Keen on Music Publishing

What is publishing?

"The Congress shall have power…To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for Limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
(United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8)

The term, "publishing" is one of those words that many of us have heard often but we're not really sure what it means. As it pertains to music, the word "Publication" is defined in the Copyright Law of the United States in Title 17 of the United States Code. Section 101 states, "Publication is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending…A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication."

So the legal definition of publication is concerned with distributing some sort of copy of the work with the consent of the copyright holder in order for it to be considered published. It can be copied and distributed to the public in many ways. It could recorded and distributed on a CD. It could be legally downloaded. Distributing sheet music, a songbook or any other printed version of a song or songs is another example. The music included in a movie, DVD, TV show, Power Point presentation or any other audio-visual medium would also be considered as published. Music in a live theatrical production is another example of published works.

A music publisher is the entity (a person, a small company, a music corporation) that owns a song, called a "copyright", or a group of songs, called a "catalog" or "repertory".

Many songwriters are also their own publisher.

A publisher's job can be divided into two categories; Administrative and Creative. Administrative tasks include registering works with the Library of Congress so that the copyright is properly registered. If someone wants to record your song there are licenses to issue and royalties to collect. If the song is being performed on the radio or television it needs to be registered with a Performing Rights organization.

There might also be contracts to negotiate between the publisher and writer(s). If there are 2 or more songwriters involved in the song then co-writing agreements could be called for. If the co-writers have different publishers then co-publishing agreements are in order.

If your music is being used outside the United States, contractual issues concerning those foreign territories must be dealt with as well. One way to think of it is that a publisher wears many hats; business manager, lawyer and accountant.

There are creative "hats" to wear as well because a good publisher is constantly seeking to promote their catalog. So the roles that the publisher plays on the creative side are; agent, editor, product development, salesman and psychologist for the writer!

In these creative roles a publisher interacts with those who might use the song to create royalties. The publisher seeks recording opportunities with artists and their representatives or projects in need of songs and attempts to convince them to listen to demos of the songs. This is called "pitching" the song or "songplugging".

Once the song has been recorded the job has just begun. The aforementioned administrative services are then required to issue the appropriate licenses and track the royalties.

There are also other creative opportunities that can arise from having a recorded song. A proactive publisher will look for sub-publishers who might produce printed versions of the work in sheet music or songbooks or develop versions in foreign languages.

Usage in film or television can be lucrative also. Many publishers expend a lot of time and expense developing relationships with moviemakers in hopes of increasing their opportunities and subsequent revenue in this area.

So in essence we can say that publishing is protecting and nurturing the song and the songwriter. It is the exploitation of copyrights and in this context, "exploitation" has a very positive connotation. A good publisher looks for outlets for the creative expressions of the writer which will result in royalties so that the writer and publisher can continue to create while being protected and compensated.

Copyright 2007 Dan Keen. All Rights Reserved