can't spot potential errors, then you can't query
them especially if your songs are being used heavily
abroad.
 A collection society will simply pass on the money
collected on your behalf.
 A major publisher will have a representative who will
check that the money matches the likely usage of the
song and chase it up if not.
 A smaller publisher will have an agreement with
companies abroad - known as a sub-publisher - who
will do this for them.

10. Music Publishing The Song's Importance
• Most writers think of their songs as their offspring, so
words like "exploiting" don't sit too comfortably but it's by
exploiting your rights as a creator - and therefore the
original copyright owner - of music that you can make a
tidy living as a musician.

11. Music Publishing The Real Money
• The copyrights in songs  After a group has fallen
are where the real money apart the songs don't go
in the music business away.
lies. Spins on the radio &  A share in a song that
in clubs, gigs, ringtones becomes a classic and is
and jukeboxes in pubs all always around on
generate money for compilation albums and
songwriters. the radio can set up a
writer with a healthy
income for life.

12. Songwriter A Sustained Career
• The writing talent remains, too.
• Many writers carry on creating songs for others to
perform long after the spotlight has gone off to point at
someone else.

13. Performers as Writers
•Most writers start off as writer-performers.
•We've had lots of quite successful writers that
started off in bands that went astray. If you get
dropped by a record company and can't get another
deal, that's it. You're over as a recording artist.
•Whereas as far as we're concerned, if your career
as a performing artist ends, that doesn't necessarily
mean your career as a writer has ended.”

14. The End!