The Music Business Buddy
A podcast that aims to educate and inspire music creators in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music. A new episode is released each Wednesday and aims to offer clarity and insight into a range of subjects across the music industry, all through the lens of a music creator for the benefit of other music creators. The series includes soundbites and interviews with guests from all over the world together with commentary and clarity on a range of topics. The podcast is hosted by award winning music industry professional Jonny Amos.
Jonny Amos is a music producer with credits on a range of major and independent labels, a songwriter with chart success in Europe and Asia, a senior lecturer in both music creation and music business at BIMM University UK, director of The SongLab Ltd and the author of The Music Business for Music Creators.
www.jonnyamos.com
The Music Business Buddy
Episode 6: What Actually Is Music Publishing?
Ever wondered why songwriters often struggle to understand what music publishers actually do? On this episode of "The Music Business Buddy," I promise clarity and answers as I demystify the world of music publishing. Join me, Jonny Amos, as we trace the rich history of music publishing from the Tin Pan Alley days to the modern complexities of copyright management. Distinguish between music distribution and publishing, and discover how music publishers tirelessly pitch songs, monitor usage, and secure royalties, ensuring that the creative minds behind the music get their due.
Dive deep into the terminologies and systems of music publishing, contrasting the UK and US models and revealing the types of contracts available to songwriters. From single song assignments to exclusive deals, learn the benefits and drawbacks of partnering with major publishers versus self-publishing or working with smaller firms. I'll share personal experiences and stories from fellow songwriters, shedding light on finding the right publishing arrangement tailored to your unique goals. Whether you're an aspiring songwriter or a seasoned composer, this episode is packed with invaluable insights to help you navigate the intricate landscape of music publishing.
The Music Business Buddy. The Music Business Buddy. Hello, welcome everybody. You're listening to the Music Business Buddy with me, johnny Amos, podcasting out of Birmingham, england. I am the author of the book the Music Business for Music Creators, available in hardback, paperback and ebook. I'm also a music creator, with credits on a variety of labels, as a writer or as a producer, or sometimes both. I'm also a lecturer in both music creation and music business. Wherever you are, whatever you do, please consider yourself welcome to this podcast and to a part of this community. I'm here to try and educate and inspire music creators from all over the world in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music.
Speaker 1:Okay, so today we're looking at the subject of music publishing and actually trying to offer some clarity around what it actually is, because it's a very confusing subject to many people. It's confusing because music publishing is not actually about publishing music. I know, bear with me, it's a weird one, right? So let's just think about the definition, right, bear with me, it's a weird one, right? So let's just think about the definition, right. So to publish something is to prepare to, issue and to distribute something for public consumption, like my book or like this podcast, for example. However, music publishing is not about publishing music, so why is it called music publishing? I mean, there is an answer to this, but it bears no real relevance to where it is today. But apparently the origins can be traced back to the 19th century, at a time where music was dominated by religious hymns and music from the classical realm. There was a bohemian neighbourhood of lyricists and music creators known as Tin Pan Alley in New York City. It was a cohesive community who created and released original music that was different from the rest of the music around at that time. The songs were not documented by means of audio recording like they would be today, because the technology wasn't as advanced as it is today. So the songs became documented through sheet music, which was published and made available to print. That's where the name came from music publishing and I wish to god it was called something different, because it's immensely confusing in this era.
Speaker 1:I see a lot of people, especially on social media, talking about music distribution and music publishing and I kind of sit there and I scroll and I think what are you talking about? They're two totally, totally different things. In fact, they sit on complete opposite ends of the spectrum of the music industry. Distribution would sit more in connection to artists and labels. Publishing doesn't sit there. It sits in relation to artists and labels. Publishing doesn't sit there. It sits in relation to songwriters and composers. So what actually is it?
Speaker 1:Well, music publishing is a sector of the global music business. It relates to the administration, exploitation and royalty collection of song copyrights nothing to do with the recordings of songs, but songs. You could have one song and have multiple different versions of it. It's the song that music publishing relates to. So music publishers sign songs and songwriters and they then try and seek opportunities for those songs and those songwriters to make money. That, in a nutshell, that is what music publishing is. So this could be in the form of pitching songs to record companies that are looking for songs for their artists. It could also involve pitching songs for television programmes or films or ads or video games or media campaigns or just about anything where songs can get used. Publishers also then look to monitor usage and collect and distribute royalties to songwriters. Music publishers make their money by taking a split of the songwriting royalties. No money is ever paid up front by a songwriter to a music publisher for their time and services. It's all done on a speculative basis, with music publishers taking a cut of the song royalties.
Speaker 1:Now, most music publishers that I know are either songwriters or have been songwriters Not all. I can think of a couple that aren't songwriters, but most are, and I think that's notable. But most are, and I think that's notable. I think many publishers are often quite organised songwriters, so they've kind of figured out OK, here's how the admin works, here's how collection works, here's how exploitation works. So I could maybe start doing this for other songwriters as well. That's how a lot of music publishing companies start off. Speaking of which music publishers would specialise in the administration of song copyrights by registering the songs with the relevant performing rights organisations or collection societies and ensuring that collection methods are actually taking place in accordance with song usage by music users. Now it could be argued well, you know, performing rights organisations do that and they do. However, publishers go the extra step in ensuring a more rigorous approach to collection. So, for example, if a TV production company has used a particular song, they would then need to submit a cue sheet to say which songs they used, and music publishers specialise in chasing those things up so that then every time that song gets used, people are paid fairly.
Speaker 1:Now music publishers also undertake other roles, other duties, right? So for example, some set up like collaborative opportunities. You know, let's say, for example, they've got particular writers on their roster and they go, let's have that writer or that artist or that producer work with this person over here or that kind of market over there. Or maybe let's send them on this songwriting camp. Or maybe even let's set up a songwriting camp where we've got lots and lots of people together. Maybe a publisher can work in partnership with another publisher to be able to combine their writers, working together for the greater good so that all parties benefit. Things like that happen every day. So music publishers are generally quite hard workers, good networkers. You know the kind of people that would have good relationships with many different people in the music industry, but especially record company A&Rs, especially licensing agents, music supervisors, artists, artist managers, producers and, most importantly, songwriters. Music publishers can be very, very useful mentors to songwriters.
Speaker 1:I truly wish with all my heart that music publishing was not called music publishing because, as I mentioned earlier, it's not about publishing music. Due to the confusion in the name, it can sometimes misrepresent itself as a sector to emerging music creators, especially when words like distribution are thrown in. So in order to understand what music publishing is, it's also worth understanding what it is not. So if you want a music publisher to pitch your song onto playlists or to be able to get a great recording done, no, forget it, that's not what music publishers do, not traditionally. Anyway, we're seeing a lot of evolution in the sector now, where publishers are starting to move into other areas of the music industry as well. But traditionally, that's not what publishing is. It's about the business of songs. Now, music publishing companies can actually vary quite a lot in terms of their roster size, their company structure. You know whether they have genre specialisms and which countries or markets they specialize with. You know.
Speaker 1:So it's common practice for small, independent publishers to partner with other publishers in foreign territories, and this is referred to as sub publishing. So, for example, as a songwriter myself, I've had some success in the Japanese market. As a songwriter myself, I've had some success in the Japanese market, and that wouldn't have happened had it not been for the European music publishers having a relationship with local Japanese music publishers who are on the ground out there. You know, without that sub-publishing partnership, songs wouldn't really get placed in the way that they are and I wouldn't have found that success that I had. I didn't know any of this 15, 20 years ago. These are the things that you learn along the way, I suppose. But without sub publishing, publishing is very, very difficult, especially if you're dealing with a small independent company. You know there's a lot of large independent companies that have a lot of offices around the world. There's a lot of major music publishing companies that have a lot of offices around the world. They wouldn't need to have sub-publishing partners on their behalf because they've got a lot of coverage globally. But they also double up as very useful sub-publishers for other smaller music publishers.
Speaker 1:So imagine being a music publisher. Maybe you're a songwriter and you start to sign other talents and maybe you start small right like three or four writers. Maybe they're people you collaborate with and you want to handle their administration. Then you know it might seem like well, you know that's a really, really small team, but actually a really small team can do really really well in the music publishing sector. It could be, for example, that you have this small roster of a handful of writers in a small town anywhere, but then you partner up with another publisher and you have that bigger publisher as your sub-publisher All of a sudden. That means that the opportunities that go to that sub-p, sub publisher also come to you and the network widens and this is how people get songs placed and songs cut because of the partnership work that's involved in music publishing right now.
Speaker 1:Copyright law I'm being bold by saying this pretty much works the same way in music publishing throughout the world, but there is a difference in terminology. So in North America, for example, when you're talking about song shares, there is an automatic split between a publisher's share and a writer's share, and the writer's share is 100% and the publisher's share is 100%. Now, we don't do that in the UK. The song is just the song and it's just split between writers and publishers. Now, it's actually exactly the same thing. It's the terminology that confuses things right. So, for example, if you only ever learn the way it works in the UK and then you start dealing with North America, some of the terminology can throw you off and you go.
Speaker 1:They're talking about the publisher share. Oh, what does that mean? And actually it doesn't really mean anything. It just means that there is a certain portion of a song which is assigned to a publisher and a certain portion of a song that's assigned to a writer, but if you don't have a publisher, then you assign it to yourself. That's how it works in America. Here, if you don't have a publisher, you are just the owner of the song. The copyright of the song is yours and whoever else you wrote the song with.
Speaker 1:This is why in North America you often hear the term co-publishing, which effectively means that the writer keeps the writer's share and they also keep a portion of the publisher's share. Now, if that were in the uk, you wouldn't call it a co-publishing share. You just call it what it is a publishing deal, which is the. Let's say, for example, the writer gets 60 and the publisher gets 40, then that's just a 60 40 royalty split between the writer and the publisher. However, in America, because it's more than 50%, that means the writer would also get a piece of the publishing share. So you see, it really is the same thing. It's just the terminology that makes it seem confusing.
Speaker 1:Now, talking of contracts, there are different types of contracts in music publishing, but the two most common ones, certainly in the UK at least, are either single song assignments, that's where a writer assigns the control of publishing to a music publisher for just one song, or an exclusive deal, where a writer signs for a certain amount of time to a music publisher on an exclusive level, perhaps like a three-year term, five-year term, whatever it might be. Now, instead of a songwriter assigning the rights of control to a publisher and there's nothing wrong with that, by the way, I've done it loads, and so do other writers, nothing wrong with it at all. It's sometimes the the terminology can feel scary, like assigning control. It's not scary at all, but it it can sound it right. But there is another option and that is to license songs to a publisher. Now the difference here is in ownership. So if, if, for example, you were to do what was called an administrative agreement or an admin deal with a music publisher, it's generally a more favorable rate for the writer.
Speaker 1:But the music publishers and I'm generalizing enormously here don't do as much for the writer because the rights are not assigned to the publisher. Instead, a songwriter just merely licenses certain songs to a publisher to do specific things. So those specific things might be collection only or sync only, and that is the difference between assignment of rights and licensing of rights. All right. So let's try and just think about this for a minute, because songwriters have a lot of options, probably more so now than they have before. So, you know, for a songwriter, assigning their rights to a music publisher in the form of a music publishing contract, it can feel like a big achievement, and it is because it means that a publisher believes in that right and thinks that they can work well together. However, it's not a guaranteed gateway of success. Now, I'm kind of stating the obvious by saying that, but it's worth remembering.
Speaker 1:You know, now, depending upon the goals of the writer and the intended use of their song, it could be argued that actually signing to a music publisher is no longer as necessary as it once was, because songwriters now have a lot more options available to them when it comes to self-publishing. Because of the emergence of the internet, the digital age, it could be said that some songwriters, who are efficient with their paperwork and their time management and their admin procedures and their song split sheets and their collection methods and their good networkers, they might not need to assign their rights of their copyrights to a music publisher. There are, of course, the advantages of plugging a song or a catalogue of songs into an existing network of a music publisher's exploitation and collection protocols. But you know, it's not totally necessary, it just depends on the goals of the writer.
Speaker 1:I remember being on a songwriting camp a few years ago. I won't say where it was, but I was on a bus ride with a lot of different songwriters. So I started to talk to all the songwriters about their music publishers and what they do and what they don't do, and I would be as bold as to say that the most unhappiest songwriters were actually the ones that were signed with major music publishers. And they would say things to me like well, you know, I don't even know who my A&R is these days, or like I haven't received new leads for however long, or whatever it might be. And the happiest were actually the songwriters that were either self-published, that managed everything themselves, or the ones that were signed to smaller publishers.
Speaker 1:Now, to make matters even more confusing, it doesn't necessarily have to be a situation whereby a songwriter says, yes, I'm published over here, or I'm not published and I handle it myself. So, for example, it could be that you have certain parts of your catalogue that are signed to a publisher and then certain parts that aren't. Many songwriters have a lot of different projects in their careers. You know it could be a couple of different artist projects, it could be writing jingles, or it could be writing library music, or it could be writing for different artists, and all those different parts of their catalogue don't necessarily benefit from being plugged into one network. So songwriters might want to be a little bit more flexible in terms of how they manage their own catalogue and therefore who they partner with.
Speaker 1:Ok, so I really hope that I haven't confused you anymore as to what music publishing is or what it is not. I do see a lot of confusion out there on this subject and I receive a lot of questions, questions about this subject, but I hope that's helped a little bit. In a nutshell, music publishing is the business of songs. Thank you for tuning in. See you next time. May the force be with you. The Music Business Party.
