ay in Let’s take a look at possibly one of the oldest parts of the music industry (and from many perspectives, one of the most interesting and creative), being music publishing. Music publishing started from a simple business model: printing and distributing sheet music, way back at the turn of the century. Of course, this was way before there was any radio or even a recording industry.
Way back then, music publishers would buy songs from songwriters and produce the sheet music to sell to music shops across the country. This was the way music travelled and was distributed.
During the 20’s and well into the 40’s, the business of the music publisher flourished. The music publishers initial role was to purchase and then print the sheet music of the songs they bought from songwriters. Publishers then started to employ songwriters as well. They were called staff writers.
There was a heyday of extraordinary writers working around, sprouting from Tin Pan Alley in Manhattan and Denmark Street in London. Cole Porter, Jimmy Van Huesen, Rogers and Hammerstein, Sammy Cahn and George and Ira Gershwin were all famous songwriters who made a living out of the world of writing songs for singers, performers and orchestras. As Vaudeville, Broadway and the new Hollywood film industry took off, so did the demands for great songs. Important to note here is that the music publishing business prospered as the recording industry started and took off. Recording stars like Bing Crosby desperately needed songs to record. They went to the songwriters and the publishers who controlled the songs.
This era was also about the birth of the ‘A & R’ (short for artist & repertoire’) man, who were employed by the music publishing houses before the record industry had people who would marry up the right artist with the right song, or pitch their catalogues songs to great recording acts of the time (for instance Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald), who were all looking for material to record.
Interesting to note, that the need for great songs to be recorded by performers has been part of the music industry for a very long time . Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, The Monkees, and Glen Campbell, were artists who didn’t write their own songs. They had recorded songs either pitched to them by a music publisher, or had songs written for them specifically. Glen Campbell always recorded the works of the great writer; Jimmy Webb. Jimmy wrote ‘Galveston’; ‘By the time I get to Phoenix’ and ‘Wichita Lineman’ for Glenn, which were all incredible sales and chart successes.
Throughout the 60’s, we saw the emergence of the ‘Brill Building’ pop writers. These were writers who had an approach to rock songwriting that has changed the course of music. Writers like Carole King (‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ which was recorded by The Shirelles), Neil Diamond (‘I’m a Believer’ which was recorded by The Monkees), Burt Bacharach, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (‘Hound Dog’ which was recorded by Elvis Presley), Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (‘River Deep, Mountain High’ which was recorded by Ike & Tina Turner), Neil Sedaka (‘Stupid Cupid’ which was recorded by Connie Francis) and Barry Mann & Cynthia Well (‘You’ve Lost That Lovin Feeling’ which was recorded by The Righteous Bros). The list is endless.
African American music and songwriting was emerging out of the great labels of Stax, Atlantic and of course Motown. Isaac Hayes wrote songs like ‘Soul Man’ and ‘Hold On, I’m Coming’ for Sam & Dave. Smokey Robinson, Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland all churned out the Motown hits for The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Jackson Five and Gladys Knight and The Pips. Atlantic was recording Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Ben E. King plus hundreds of others.
Songwriters and their music publishers are of course as active today as ever. Hip Hoppers, film producers, pop stars, TV talent show winners, and country music stars are all needing songs.
Today publishers are a lot more. They are talent scouts, finding songwriters to develop that talent into a viable commercial asset. Then of course, they are seeking an outlet for the talent, whether it be a recording contract, use of the song in a film or commercial, or having it recorded by another artist altogether. The business model is now to create commercial opportunities for those songs, protect those songs from infringements and to take a fee for those services.
What does a music publisher do?
Principle roles of a music publisher can be summarised as follows:
Music publishers are about acquiring the rights in music compositions (‘the work’), providing the protection mechanisms for the works, providing the administration systems, looking for commercial opportunities for the works, and collecting revenues generated by the exploitation of those commercial opportunities.
Seeking out artists, record companies and producers to have those works/songs recorded.
Developing relationships with third party users of music (film makers, television producers, advertisers, marketers, film producers, theatre producers) and encourage them to have their writer’s music especially composed by the publisher’s writers or using existing works administered by the publisher.
Music publishers are about hearing a song and looking at various ways to make money out of that song/songs:
music publishers work with intellectual property = the song, whereas record companies work in the world of a physical property = the recording of that song
music publishers are in the business of developing their property, the songwriter and the songs
music publishers are about protecting their properties or assets
music publishers are about developing relationships with other uses of music to exploit & realise opportunities for those assets
Music Publishers still employ A & R people. These people are:
discovering and developing new songwriting talent
maintaining and nurturing their existing roster of writers
seeking out and purchasing catalogue of works
Music publishers look for and administer songwriters various areas of commercial opportunity.
These areas are:
performance income
mechanical income
synchronisation income
sheet music sales
digital income
Lets discuss this further……
Performance income
Every time a song is played in public, a royalty is paid back to the original owner for that particular use. Playing music in public (or music communicated to the public) means that any time a radio is used, a playlist is connected to a sound system, a band plays a gig, a radio station plays music, a gymnasium has on an iPod, a coffee shop is playing CD’s, or a shopping centre has on their own playlist, then a performance royalty is due back to the original writers/owners.
Because writers are too busy being writers, they do not have the time to be able to collect a performance royalty from every business that plays music to the public. Fortunately, we have collection societies to do that on behalf of the writers. In Australasia, we have a society called APRA (the Australasian Performing Right Association). APRA is a non profit organisation, formed by copyright owners (publishers and writers) to administer and collect public performances of music. APRA issues licences to companies, business venues, shops, etc, to be able to have the right to play music in public. Those licence fees are collected and pooled together. Monies collected and placed in these pools is then distributed back to the members of APRA.
Every songwriter/composer should be a member of APRA. You only need to have had your songs performed, used in another way, or have a contract with a music publisher who is a member of APRA.
Mechanical Income
Mechanical income means income received from the recording of a writer’s works. This can be the backbone to the music industry. Mechanical is another word for ‘sound recording’. Mechanical royalties are the royalties paid back to the writer and their music publisher for a licence to manufacture and sell mechanical (sound) reproductions of recordings.
Every time a record company wants to record and release a song (make a recording) they must apply to the appropriate owner of the song and music publisher for a licence to make and sell that song. The publisher will then give permission for the release of the song and set down the royalty rate for that song.
The more versions of a song recorded and then sold, the more mechanical is due. Take a good example like ‘River Deep, Mountain High’; which has been recorded by over 400 different artists.
You can only imagine the mechanical income that has flowed back to the original two writers and their publisher over the years.
Really, mechanical royalties are about the way writers, composers and their music publishers get to share in the income that recording artists and their record companies make from using their material.
Synchronisation income
Whenever a song is included in a film, TV commercial, corporate video, etc, then there is a fee paid for the right for the work to be used in that film or production. This is aside from the public performance income that is also paid. For a well known song to be used in a television commercial or major film, the ‘sync’ fee can be huge.
Great songs can be used to embellish a major scene in a film or add narrative to TV or radio commercials to help sell an advertiser’s product. Well, that privilege needs to be paid for. Important to remember is that all film and television productions use music, either copyrighted music, scored or specifically composed music or production music.
Music publishers always seek the permission of the original writer or their estate before permission is given for the song to be used in a commercial or film. Once permission has been given, the publisher will then set about negotiating the sync fee on the writers behalf. Considerations are taken into account before a ‘sync’ fee is reached.
Considerations include:
the territory that the production is going to be used in
how much of the work is to be used i.e. 30 seconds, 60 seconds, etc
the media that the production will be used on i.e. TV, cinema, radio, etc
how long is the production i.e. 6 months, 12 months, etc
is the original recording to be used or will the work be re-recorded
Sheet Music income
Perhaps the oldest form of income for the publishing business, print music is still very much in demand by educators, orchestras, classical and jazz musicians, studio musicians, etc.
Cover recordings income
The true value of a great song can be realised many years after its initial date of origination, as new performers and artists record the song in a new manner or version. A song that may have been a hit many decades ago can be re-recorded by another artist and find a completely new audience, thereby giving it new life and creating further substantial income. Some classic songs from years ago can be recorded by as many as 100 new artists.
When is the right time for a writer/band to seek a publishing agreement?
It would be fair to say that if you want something done well, then get an expert to do it. Horses for courses and all that. Well, it certainly rings true for the publishing industry and when its time to have your songs ‘published’. When you feel your career is about ‘great songs’ then its time to start thinking about making some money from your craft of songwriting and securing the services of a good music publisher.
There is no set text for finding the right publisher, nor is there a template for grabbing their attention. It’s about a number of things, which are all different. Instead of thinking too much about yourself, think about the business that a publisher is in, and would they consider you as part of their already successful business. Are you going to be the right fit? Are they going to want to go into business with you and your songs? Do I have the goods, the right attitude, the kind of product, and the ability to continue to make good product for a 3 – 5 year term of an agreement?…
Remember this: publishers needs to work with songs that can give them a return on investment.
Are your songs well structured, show appeal and display a possible uniqueness? Publishers look for great words, stories and titles. They look for good arrangements. As well as commitment, professional approach and ability to develop their craft.
Getting the eye of the right publisher can be tricky, but you should be looking around and doing your own research. Get to understand the business, develop a strong music industry knowledge and get to know who’s doing what in the music publishing industry.
Working with a publisher is very much about developing a team. A team that is both creative, visionary and commercial.
Think about this: a good relationship between a music publisher and a writer can be one of the most enduring in a writer’s career. A writer’s career can cover a number of career opportunities i.e. performances, recordings, managers and shows. All of these elements can have marginal lifespans, but a song and the work of a publisher can be a LIFETIME. A writer might stop performing, but their songs can continue to prosper and generate income with the help of the publisher.
A music publisher is about connecting, protecting and exploiting (in a good way)!
Publishing contracts
Of course, there are a number of different options available to a budding songwriter or band when it comes to actually getting the agreement between yourself and publishing company. The type of publishing agreement to be offered will depend on your experience, how long you have been writing, your body of work thus far and of course, the expectations of the party presenting the contract. This would be the publishing company.
Types of agreements are:
1. The single song assignment:
This is the simplest form of a publishing deal. The writer transfers the copyright of a song to a publisher for an agreed royalty (usually 80/20 in favour of the writer).
The publisher can see a specific use for a song and will structure a deal with the writer that will be of benefit to both parties. Meaning, neither party is making a full blown commitment at this early stage.
2. Term publishing agreement:
The term ‘publishing deal’ is about commitment from both parties. The writer agrees to provide his songwriting services for an agreed term, which is usually 3 years. It is an exclusive arrangement and means that all works written in that term will be in control of the publisher. The publisher is committed to exploit those works for the term. Exploit means the publisher will endeavour to gain as much exposure for the works through promotions, synchronisation or any third party use.
Interesting to note at this stage is that a publisher can insist on a productivity clause. Meaning that the publisher can insist on a minimum number of songs per year. Royalties can be 80/20 in favour of the writer.
3. Administration deal:
Administration deals are generally offered to established writers or catalogues. A publisher will take on all of the administrative roles of a major writer or catalogs, as the administrative requirements are vast.
The publisher is not involved in any of the promotion or establishment that a new writer would require. The royalty rate is generally 85/15 or 90/10 in favour of the writer or catalogue, as the role is purely administrative, not creative.
Common clauses in publishing contracts
Royalties: the agreed payments that will be paid for exploitation of music works, usually expressed in percentages.The normal rate is 70/30 or 75/25 in favour of the writer. The absolute maximum is 80/20 unless you are a superstar writer. Above 80/20 and you cannot expect the publisher to do much in the way of exploitation or promotion because the margin isn’t there for the publisher.
The rights: period or term. For how long will the contract apply?
Territory: the specified geographical area for which the contract applies.
Retention period: the agreed period after the term expires in which the publisher continues to control the works assigned during the term.
Composer warranties: this is the composers promise (usually to establish that he is owner of the works and is legally able to assign the rights of the works to the publisher).
Publisher warranties: the publishers promise (usually that he will exploit the works to the best of his ability).
Advance: a payment made by the publisher to the composer as an advance payment of anticipated future royalties. here…