**Guest post written by Vampr Publishing, originally featured in their blog.

 

"In the digital age of being a DIY artist, many songwriters are asking how to publish a song. This is a valid question.

The purpose of a music publisher is continually evolving. It needs to in an ever-changing technological landscape!

To some extent, artists and songwriters can publish their own music. But – they may find it gets harder as their catalogue and network grows.

There’s a growing list of technology platforms using music in new and disruptive ways. Examples such as TikTok, Twitch and gaming platforms like Fortnite and Roblox mean it’s important that music publishing keeps up.

The metaverse will be the next huge disruption to the music industry. But, it should bring a lot of “micro sync” royalties. Music continues to become a more algorithmic lean-back experience. And so, the importance of back catalogue management and constant music pitching is becoming even more important.

Changes in the use of music with technology demands new approaches to the publishing business. The music industry must ensure artists and writers are being paid properly for the use of their work.

This can make efficient music publishing tough for an independent artist, even with a team to support them.

Whether you’re looking to cover it alone, with your team, or looking to work with (or get signed by) a bigger publisher, this post will help you understand the ins and outs of music publishing.

+How to build a team of experts to support your DIY music career

What does a music publisher do?

Music publishing has existed since the beginning of the music industry – way before recorded music. It is the business of generating and collecting royalties for the composition and lyrics of music. It works around the licensing of the publishing right.

All recorded music has 2 associated copyrights (master and publishing rights). These copyrights are licensed to people who want to use the music, in exchange for a license fee or royalty.

Essential reading: all about music licensing.

Royalties received for music publishing include performance royalties. These are granted when your music is played live and when your music is broadcast on radio or television. You also get what’s called a mechanical royalty for sales (and streams) of recorded music.

+Earning Royalties For Your Music

The difference between music publishing and distribution

People new to the music business often confuse music publishing and music distribution.

Music distribution is the business of releasing a recording of music to be bought (and streamed) by listeners and fans. Released music generates master royalties, subject to how many records are sold or streamed.

If you’re looking to get your music on services like Spotify, you need music distribution, not music publishing!

?? Free music distribution here

How to publish a song and earn sync fees

A major area of interest for a musician, songwriter or composer is sync licensing. When your music is used in films, TV, games, adverts and more, the person using the music will have to pay for a sync fee.

Some broadcasters will also have to pay ongoing royalties whenever the show, film or documentary is played to the public.

As with there being 2 copyrights in recorded music, the sync license is also made up of 2 licenses: the sync license and the master license. The former would be granted by the publisher of the song, and the master the owner of the recording.

Typically, somebody “pitching” the music will be able to sign off for both the sync and mastering licenses. They could own both rights, or have special contracts to act on behalf of the rightsholder. This is known in the industry as “one stop”. Want to know how to publish a song? One of the easiest ways is to pitch one-stop music.

+What, Exactly Makes a Band's Music Sync-Friendly?

Read more about how to tag your music as “one stop”.

How to publish a song for micro syncs

Micro syncs are small payments paid for small usages of music. Examples include YouTube videos with limited viewers and short run web adverts.

Micro syncs can accumulate and result in bigger payments as the traction of the content picks up.

There’s a growing interest in music publishing towards micro syncs. This is because of the hugely growing “content creator” market.

As these huge tech companies get used to paying for licenses for the use of music, revenues in these areas grow for rights holders.

Music publishers manage the registration of songs and collect royalties from these platforms. But, for the DIY artist managing their own publishing, you could contact content creators directly:

• Do some serious research into content creators who use music like yours.
• Make sure they’re likely going to like the music before they hear it (get evidence they’re into your vibe).
• Look for content creators with a big following. You’ll want creators who are likely to be monetising their work and have some production budget.
• Find their email address on their website, YouTube channel or socials and ask them how they license music.

Pitching a song for cover versions

With permission from the publishing owner, anybody can record their own version of a song.

Sometimes songwriters (or, more likely, their publishers) pitch songs to labels and artists. The original songwriter takes song writing credits (and publishing royalties), but not typically the fame.

Additionally, a song being performed and recorded by an artist and becoming associated with that artist doesn’t make it their song.

Music publishers pitch for, or accept offers from other artists who want to use the song. When this occurs, it is called a cover version.

Covers can be very valuable. They can be used cross-genre or era to create new attraction and audiences for the original song.

New recordings of cover songs also generate new publishing royalties.

+Is Posting Covers On YouTube The BEST Use Of Your Time?

Finding work for your music catalogue

A lot of the work and business involved with music publishing is about creating and managing relationships.

Music publishers help “work your catalogue”. Firstly, this means doing things like pitching song you write for other artists to perform. Secondly, pitching your music for for sync placement opportunities.

Traditionally, publishers would work with composers and songwriters. But now, recording artists and producers are also frequently on a music publisher’s roster. This means that a publisher can always be ready to create work to a brief from:

• Record labels
• Production libraries
• Music supervisors

…and more.

+Music Business After Dark Ep. 5: Sync Me a Song

How to publish your own music

There are some pretty easy steps you can take to act as your own music publisher in the most basic form.

The first thing you will need to do is sign yourself up with a Performance Rights Organisation (PRO):

What are performance rights organisations?

Performance Rights Organisations (PROs), also known as Collection Societies/Agencies, are bodies that exist to:

• Monitor the use of music in their territory and beyond
• Collect royalties for the usage in the form of licenses
• Pay the rightsholders the collected royalties

There are different PROs for different territories. They all come with different costs, processes and effectiveness. Some territories have multiple PROs, so you have to do your research and choose which is best for you.

PROs are typically networked with other PROs, so that cross-territory collection can take place. However, the relationships between PROs varies. If you are performing well outside of your own territory, it may be worth signing up with other PROs.

Wikipedia lists the major PROs in each territory

It’s important to sign up as a songwriter to a PRO and register your works. Do this especially if they are already getting broadcast or live exposure to the public. You could be missing out on royalties. You can also register as a publisher of your song. Our advice is to do this using a publishing admin partner.

+What's The Difference Between ASCAP/BMI/SESAC and SoundExchange

What is a publishing admin?

Publishing rights are split into two parts – the songwriter and the publisher. You may have signed up to a PRO as a songwriter, but if you are unpublished you can also register the song to collect publishing royalties.

NOTE: Always make sure you discuss this with your publisher when you take a publishing deal. They will need to re-register the song with them as the publisher, which will require you to remove yourself as the publisher.

You can do this directly with your PRO. But, another way to take full control of all of your publishing royalties is to work with a Publishing Administrator.

Publishing Administrators manage and collect royalties on behalf of a rights holder. They do not claim any rights, and usually just take a small cut of the royalties they manage as payment for their work.

One of the biggest and most easy access Publishing Admin companies is SongTrust. The advantage of using them over only your PRO is their collection network.

Vampr users get a big discount when they sign up with SongTrust.

Enter VAMPR as the discount code to receive 20% discount on the one-off registration fee.

If you’re not yet signed up for a PRO, this is probably a cheaper alternative. You don’t need to sign up for a PRO if you’re collecting with SongTrust!

+Why would I need a publishing administrator if I already work with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC?

How much does it cost to publish a song?

The cost to publishing a song will depend on several factors, including:

• Your location and the cost of registering a song copyright
• The cost of your PRO or publishing admin
• Potentially some software costs, depending on the size of your catalogue
• A DISCO or song pitching subscription
• Cost of services, such as freelancers or agencies, if you want to pitch and work your catalogue beyond your own time abilities
• Law fees as you begin to negotiate deals, especially as they grow more complex (potentially with multiple parties)

If you want to know how to publish music for free, you should check out a service like Vampr Publishing. If you’re accepted to be represented for sync by our A&R team, this may reduce the majority of your costs.

What is co-publishing?

A traditional publishing deal gives a publisher a percentage of the publishing rights. This is sometimes called a co-publishing deal.

Co-publishing deals can be very complex. They can involve:

• Commitments to agreed quantities of work over a term
• Long-term contracts that can hinder freedom to work outside of these commitments
• An average of 50% of all publishing royalties being kept by the publisher
• All royalties, including songwriter royalties, being kept by the publisher until an advance is paid
• Sub-publishing
• Publishing administration
• Placement quotas before works are considered against contractual agreements

The potential benefit of co-publishing is, of course, that advance. This is a lump sum paid to a songwriter or composer upfront.

+The Benefits of Collaborating with Fellow Artists

What is sub-publishing?

Sub-publishing is a partnership with another publisher. They will look after pitching, collection and administration in other territories. Different from a co-publishing deal, sub-publishers act more like an overseas agent for their partner’s catalogue. They take a cut of the royalties they collect, but don’t own any of the rights.

Sub-publishing is very useful because there are lots of overseas royalties that aren’t covered by generic “international” collection agencies. It also gives you a team on the ground who knows the popular artists, or is connected with the local film or advert agencies.

How to publish and license a song with Vampr Publishing

Of course, in the digitally-empowered era, the DIY approach can get you a long way.

This is especially true if you work with a partner who brings you opportunities and doesn’t limit you or lock you in.

Whilst working with music publishers or record labels isn’t always the best idea, with Vampr Publishing we’ve taken a different approach.

We’re listening to submissions and accepting music we’d like to be represented as part of our sync catalogue. ???

Rather than following the traditional publishing models, we’ve discovered the magic sauce:

• Unlimited sync pitching to film, tv, games, adverts and podcasts free of charge
• Non-exclusive until we get a sync opportunity (we pitch and a license buyer says they’re interested in the song)
• Only a 2 year exclusive publishing contract if we do get a sync opportunity
• Get feedback and input from A&R
• Keep 65% of your royalties – on top of all of your songwriting royalties
• Keep it fun – focus more on the music and less on the business!

If you want to be considered as one of our roster artists and represented for sync – sign up for Publishing and submit some music on the Vampr app now!"

 

 

Related Blog Posts:

+What I Learned About Music Licensing After Dedicating A Month To It

+How To Be An Independent Artist Successfully

+Looking for a champion