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Music Business Lessons (Courtesy
Berklee Press)
The Primary Functions of a Music Publisher (Part 1)
By Eric Beall
There are five primary functions that are at the
foundation of any effective music publishing operation, small or large:
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exploitation
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administration
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collection
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protection
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acquisition
Exploitation
In case you haven't noticed, songs do not generally find their own way onto
record albums, into movies, or onto the radio. (Check those dusty tapes in
your drawer for further proof of this.) For most songwriters, the primary
value of a publisher is that they are an ally in the never-ending struggle
to get songs heard.
Please understand, the word "exploitation" has no negative connotations to a
music publisher or a professional songwriter. In fact, it's just about the
sweetest word in the dictionary. It simply describes the process by which a
song finds some avenue to its audience, where it can begin to earn income
for everyone involved.
Perhaps it's because this is what I happen to do for a living, but I believe
that exploitation is the most important function of a publisher, and
probably the most difficult to accomplish. For that reason, this book will
focus disproportionately on the various opportunities and strategies for
placing your music is money-making situations. It does not diminish the
importance of any other publishing function to note that without
exploitation, the other roles of a publisher are irrelevant. If the
proverbial tree falls in the forest when no one's around, does it make a
sound? I don't know. But I do know that a song that sits in a drawer doesn't
do much for anybody. A little exploitation never hurt.
In a large publishing company, the primary responsibility of exploitation
will usually fall to what is termed the "Creative Department." These people,
also referred to as professional managers or creative directors, are
generally the ones stumbling into the office late, playing music loudly in
their offices, running off to "pitch" meetings, or hanging out with the
songwriters. It's a rough job, but someone has to do it.
Administration
This is the original function of the music publisher--the task of
"administering" the copyrights. Simply put, this is the process of
registering copyrights, issuing licenses, negotiating requests for reduced
royalty rates, and sorting through the myriad of "paperwork" issues related
to the use of copyrights.
As you'll see when we discuss this function in more detail, the
administration of copyrights is a complex process that becomes more
challenging as a publishing company grows. The more successful you are at
exploitation, the more administration there is to be done. For this reason,
many small publishing companies will do "administration" deals with a larger
publisher. This sort of deal is generally a simple case of a smaller company
shifting much of the paperwork burden to a larger firm. A large publisher
might take on the responsibility of all administrative duties related to the
smaller company's copyrights in exchange for a percentage (usually around 10
percent) of all the income generated by those songs.
It's never hard to locate the Administration Department in a music
publishing company. Just follow the paper trail. When you find the offices
with very large stacks of paper everywhere, you've entered the world of
administration.
Collection
With songs potentially earning income in a vast variety of media, requiring
royalty payments from any number of different record companies, sync fees
from independent producers, film studios, and advertisers, and performance
monies from licensing organizations all over the world, it can be more than
a little daunting to keep track of who owes what, and where that money is
supposed to go.
needless to say, this is a key aspect of the music publishing business.
Remember, the publisher collects all the income generated by a
copyright (except for the writer's share of performance payments) and then
distributes the appropriate percentage to the writer.
Any songwriter who's ever tried to decipher a royalty statement from a
publisher will have some idea of the intricacies of this particular
function. And any writer who has audited a publisher probably has some idea
of how significantly small mistakes can add up.
In a large publishing concern, the task of collecting the money is usually
split between the Administration Department and Royalties (or Accounting).
Royalty statements are usually issued to writers twice yearly--and when that
happy season rolls around, you can spot the Royalty Department by the bags
beneath their bloodshot eyes. Or the line of expectant songwriters waiting
outside their offices.
Next
Excerpt from Making Money Making Music: An Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Music Publisher ©2004
Berklee Press Used by Permission
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