Getting Your Songs Published
Music Publishing Industry Tools and Tricks of the Trade
An overview of how understanding the basics of music publishing can be very beneficial for musicians and songwriters who are attempting to crack the industry.
Publishing is one of the real money-making sectors of the music industry and understanding its importance is fundamental for all aspiring musicians/songwriters.
Television shows, commercials, radio, video games and even your own CDs, provide everyday examples of song publishing. Just about anytime you hear a person’s song being played, that band/songwriter is hearing the sounds of royalty checks cashing. That’s how it is done, performers' rights associations like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC collect payments on behalf of their members. Any time your song or music is played elsewhere (not including live performances by yourself or your band), you are, in theory, meant to be paid.
But how much? Royalties vary. Local colleges playing your song in regular rotation won't offer as high a payout as your area’s local and commercial radio stations. And can take time for checks to start rolling in - so don't quit your day job initially just because you’ve tapped into this market of the industry.
There are a variety of places a keen performer can start. In the past one would have only local acts and the occasional pitch to A&R persons and music programmers that requested a certain type of sound or song for one of their artists to select individuals and groups (local songwriter associations usually). Other than this musicians usually were forced to attempt to get under contract by one of the few major music publishing companies.
With the internet the music publishing game has changed. With sites/services like Taxi.com and RumbleFish.com musicians and songwriters can simply get a membership and have offers actually sent to their email and physical mailboxes. All a musician or songwriter must do today is find the correct listings for their songs and wait to see if they have been passed through to the requesting companies for their review with Taxi.
This process is even simpler with the RumbleFish service. You send in a CD and have the service review it. If the RumbleFish service likes your stuff, they send you a notice and post your music samples to their online automated licensing system. This system allows potential licensees to sample your works and then immediately purchase them for use via downloads.
There are various contracts involved throughout all of these processes that should always be looked over thoroughly with a lawyer. This area of business deals almost exclusively on royalty payments and advancements so be sure you know exactly what you are signing
It is also very important to make sure you have properly copyrighted your works. You can get the forms needed (SR Forms and PA Forms) at Copyright.gov. Musicians historically have been ripped off on publishing simply because they failed to do this one task. Take care of all of your legal obligations and apply the use of these new forums for getting your music published in addition to some of the older tactics and you could soon be reaping the rewards of publishing royalties.
