Protected: Music Publishing
“On the other side of fear, we fly.”
-Decades ago, music publishers made a living by printing copies of sheet music and placing them in local music stores or “five and dime” for sale to the public.
-Today, of course few families spend their evenings singing songs around a piano, and the business of music publishing has responded to the changes and challenges wrought by radio, records, and a parade of ever changing technologies- the new means of exposing music to the public.
-The heart of modern day music publishing lies in the marketing and administration of rights to songwriters’ compositions.
-For the contemporary music publisher, success is keyed directly to how well the publishing company exploits music and generates mechanical royalties (from recordings), performance royalties (from broadcast or live performance), and other licensing fees (such as using an already existing piece of music in a film or other visual work).
– Publishing is lucrative and a steady source of income that can bring in revenue long after a hit song has faded from the airwaves (or even doesn’t “hit at all).
-“Keep your publishing” has become a mantra for copyright holders all over the world, and just about everyone in the performing and recording fields is involved in music publishing in one way or another.
Types of Publishers
-Publishing companies can be publicly owns, artist/writer owned, or owned or administered by managers, lawyers, or even songwriters’ relatives or friends.
-Some publishers are “full service,” with huge catalogs covering a broad range of music styles.
-Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, BMG
-Others restrict their business to single genres, such as jazz or classical music, or deal only in educational, religious, or printed publications.
-Not long ago, there were as many as 30 major publishers, today there are only a handful of majors (above).
Major Company/Publishers
-Prior to 60’s and 70’s, older music publishers included a wide range of styles (classical, educational, movie, pop, and show music). Today, few major publishers are still active in multiple genres.
-Some are affiliated with record labels
-Some major media companies as well
-Major publishers provide a “full line” of services such as printing and selling copies of sheet music, “plugging” songs to performing artists, and developing long-term relationships with writers.
-Each major firm has developed its own corporate structure, see figure 6.1 on page 91.
**2 main types**
(1) Record Company Affiliates (example: Sony and Sony ATV, BMG)
-Publishers affiliated with major labels generally have their own staff and budgets and operate independently of their affiliated labels, although it is not unusual for a label and its affiliated publisher to negotiate with an artist/writer simultaneously.
(2) Independent Publishers (examples: Pen Music Group, Carlin)
-Firms not affiliated with either a multinational publishing organization or a record label.
-Range from size from one-person operation to firms controlling multi-million dollar catalogs.
-Many independents are members of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP).
-Some only perform basic admin duties in return for 10 to 15% of pub income they administer (Kobalt).
-Responsibilities: registering new copyrights with PRO’s and mechanical societies, licensing the use of copyrights, collecting and tracking royalties and royalty accounting.
-Admin don’t typically exploit songs, artists, artists are usually self-promoting.
Artist Owned Companies
-Many recording artists who write their own material form their own publishing company.
-Why: They see no need to hand over the publishing income, esp when they are catalysts for the success of the works in marketplace.
-Royalties to publisher of copyrights accrues from record sales, so artists, usually with assistance from managers and attorneys, set up publishing companies to keep control over their music and revenue streams.
-Once an artist achieves international success, they can arrange a subpublishing deal abroad usually negotiated by their attorneys or admin publisher.
Writer Owned Companies
-A large number of very small publishing operations are owned by individual writers.
-These firms are set up either by writers who want to control their copyrights from the beginning or by writers unable to get their music accepted by labels or other publishers.
-Some writer owned firms have been established by composers who were previously under contract to a publisher, but came to believe their material was not receiving sufficient promotion to justify the loss of a percentage of income and a degree of control required in a publishing deal. (See figure 6.2 on page 93)
Educational Publishing
-Publishers who limit catalogs to music intended for use by students and schools
Specialty Publishers
-Publishers who limit catalogs to one kind of music
Concert Music
-Publishers who handle classical music (opera, symphony, ballet, recital, choral, religious)
-Important for scores, keyboards, strings, solo instruments, voice
Print Licenses
-Few popular music publishers in US print, market or distribute printed editions of their copyrights, they license to another company.
-Most print deals provide that the license (the print firm) will bear the full costs of preparing, printing, and distributing the printed edition. The licensee then pays the licensor (the publisher controlling the rights) a royalty on sales, often in the range of 12.5% to 20% of wholesale price. In past major pubs would prepare printed for higher chunk.
Subpublishing
-The foreign exploitation of copyrights via a license from the original publisher is referred to as subpublishing.
-Many American publishers receive a large percentage of their income from foreign exploitation of their American catalogs.
Subpublishing Agreements
-Some large US companies have branch offices in foreign countries that fill the subpublishing role for their affiliated publishers, functioning much like the American parent firm.
-An independent American Publisher lacking branch offices abroad may seek out licenses in those territories. Those subpublishers may be foreign independents or affiliates of multinational companies that are seeking outside catalogs in addition to their own.
-Independent publishers lacking resources to set up subpublishing deals can also chose to retain US licensing firm, the Harry Fox Agency (now part of SESAC) to meet their basic needs for services in foreign territories through the agency’s reciprocal agreements with foreign societies.
At-Source Deals Versus Receipt-Basic Deals
-In choosing a subpublisher, the original publisher (the company to which the writer originally assigned the copyrights in the US) can make a deal with independent subpublishers in various territories or with a multinational subpublisher for a group of territories.
-At-Source Deals: more favorable to writer/original pub b/c NO deductions by the subpublisher (b/c original pubs have wholly-owned affiliates in foreign territories)
-The pub and writer’s share is calculated on income earned in the foreign territory or “at the source.”
-The original publisher (who accounts to the writer) gets paid as if it were in the country where the money is earned without any deductions by the subpublisher. The writer in turn, gets his or her 50% share (or more, depending on deal) of the income earned in foreign territory, before deductions for subpublishers are made, no matter what money is eventually remitted to the US. -In an At-Source deal, if $100 is earned in Australia, the writer’s share would be 50%.
-Receipts-Basis Deals: (common w/independent subpubs)
-Writer/pub shares based on income received by pub in US, AFTER deductions to subpub have been made.
-If that same $100 is earned in Australia under this type of agreement and the publisher had a 75/25 deal with the Australian subpublisher, the subpublisher gets $25, the American publisher would receive $75, and the writer’s share would be $37.50 (50% of $75)
-Typical agreements=80-90% to original pub, 10-20% to licensee
-However, indie subpubs often work harder to get covers & synch licenses, than do the branch offices of multinational conglomerates, so balances itself out.
Administration (page 96)
-Royalty Dept.: managed by an accountant or other finance person who supervises assistants handling the $.
-Copyright Dept.:
- Conducting Title Searches (looking up info of songs – ie Public Domain, co-authors) CLEARS
- Registering claims of copyrights.
- Recording transfers of copyright ownership. (writer to publisher)
- Forming a liaison w/ The Harry Fox Agency to administer mechanical licenses
-Harry Fox is a provider of rights management and collector and distributor of mechanical license fees on behalf of music publishers in the United States.
-Sometimes publishers choose to issue their own mechanical licenses through American Mechanical Rights Agency (AMRA).
- Keeping track of subsisting copyrights (termination dates, renewal, extensions)
-Legal & Business Affairs: lawyers w/ expertise in both copyright law & music pub (also tax law, artist mgmt., & the recording industry)
-Print Publishing: After copyright is cleared and author is signed to a contract, music must go through a number of additional operations before it can be distributed and sold. Many firms group these activities such as printing, warehousing, inventory control, and shipping, under an operations department.
-Distribution: trail goes from Pub–>Print Pub–>Rack Jobber (middleman between manufacturer & retailer)–>Retailer–>Consumer
-Now w/ Internet, it can also go Web–>Consumer
-Creative Dept.:
- Discover/Sign new writers.
- Pair Writers w/ co-writers/producers.
- Persuade Artists/Prods to record writer’s music (pitches).
- Secure Synch Licenses.
- Find ancillary uses of copyrights (jingles, branding, etc.).
-Acquiring New Material: NEED to sign writers b/c they can’t manufacture their own material
-Song Acceptance Criteria:
- Does the demo hit you right off the bat? (first 8 bars)?
- What has composer done lately (have they charted)?
- Which artists might record song/which prods will prod?
- Does material fill current need in pub’s catalog?
-Entire Catalog Acquisitions also occur
-Music Demos
