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Publish or Perish?

Jun 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Mary Cosola

The music industry's business end is not about art; it is about acquiring and maintaining power — power to make deals, power to make money, and power to make or break stars. For every Clive Davis, David Geffen, and Jimmy Iovine you read about, a hundred lesser-known people are generating the currency that makes the industry go round — the songs. Without songs, there is no music industry. The songs don't hold the power, though; that power lies with the publishers, the people who can get the songs to those who matter.

Music publishing doesn't attract the kind of mainstream press that heads of record companies or famous artists do. For artists just starting out in the business, recording contracts and artist advances are usually familiar concepts, but the ins and outs of music publishing often remain an enigma. Take a look at the following basics of publishing and how they fit in to your plans for your music.

WHAT IS PUBLISHING?

You are probably familiar with the term publishing as it applies to printed materials such as books, magazines, and newsletters: when something is printed and distributed, it is published. That simple concept also applies to song publishing, although a song does not have to be in print to be considered published. It merely needs to be composed and either notated or recorded. However, the simplicity ends there. To understand more about music publishing and its importance, you need to know how it fits in to the music industry's general structure.

Songs generate revenue in many ways, and the two you may be familiar with are mechanical royalties and performance royalties. Mechanical royalties are paid when a song on a CD or other medium is sold; performance royalties are paid when a song is played on radio or otherwise broadcast — by being played, for example, in a nightclub or a restaurant. Those royalties are split between the songwriter and the publisher, and the percentage each receives depends on the deal the two entities have.

When you sign a publishing deal, you are handing the publisher part ownership of your songs. In exchange for that, the publisher works on getting your songs recorded by major artists, placing songs on soundtracks and in commercials, and finding other projects that need music. That's not to say that you must sign with a publisher. You are perfectly free to act as your own publisher; many artists do. As you will see, though, being your own publisher is not necessarily the easy way out.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

When you start writing and recording songs, you need to address a few simple but crucial legal issues immediately, regardless of who handles your publishing. First, copyright your work, which is easily done through the U.S. Copyright Office (for contact information for the USCO and other resources, see the sidebar “Getting in Touch”).

To register a song, file a Form PA; to register the recording of a song, file a Form SR. If you wrote the song and recorded it, you may file for both copyrights on a Form SR, without filing a Form PA as well. The fee for copyright registration is $30, but you may register more than one song at a time by calling it a “collective work.” You can download all the forms from the Copyright Office Web site.

You will need to join a performing-rights society, such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. Once you have some copyrighted tunes under your belt, you are eligible for membership in any of those organizations, but you can join only one. Performing-rights societies' main function is to collect and distribute performance royalties. Those societies also offer excellent resources to members, including regional showcases and educational workshops.

WHO NEEDS IT?

Now the big question: why would any songwriter give away part of his or her most valuable commodity? For many artists, the trade-offs are many and varied. When you sign with a publisher, you gain access to numerous entertainment industry contacts. In short, publishers are responsible for selling the music they represent. They also monitor royalty payments and deal with other legal issues surrounding the use of the songs in their catalogs.

You do

For musicians who are primarily songwriters and desire to have their work recorded by well-known artists, a good publisher is a must. Trying to peddle songs directly to producers is pretty much an exercise in futility unless you're a well-known writer. Many of the biggest names in pop, country, R&B, and adult contemporary music do not write their material, which means many record executives and producers spend a lot of time trying to match their artists with the right songs. They often turn to publishers for help in finding them.

If you write and perform your music, you may not be that interested in having other artists cover your songs. You could, however, want much wider exposure for your music, in which case you should consider working with a publisher. Those pros have daily contact with music supervisors for film and television, game producers, and advertising executives. Like the record industry, those areas of the entertainment business are hungry for music. Often, they use the artists' performances of the songs, which means money and exposure for you and your songs.

Even if you don't have lofty goals of worldwide fame, a publisher can be a good partner in your music career. If you don't care to learn many of the legal and business aspects of selling your music, consider teaming with a publisher — let him or her handle the business so that you can focus on your craft.

You don't

If you are mainly interested in writing, recording, producing, and selling your music yourself, you don't have to use a publisher. You may opt to do so for the reasons noted previously; otherwise you can handle it yourself. The positive side of being your own publisher is that you get to keep the songwriter share and the publisher share of the royalties. The downside is that 100 percent of the royalties you earn might not add up to what 50 percent of the royalties for a better-selling song would have earned if your music had reached a wider audience.

You might relish the business end of making and selling music, in which case acting as your own publisher could be a good experience. It is a business, though, so you'll need to approach it as such.

First, name your publishing company and fill out a fictitious business name statement or a DBA (“doing business as”) form with your county. Then educate yourself about the fine points of publishing. For example, how will you collect your royalties? The mechanical licenses for your songs, which make mechanical royalties possible, can be issued through the Harry Fox Agency. In addition to issuing mechanical licenses, Harry Fox also collects and distributes the mechanical royalties and conducts audits to be sure the proper amounts have been paid. The agency takes about 4.5 percent of what it collects.

You also need to register as a music publisher with your performing-rights organization in addition to registering as a writer. By doing so, you can be sure that you get both the artist share and the publisher share of the performance-rights royalties.

Finally, if you're interested in selling your songs, industry executives and music supervisors need to hear them. As complicated as publishing's legal details can be, the song peddling is the hard part. It's like trying to get a record deal on your own: you need to network with industry executives and get that all-important word-of-mouth recommendation that will open doors for you and your music. That is tough to accomplish if you're an unknown.

Open options

Now that you've read the pros and cons of using a third-party publisher versus the DIY approach, here's another option: be your own publisher when your catalog is relatively small, and then sign with a publishing house later in your career. You can opt to sign with a publisher for your entire back catalog (if you own the publishing rights) and future songs, for only the back catalog, or for just the songs written from the point of the publishing agreement forward. Many publishers also offer single-song deals. If you have a composition that is appropriate for certain projects, they will take the publishing rights for just that song.

FINDING ONE

Finding and signing with a publisher can be as tough a task as getting a record deal. You need to produce quality demos of your songs and put together a press kit. Most important, you need a solid vision of what you want to accomplish by signing with a publisher. If you want to be a songwriter for the stars, you should have an idea of what type of artists would be perfect to sing your songs. If you want to write for motion pictures, you should know what type of scene or setting would be a good match for each of your songs.

In short, a publisher will not give you the time of day if your only goal is to get whomever in whatever part of the industry to hear your music and make you rich. If you don't understand your music and your goals, you can't expect anyone else to, either. (See the sidebar “Further Reading and Research” for a list of books that includes guides to domestic and international publishers and several volumes that offer in-depth publishing advice.)

The hunt for a publisher could be tough. With so many music publishers in the business, how do you know where to start? The big players such as Warner-Chappell, BMG, MCA, Sony, and the like are alluring. Those companies are the movers and shakers in the industry, with millions of songs in their catalogs. On the positive side, they do deals daily with major players looking for music. The negative side is that they represent so many songs that your music — should you actually strike a deal with one of those powerhouses — could languish unnoticed among millions of tunes. Small publishers offer much more personal attention to their writers, but some might not have the reputation and contacts necessary to break you into the big time. (For an interesting discussion of how publishers, big and small, approach their businesses, see “Working Musician: Publishers' Roundtable” in the August 1997 issue.)

Research is key in deciding which publishers to send your songs to. Call the publishers and any other music-industry contacts you have and ask which companies specialize in the kind of deal you want. Find out how many songs are in their catalogs and about their track record for song placement. Then narrow the field to five to ten publishers; any more than that could be difficult for you to keep track of as you do your follow-up work. (You can always approach more publishers if some of them from your initial list don't pan out.)

Get the name of the person to give your material to and send him or her a personalized letter, a few of your songs, and a press kit. In your letter, state your goal of getting a publishing deal, show that you're familiar with that publishing house's specialty, and explain why you are interested in working with that publisher. Enclosing a prestamped, self-addressed response card is a good idea — it's an easy way for the publisher to let you know the package was received.

About two weeks after you send the package, call to make sure the right person received it and ask whether he or she has had the opportunity to listen to your work. You might have to call a few times, but don't pester anyone. Polite persistence pays off far more than aggressive rudeness.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Songwriters have many decisions to make before even getting started with publishing. Analyze your music, your goals, and how much work you are willing to do and are capable of taking on. Would you appreciate the satisfaction of the DIY approach, or would you prefer the partnership and exposure that come from working with a publisher? It's your music and your decision.

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Mary Cosola is a contributing editor for EM. Thanks to Michael A. Aczon for his guidance with this article.

GETTING IN TOUCH

ASCAP tel. (212) 621-6000; e-mail info@ascap.com; Web www.ascap.com
BMI tel. (212) 586-2000; Web www.bmi.com
Harry Fox Agency tel. (212) 370-5330; e-mail membership@harryfox.com; Web www.harryfox.com
SESAC tel. (615) 320-0055; Web www.sesac.com
U.S. Copyright Office tel. (202) 707-3000 (public information office), (202) 707-9100 (forms and publications hotline); Web www.loc.gov/copyright

FURTHER READING AND RESEARCH

Whether you act as your own music publisher or sign with a professional, you need to gain some knowledge of how the business works. Hundreds of texts and directories are available on the subject of music publishing. Here are a few books and directories that offer solid information and helpful leads.

The 2001 Recording Industry Sourcebook, 12th ed. (Artistpro.com, LLC, 2001)
The Craft and Business of Songwriting, by John Braheny (Writers Digest, 1995)
The Dictionary of Music Business Terms, by Tim Whitsett (MixBooks, 1999)
How to Have Your Hit Song Published, by Jay Warner (Hal Leonard, 1988)
The Music Business (Explained in Plain English), 2nd ed., by David Naggar (DaJé, 2000)
The Music Publisher Registry, edited by Ritch Esra (The Music Business Registry, 2001)
Music Publishing: a Songwriter's Guide, by Randy Poe (Writers Digest, 1997)
Music Publishing — the Real Road to Music Business Success, 5th ed., by Tim Whitsett (Artistpro.com, LLC, 2000)