Everything you need to know about Music Publishing

Watch this video for a pretty solid education about music publishing - that is how your songs (not the recordings you make) make you money.

It's very good.

And when you've watched it you can do yourself another favour.

As an unsigned or indie musician, there are 2 great companies that offer a great music publishing service. In the UK you should look at Sentric Music - they will, in fact, collect your royalties worldwide and you don't need to be UK based to join. Their service is free to join and they only take a small percentage of the royalties they collect.

They have a great article on the basics of music publishing here as well.

And then in the US, check out Song Trust. Their model requires an annual fee instead of a share of royalties.

Both companies are great options for new and unsigned bands - they offer short term deals and they take no ownership of your songs so you are free to go and do a deal with a larger publisher should that day come.

Oh, and they can be trusted!

Do I need a license for a cover song?

I get asked this all the time!

Clearly, so does Rick at Musician Coaching.

The difference between me and Rick is that he has posted a great informative answer to that question!

Recording a cover song can be a great marketing tool—providing artistic interpretation on a song that your audience may already be familiar with. A cover can also bring notoriety to your art from people who were previously unfamiliar with your work. However there are legal implications to covering a song even if you are giving it away for free.

Read it here.

Collect your music publishing royalties

We did a post last month that looked at how your songs make you money.

In that we mentioned two new innovative online music publishers.

The Guardian - being a month behind us! - have just done this feature on one of the companies - Songtrust, which is a great option for you if you live in the US.

If you're in the UK, you should check out Sentric Music - very good at what they do.

The Guardian say:

Songtrust doesn't just collect royalties for its users – it also helps them get their songs placed in television shows. TV stations such as ESPN, the Travel Channel and National Geographic don't have the budgets to license music on a song-by-song basis, and many independent artists can't get their songs used by these channels as they only do blanket licences with individual publishers. As Downtown Music has blanket licences with more than 300 production companies, Songtrust lets users take advantage of those licences, too.

Read the whole thing here.

How your songs make you money

I know that I owe someone for pointing me to this, but, sorry, I can't remember who!

It's a great video that sets out 7 ways that your songs can make you money - and it makes the very good point that once they are out there earning money they will do so up to your demise and beyond - meaning that a somewhat successful musician has a retirement plan built into their songs!

Obviously, they need to be good to get that kind of income.

So, watch the video and learn the 7 ways that your songs can make you money.

And then, go and check out Sentric Music if you're in the UK and Song Trust if you're in the States. Both these companies offer a great service and will publish your songs no matter whether you're signed or not or how successful you are. One takes a commission on what they collect - at a very fair rate - and the other charges a small monthly fee.

Crucially, neither takes your rights from you. So, should you get a hit record or your career takes off some other way you can finish your deal with them and do a 'big money' deal with a major publisher - if you want to.

I really like the guys at Sentric - it's a great service and very fair. I don't know the Song Trust people but I hear similar good things.

Write songs, get them published, collect money - another basic part of the plan for all musicians.

Watch the video here.

 

Music publishing for muppets

Image by Andy Buscemi

Sorry, you might well not be a muppet, but whether you are or not, this post will educate you on music publishing.

Might sound boring, but once you know what it is, you'll have a chance of making some money from your songs - not so boring now!

This is a great article by the guys at Sentric Music who offer a brilliant publishing service for all songwriters that won't stop you doing a 'big' publishing deal later in your career. They'll genuinely help you out and send you money.

They also know their stuff when it comes to explaining what music publishing is and how it works.

What is music publishing?

It’s essentially your songs.

That was easy eh?

It has nothing to do with your recordings. This must be remembered. As a music publisher I look after your songs. Songs that YOU’VE written. Just by writing the song you’ve created a copyright; a piece of intellectual property that can be exploited to generate income.

(on a side note; the word ‘exploited’ in this usage doesn’t carry the negative connotations you may think it has when you read it elsewhere. To ‘exploit’ in this sense is to simply extract the intrinsic value of something – and your music, no matter how brilliant or rubbish, has value)

You have to learn that music publishing and record labels are very different things. It is important that the people who look after your publishing rights and master recording rights have a good relationship, but I’ll come onto that later on.

I strongly recommend that you go and read the article here. 

It is very much focused on the UK but other than the societies that collect the royalties (MCPS and PRS in the UK, Harry Fox and ASCAP / BMI in the US), it all applies to the US and anywhere else. 

Understanding how your songs make you money is pretty basic to your career as a working musician, so you'd be daft to miss it.

Whilst writing this, I also turned up this very detailed and impressive article on Bemuso, which goes farther and covers the whole shebang. Read this one too!

 

Music Publishing - what is it? The Basics

Great article that will help many understand the basics of music publishing - what the rights are, what the various means of exploitation are and where the money is at.

If you are writing songs, I'd read it!

If you’re serious about making this business of music your full time career, then one of the first things you need to understand is the lingo of the business! Today we will discuss, in plain English, the top 7 terms you need to understand about publishing. Something important to remember about publishing is, this is how songwriters earn their living. If you are an artist who only records other peoples music, you are usually not entitled to the publishing income. However, if you are an artist who writes some or all of your own material, or a writer/ composer (beat-maker for the rap producers), this is where ALL of your money is coming from!

See the whole piece here.