Who To Contact: Music Supervisors Or Music Publishers?
Published: Wed, 08/12/09
A good publisher will already have established relationships with supervisors. Since the focus of a music publisher is on getting music placed and not creating music, they obviously have a lot more time to develop the relationships and connections necessary to get music licensed. Of course publishers work for all or a piece of the publishing royalties a song generates, so be prepared to give up this piece of your performance royalty if you sign with a publisher.
There are no rules, per se, against songwriters working directly with music supervisors and it certainly happens, but depending on the supervisor in question it can be much harder to get your music listened to this way. Supervisors tend to like to get music from sources they know and trust and this is where music publishers come in.
So, to sum up, you can get your music licensed either through an established publisher or by directly through music supervisors. I would suggest that if you're new to licensing that you start by focusing on music publishers. They are usually easier to get in touch with and are more receptive to hearing music from unknown artists.
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