Module 3: Music Publishing

Objective: Understand the basic concepts, fundamentals, and practicalities of the music
publishing aspects of the music industry. Understand the extreme importance of the value of
music publishing, both as a goal for an artist as well as the aspiring music industry employee
Music publishing is the means, processes, and procedures by which an artistic, creative
work can be most positively exploited for the benefit of all concerned
Full-line publishers
 Purpose is to be able to do every aspect that publishing offers in the development of
projects, marketing clients’ catalogs, and actively seeking out opportunities for usages
o Not many publishers really can do it all. Even the largest world-wide publishers in
this category do not have print publishing capabilities and instead enter
representation licenses with print publishers that concentrate on that medium
o Publishers prefer to purchase artists’ catalogs, but when it is not possible
exclusive representation deals are done during which time, they represent the
catalog as if they did own it whether they do or not
Administrative publishers
 Often regular, full-line publishers who do such a fine administrative job for their clients
that they have gained reputations for this excellence
 When revenues are paid to the publisher, it generally retains 10% of those revenues and
forwards the remainder to the artist
Print music publishers
 Specialize in preparing and marketing appropriate music print products for a represented
artist
 Typically produce many original works that will be marketed and sold to school
performing ensembles
Educational publishers
 Sole mission is to serve the educational community
Specialty publishers
 Tend to serve very specific customers or demographics
Vanity publishers
 Publishes works that have little reason to appeal to a commercially focused publisher
 Typically do business by helping the author/creator publish their work all at the total cost
of the author/creator, plus an extra amount as a “service charge”
 Sub-publishers
 Any publishers can become a sub-publisher for another publisher

The three most absolute core functions of a music publisher are to: Acquire, Exploit,
Protect
 Acquire
o Music publishers acquire their assets, the songs and catalogues they represent,
either by licensing their usage from copyright owners or by purchase
o Purchasing catalogues of works is easier and cleaner to deal with than reporting to
someone also, and more profitable since there is no splitting of profits
o Advance
 Exploit
o Searching for, seeking out, and being amenable to situations/offers in which a
controlled work might be used by someone else, thus creating revenue and
positive exposure
 Protect
o Music publishers are the protectors of the creative assets they control
o Voice and champion of their represented works and writers

It always starts with the song

 Power of the song river and its streams of revenue
o One-song value
o Each work has its own destiny, its own viable commercial life span

1. International
2. Performance
3. Grand rights
4. Licensing

Performing Rights Organizations (PROS)

A split of any song can be whatever percentage its creators determine; it need not be
equal share; it is ALL negotiable amongst those creators

 Mechanical licenses allow an audio recording of a song to be used

 Compulsory license provides that once a song’s recording has been distributed, anyone
else is allowed to put out their own recording of the song with or without the explicit
permission of the copyright owner
 Synchronization licenses allow a potential user to combine a piece of music
owned/controlled by someone else with a visual component such as film or television
 Print licensing is the right for a magazine, newspaper, or book to include a few lines of
lyric, the opportunity to put lyrics in a greeting card, on a sweatshirt, or poster, and the
right to publish the music itself in the form of sheet music, folios of music, or
arrangements of music for band, orchestra, choirs, or other groups