Publishing Royalties Explained
Published: Wed, 05/27/09
Hey ,
Today I want to go over exactly how publishing royalties work and what publishing royalties are in the context of music licensing. For some this may seem rather basic. My apologies in advance if you already know this. But based on many of the people I speak with about the music licensing business and many of the emails I receive, there seems to be a bit of confusion about this topic. So I wanted to make sure you are aware of exactly how publishing royalties work so you can make an informed decision when it comes to whether or not you want to assign your publishing rights to someone else.
Whenever a song is aired in a television broadcast the song, assuming it is properly registered with a Performing Rights Organization, generates what is called a Performance Royalty. The Performance Royalty consists of two halves, one half is called the writer´s share and the other half is called the publisher´s share. If you have not assigned your publishing rights to a separate publisher and the song is aired on television you would receive both halves, or in other words 100% of the performance royalty. If, on the other hand, your song was placed through a separate publisher to whom you have given your publishing rights to, you would receive half of the total performance royalty and your publisher would receive the other half, the publisher´s share.
It´s important to point out that music publishers who work in the music licensing industry typically only keep publishing for songs within the context of TV, Films, Video Games, Advertising, etc. In other words, within the niches they are pitching your songs to. Additionally, when you assign your publishing rights to a music publisher working in the licensing business, you are usually only assigning them the publishing rights as they apply to the specific recording of the song that you are entering into a publishing agreement for. This is what´s called a Master Sync License. If you´re song ended up being re-recorded and released on an album, or even if it was the exact same version of the song for that matter, you´re TV/Film music publisher would not be entitled to publishing rights for this song for either radio airplay or CD sales under normal circumstances. Of course, if you signed a contract that stipulated that your publisher was entitled to these rights then they would be, but this is not common practice for music publishers who specialize in TV and Film placements.
Hopefully this helps clear up the publishing issue a bit. For some reason publishers seem to get a bad rap. I think this probably is related to horror stories we´ve all heard about famous musicians entering into bad deals where they unknowingly signed away huge portions of their income. In my experience though, I´ve actually had the most success working with publishers who already have the necessary relationships established within the industry. And at the end of the day, music publishers, just like you and I, want to get paid. Fair enough.
Want to learn how to license your music in TV and Films? Then be sure, if you haven´t already, to check out my program on the music licensing business called The A To Z Of Music Licensing. It´s the most comprehensive program available on the topic of music licensing and is based on what is now close to seven years of experience working in the music licensing industry. This program includes EVERYTHING you need to know to enter into and succeed in the music licensing business, including in depth information about how the licensing industry works as well as a comprehensive directory of places to submit your music.
From time to time I offer different discounts on different versions of the program. Between today and Friday I´m offering my program with additional coaching via email for $25.00 off the regular price. To check that out go here today.
For a complete list of all my products and services visit my product page here: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/productpage
Happy Songwriting!
Aaron Davison