Music Publishing Pt. 2

This is the single most important element of your career as an artist. Why, you ask? It is your largest source of income. Most artists sign this right over to the labels without even knowing what they are signing. It is imperative that you read this article and if you have any questions feel free to ask. These are your rights afforded to you in the Copyright Law (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/), including your digital rights in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

You don't have to sign with a "Music Publishing House" that is a seperate entity and not part of a label. If you are lucky enough to get signed to a deal, the label will want a portion of your publishing rights, what you give them is up to you to secure the deal, remember everything is negotiable. However no company can legally take or accept more than 50% of your publishing rights by law (see US Copyright office link above) .

These established "Music Publishing Houses" that assist artists that have a large music catalogs such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, etc.., help in the administration of their publishing for them, but you probably won't be needing that in your career, unless you are blessed enough to have a long career that produces such a catalog as those artists. I implore you to establish your own publishing company with one of the performance rights agencies mentioned below, both as a writer and publisher. It will be the single most important thing you do as an artist.

MUSIC PUBLISHING - AN OVERVIEW
This article is designed to give an overview of music publishing. Although the details can be less than fascinating, music publishing remains one of the most financially lucrative areas in the music business, and one of the few areas where artists can generate real money. As a result, it is particularly crucial for recording artists and songwriters to protect their publishing rights. The best way to start is to learn the basics of the music publishing business.

WHAT IS A MUSIC PUBLISHER?
Before the invention of the phonograph, songwriters earned income by relying on music publishers to sell sheet music of their songs. Even as radio and television replaced the piano in the parlor, music publishers continued to play an important role as popular singers continued to rely upon established songwriters to provide their material. However, with the advent of rock and roll (and especially the Beatles) popular recording artists began to write more of their own songs. Since that time, the music publishing industry has taken on a less important role. Nevertheless, music publishers continue to perform several important functions that you should be aware of.

WHAT DOES A MUSIC PUBLISHER DO?
Today, music publishers are concerned with administering copyrights, licensing songs to record companies and others, and collecting royalties on behalf of the songwriter. Some of the more important music publishing activities are listed below:

Mechanical Royalties
The term "mechanical royalties" initially referred to royalties paid whenever a song was reproduced by a mechanical device (remember that one of a copyright owner's exclusive rights is the right to authorize the reproduction of their work). The term "mechanical royalties" was applied to the reproduction of songs in music boxes, player pianos rolls, and later, phonograph records. This term is still used, and "mechanical royalties" now refers to royalties paid for the reproduction of songs on CD, DAT, audiocassette, flexi-discs, musical greeting cards, and other devices sold on a "per unit" basis.The amount of money a record company must pay for a mechanical license is generally set by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal. This rate is sometimes referred to as a "statutory" rate. The current statutory rate through December 31, 2007 is nine and one-tenth cent ($.091) per song. This means that a single song can generate up to $.91 cents for every 10 records sold. Unfortunately, it is record industry custom to pay only 75% of the statutory rate to new or moderately successful songwriters. This means that a typical songwriter without enormous clout would generate a little more than 68 cents for every 10 records sold. After the publisher collects this money from the record company and takes its share of the income, a songwriter may receive as little as half of this amount.

Foreign Monies
Foreign countries sometimes have different laws governing the collection and distribution of mechanical royalties. As a result, it is often necessary for publishers to enter into agreements with a foreign publisher (or "subpublishers") to collect a songwriter's mechanical royalties in that territory. After the subpublisher takes a cut (anywhere from 15% to 25%) the rest of this foreign income is divided between the publisher and the songwriter according to their agreement.

Synchronization Licenses
Whenever a song is used with a visual image, it is necessary to obtain a "synchronization" (or "synch") license permitting the use of that song. Music publishers issue synch licenses to television advertisers, motion picture companies, video manufacturers and CD-Rom companies. A portion of this money (usually 1/2 the net proceeds) is paid to the songwriter.

Transcription Licenses
Because radio is not a visual medium, the use of a song as part of a radio commercial requires a separate license, known as a "transcription license." Sometimes songwriters are able to negotiate provisions in their publishing contract preventing their songs from use in certain contexts, such as ads for alcohol, tobacco, political campaigns or other uses the songwriter may find offensive.

Print Licenses
Although sheet music sales have diminished over the years, many songs are still available in print form. These include books of songs by specific artists, instruction books or compilations of hits within a given genre (i.e., "100 Country Hits of All Time"). The music publisher issues print licenses and collects this income from the sheet music company, while the songwriter receives a small royalty derived from the sale of his or her song in print form.

Administration and Registration of Copyrights
Because music publishers generate money by licensing copyrighted compositions, they must also perform various administrative tasks involving copyright transfers and the registration of musical copyrights with the U.S. Copyright Office. Registering your copyright with the US Copyright Office provides added protection to copyright holders, and can permit the copyright owner to recover statutory damages of up to $100,000 and attorneys fees if the copyright is subsequently infringed.

Public Performance Royalties
A copyright owner also has the exclusive right to authorize the "public performance" of that work. This is why radio and television broadcasters must enter into licenses with performance rights organizations such as BMI(www.bmi.com), ASCAP(www.ascap.com) and SESAC(www.sesac.com). These performance rights organizations collect income on behalf of songwriters and music publishers whenever a song is publicly broadcast, streamed, or printed on sheet music for performances by a band. A future discussion will explain the fine print of these performance rights organizations in more detail.Even though Music publishers (Music Publishing Houses) do not collect the performance rights income, publishers (your established publishing company) remain entitled to 50% of the money received by BMI, ASCAP, SESAC and others. That is your right in the copyright law, however you do not have to sign over 50% to anyone, but can negotiate a portion of your publishing rights. Publishers (Music Publishing Houses) also register songs with these performance rights organizations. Once again, I suggest you establish your own publishing company with one of the performance rights societies. Artists join each one for various reasons, mainly for the way they distribute royalty payments. Then you don't have to be concerned about a third party (Music Publishing House, Record Distributor, Record Label), administering your publishing income. Your statements and checks will come directly to you. The portion that you have negotiated with the record distributor/record label, will go directly to them.

"Song Plugging"
This obscure term refers to music bizzers who promote the compositions of others. This may involve convincing popular artists to cover your song, or convincing Disney to use your latest tune in their next animated feature.TranslationsPublishers may also authorize translations in order to generate income from cover versions of a particular song in foreign countries.Obtaining a Record DealMusic publishers are usually generally most in signing established songwriters or recording artists who write their own material. However, some publishers may be willing to sign new songwriters or bands without a record deal. If a publisher believes an undiscovered artist will one day sell lots of hit records, they may help the artist record demos and assist in trying to land a major record deal. If the artist gets signed, the music publisher will hope to see a reward for its investment in the form of mechanical royalties, public performance royalties and other derivative income. A publisher may even be willing to contribute to tour support or provide extra promotions money in order to generate future publishing income from record sales and airplay.

WHY CONSIDER A PUBLISHING DEAL?
The main reason is money. Music publishers may be willing to pay a substantial cash advance for a songwriter's past, present or future material. In exchange, the publisher will own a percentage of that artist's musical copyrights and keep a percentage of money these songs earn.Of course, publishers are unlikely to pay an advance unless they believe they can make a profit on the deal. Like everyone else in the industry, music publishers are in the business of buying something of yours in order to sell it to others at a profit. Unfortunately, many artists do not realize how valuable their publishing rights are. The history of the music business is littered with sleazy promoters who paid pennies for songs that later generated millions in income.Not every artist needs a publishing deal, and some artists may be better off by avoiding traditional publishing deal altogether. Many different publishing options may be available to an artist today. Some publishers may be willing to enter into a more limited "co-publishing" deal, and "administration" deals may be available for independent artists who seek to retain their valuable copyrights. The next column will look at each of these deals more closely.

SHOULD I ENTER INTO A PUBLISHING DEAL?
Actually, not every artist needs to enter a publishing deal. It may be wiser to first obtain a major record deal before finding a music publisher. Conversely, publishers may want nothing to do with an artist who doesn't have a record deal or some other guaranteed way to generate income. In addition, some artists may prefer to hold onto their copyrights and let administration agencies collect their publishing income. Once agan I suggest you star your own music publishing company. You really don't need anyone administering your publishing but yourself, and your beneficiaries.

HOW IS SONGWRITING INCOME SPLIT WITH A PUBLISHER?
With the exception of print music, income from musical compositions is generally split on a 50/50 basis between the music publisher and writer. This is not always the case, everything is negotiable, especially if you have established yourself as a viable independent artist before you sign a deal. The publisher's half of this income is called the "publisher's share," and the writer's half is the "writer's share." If you are writing and/or producing songs, and even contribute to a song, I would establish both a publisher and writer entity with one of the aforementioned performance rights societies, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

To illustrate how this works in the real world, let's take the following example. Imagine a publisher collects slightly more than $.68 (68 cents) in mechanical royalties from the sale of one of your CDs (actually 10 songs x $.091 cents per song x 75% rate for controlled compositions = 68.25 cents. I'll round off the extra ¼ cent for purposes of this article). Assuming there are no collection costs deducted off the top, the publisher's share comes to approximately $.34 (34 cents) and the writer's share also comes to approximately $.34 (34 cents).This financial split is a basic, but important, concept. When discussing publishing income, be sure to remember this distinction between "publisher's share" and "writer's share.

"WHAT TYPES OF MUSIC PUBLISHING DEALS ARE AVAILABLE?

STANDARD PUBLISHING AGREEMENTS
Standard music publishing deals come in several varieties. These include song-by-song publishing deals for specific compositions, and exclusive songwriter agreements that may last for a fixed period of years (usually 1 year with options to extend the term). These publishing deals may cover all songs written by an artist, or just those songs commercially released during the term of the agreement.Under either arrangement, the publisher becomes the copyright owner of the songs. In exchange, the Publisher may pay the artist an advance based upon the potential value of the compositions. Subsequent income generated from these songs is then split, usually on a 50/50 basis. After the publisher recovers its advance, the artist is paid the "writer's share" of net income received, while the publisher retains its publisher's share.

CO-PUBLISHING AGREEMENTS
Co-publishing deals are similar to the above arrangement, except the artist (or the artist's publishing entity) co-owns a percentage of the copyright along with the publisher. It is common for both parties to each own 50% of the copyright, though percentages can vary from deal to deal.In a CO-publishing deal, the songwriter's publishing entity also receives a percentage of the "publisher's share" of income. Thus, using the above hypothetical, an artist would receive the "writer's share" of the publishing "pie" (i.e., 34 cents), while also receiving up to half the net income from the publisher's share of the publishing "pie"(i.e., an additional 17 cents).Although CO-publishing deals are sometimes better than standard publishing deals, not all CO-publishing deals are in the artists best interest. For instance, some independent record labels require new artists to enter into a CO-publishing deal with the label's "publishing" entity. (Ironically, few major labels require this of their artists). Even if you are offered an additional advance for such a deal, you should resist it! Here's why:The record company's goal here is to reduce the amount of money payable to you from record sales (since the record company gets to keep 50% of the "publisher's share" of mechanical royalty income);Independent record labels may lack the experience and resources to promote your songs like an independent publishing company;An independent publisher has more incentive to demand and accounting and collect publishing income from your label; andIt may actually be in your interest to retain these copyrights and enter into an administration deal instead.

ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENTS
In an administration deal, the publishing administrator collects income and also helps promote the songwriter's catalogue. An administration deal may last for a specific period of time (i.e., 3 years) or for one year with several options to renew. When the term is over, all rights revert back to the artist.A publishing administrator is typically paid by deducting a percentage of the income it collects on behalf of the artist. After deducting this administration fee (anywhere from 10% to 20% of the gross proceeds) the administrator distributes 100% of the remaining net income to the songwriter(s). As an incentive to promote your songs, some administrators may also charge a slightly higher collection fee for income earned from cover songs.In some cases, a songwriter may receive as much income from a co-publisher as a publishing administrator.

However, while a CO-publisher may be able to offer a generous advance, an administration deal can provide an artist with greater financial and artistic control. There are also many advantages to retaining the copyright to your songs. For example, if your first record sells only moderately but your next CD becomes commercially successful, you may gain greater leverage to negotiate a favorable publishing, CO-publishing or administration deal at a later date