If you´re actively seeking licensing deals and you're shopping your music to music libraries, publishers, etc it behooves you to be familiar with the various types of publishing deals in advance. This way, if and when you are offered a deal you'll be able to make an informed and timely decision. Sometimes songs are needed in a time sensitive manner and if you drag your feet too long you
might just miss out on some potentially great opportunities. So be sure to do research in advance so that you understand the business you are trying to break into.

The 50/50 Split
This is perhaps the most standard of agreements that you'll encounter with music publishers and music libraries in the licensing business. In this agreement you split everything 50/50, both licensing fees and performance royalties. Sometimes publishers will also deduct additional costs that are incurred in the marketing of your music or take an additional percentage from the licensing fees they
generate in order to cover their expenses, but these are typically very nominal.

Exclusive VS Non Exclusive
Some publishers will only represent songs that they pitch exclusively and others are willing to work with songs on a non exclusive basis. Some publishers want exclusivity in perpetuity (forever) and others will want exclusivity for a finite period of time (one to three years). Whether or not you sign your songs or some of your songs exclusively to a publisher should be evaluated on a case by casebasis. You'll need to evaluate both where you are as a songwriter and the publisher in question in order to determine whether or not it makes sense for you.

There is nothing wrong with giving up some of your rights in order to benefit from the established relationships and connections that an established publisher
will have. It's also important to keep in mind that when you sign exclusively with a publisher in the context of the music licensing industry, generally speaking, they only get the rights to shop your music within the context of the music licensing industry. If a song that you signed to a music publisher exclusively to be pitched to tv and film opportunities was later released on a CD, your TV/Film music publisher would not be entitled to any of the royalties the sales of this CD generates. Again, this is generally the case. Be sure to read all contracts that your presented with thoroughly, and if you need to, consult with an entertainment attorney to make sure you are completely informed about any deals you are entering into.

You will also find variations on the above. For example, some publishers will place your music for only half of the publishing royalty, in other words 25% of the overall royalty. These are known as "co-publishing" deals.  These types of deals aren't as common in my experience, but they do exist and if you have registered your own publishing company you can make additional income from the remaining percentage of publishing royalties that are generated by these types of deals.