Music publisher

A music publisher is an agent, whose primary job is to link up new songs by songwriters with suitable recording artists to record them, with the intent of creating a hit record and generating large numbers of sales and airplay. Promoting such songs, supervising the collection and payment of publishing royalties for sales to their writers, placing writers' songs in other media such as movie soundtracks and commercials, and handling copyright registration and "ownership" matters for published songs, are among other jobs handled by a music publisher. The term is a holdover from the days of music print publishing, before the inception of sound recording; today's music publishers rarely deal in printed sheet music.

Related Topics:
Songwriters - Recording artists - Hit record - Airplay - Royalties - Soundtracks - Copyright - Sound recording

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Traditionally, publishing royalties are split fifty/fifty, with half going to the publisher (as payment for their services) and the rest going to the songwriter – or songwriters, as the case may be. Other arrangements have been made in the past, and continue to be; some better for the writers, some better for the publishers. Occasionally a recording artist will ask for a co-writer's credit on a song (thus sharing in both the artist and publishing royalties) in exchange for selecting it to perform, particularly if the writer is not well-known. Sometimes an artist's manager or producer will expect a co-credit or share of the publishing (as with Norman Petty and Phil Spector), and occasionally a publisher will insist on writer's credit (as Morris Levy did with several of his acts); these practises are listed in descending order of scrupulousness, as regarded by the music industry.

Related Topics:
Norman Petty - Phil Spector - Morris Levy

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The most unscrupulous type of music publisher is the songshark, who does little if any real "legwork" or promotion on behalf of songwriters. Songsharks make their profit not on royalties from sales, but by charging inexperienced writers for "services" (some real, such as demo recording or musical arranging, some fictional, such as "audition" or "review" fees) a legitimate publisher would provide without cost to the writer, as part of their job.

Related Topics:
Songshark - Demo - Musical arranging

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Some music publishers also fill other business roles, with regard to writers and artists – many serve as record producers, and vice versa, or as artist managers. This is generally considered acceptable, although sometimes aspects of one role can negatively impact other dealings a publisher or manager may have with their client. Rock-n-roll pioneer Buddy Holly split with longtime manager Norman Petty over publishing matters in late 1958, as did the Buckinghams with producer James William Guercio almost a decade later. John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival was sued by his former publisher Saul Zaentz (who'd also served as his manager) over a later Fogerty song that sounded slightly like a CCR song Zaentz published. (Fogerty won in court.)

Related Topics:
Record producers - Buddy Holly - Buckinghams - James William Guercio - John Fogerty - Creedence Clearwater Revival - Saul Zaentz

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As intellectual property, copyright ownership can be bought, sold, or inherited, as can rights to royalties under a publishing contract. Several bands and artists own (or later purchase) their own publishing, and start their own companies, with or without help from an outside agent. The sale or loss of publishing ownership can be devastating to a given artist or writer, financially and emotionally. R&B legend Little Richard was largely cheated on his music publishing and copyrights, as were many performers. Brian Wilson and Mike Love of The Beach Boys were crushed to learn that Murry Wilson (father to three of the Beach Boys, Love's uncle, and the band's music publisher) had sold their company Sea of Tunes to A&M Records during 1969 for a fraction of what it was worth – or earned in the following years.

Related Topics:
Intellectual property - Publishing contract - Little Richard - Brian Wilson - Mike Love - The Beach Boys - Murry Wilson - Sea of Tunes - A&M Records - 1969

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A large factor in the Beatles' breakup was when their publisher Dick James sold his share of Northern Songs, the company they'd formed with him in 1963 (then taken public in 1967, with shares trading on the London Stock Exchange), to Britain's Associated Television (ATV) in 1969. Neither the Beatles nor managers Lee Eastman and Allen Klein were able to prevent ATV from becoming majority stockholders in Northern Songs, whose assets included virtually all the group's song copyrights. Losing control of the company, John Lennon and Paul McCartney elected to sell their share of Northern Songs (and thus their own copyrights), while retaining their writer's royalties. (George Harrison and Ringo Starr retained minority holdings in the company.)

Related Topics:
Beatles - Dick James - Northern Songs - 1963 - 1967 - London Stock Exchange - ATV - Lee Eastman - Allen Klein - John Lennon - Paul McCartney - George Harrison - Ringo Starr

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The sale of one's publishing and copyrights can also be liberating, depending on the circumstances. Singer-songwriters Laura Nyro and Jimmy Webb both sold their publishing in their early twenties, and were able to retire or devote themselves to purely artistic efforts. Porter Wagoner and Janis Ian each ran into financial trouble due to mismanagement, and were only able to avoid bankruptcy by selling their publishing.

Related Topics:
Laura Nyro - Jimmy Webb - Porter Wagoner - Janis Ian

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