So you have written a new song
What should you do next?
First you need to understand music copyright and publishing and it's a tough nut to crack
Copyright is the most important asset you have as a musician and
understanding its concepts can turn around your career and make you more money
Publishing is the act of commercially leveraging music of composers and songwriters
and getting them paid for it. This can be done by writers themselves or by an assigned representative, a publisher
There are three basic types of publishers. The first is described as an administrator
usually an individual or small company
They provide a service for a small commission to the songwriter by handling all aspects of the registration
licensing and collection processes
However, they do not normally pay advances and usually do not offer any creative services
The next level of publishers are called
Independents
An independent offers the same and administration services as an administrator
But also provides creative services and offers competitive advances to songwriters
Their client lists would usually be made up of mid-level artists plus talented songwriters and producers
Most big stars align themselves with the third type of publisher called a major
Major publishers like Universal Warner Chappell, Sony, BMG and EMI
pay millions of dollars in advances to the song writers and artists in order to maintain their market share
Publishers are incentivized to exploit the works they represent because they receive a share of the copyright or control over it
the share attributed to the publisher varies in different domains with a standard in the USA being 50%
of the composition and, for example, 33.33% in the Netherlands
What does a music publisher actually do?
Music publishers are responsible for four basic areas of importance to a songwriter
Those areas are:
Song Registration
Licensing, Royalty Collection and Creative Matters
The registration process can sometimes be a boring and tedious job that only a publisher could enjoy
The publisher usually informs performance rights organizations about the new song and relays all the relevant information to them
Performance rights societies provide a service by monitoring collecting and paying out performance royalties to publishers and songwriters
Every country has at least one Performing Rights Society
Your publisher also issues licenses for any use of your song so you can later be paid through royalties
The royalties you received can be: performance
mechanical and
synchronization royalties
We will be explaining the types of royalties in separate videos
Song registration and licensing allows the publisher to collect the proper amount of royalties from all sources
Publishers can often spend a large part of their time attempting to pitch the song to advertising agencies
music supervisors who work in film and TV and video game producers
the creative energies of a publisher can bring untold new opportunities to songwriters both artistically and
financially
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