Typically when a song is
licensed into a TV or Film project there is only one publisher. If the writer of the song hasn't assigned his
or her publishing rights to a third party, they are by default the publisher of
the song. In other words, if you write a
song, you are the songs' publisher and are entitled to all publishing rights
unless you give them to someone else.
Having a good publisher on
your side can be a valuable asset if they have solid relationships with music
supervisors. In fact I typically suggest songwriters seek out publishers and/or
licensing agents and the like when they are first starting out, because in most
cases it's easier to get music placed this way than functioning as your own publisher
and trying to cultivate relationships with music supervisors yourself. There
are always exceptions and every case is different, but as a general rule I
suggest songwriters seek out third parties to help them pitch their music and
this almost always entails giving up some or all of your publishing royalties
for songs that are successfully placed on your behalf.
Yet another variation on
the typical songwriter/publisher relationship is something known as
"co-publishing". The way this type of deal works is really simple.
Under a co-publishing arrangement, a third party will shop your music, but
instead of taking all of the songs' publishing for music they successfully
license, they only take a percentage, usually 50%. This leaves the remaining 50% of the
publishing as well as 100% of the writer's royalty. The remaining 50% of the publishing could go
directly to you, if you as the writer initiated this type of deal, or someone
else if they've initiated this type of deal on your behalf.
This is the route I suggest new
publishers and licensing agents take in the beginning of their ventures. New publishers probably don't have the
necessary relationships in place to start licensing music. Co-publishing deals offer an alternative to
traditional licensing deals. The benefit to the established publisher is that
someone else is bringing them music they probably wouldn't have known about
otherwise, and the benefit to the lesser established publisher is that they are
able to benefit from the connections of those they enter into co-publishing
arrangements with.
As a writer, in order to co-publish
your tracks and receive royalties for publishing you'll need to establish
yourself as a publisher and form your own publishing company. This is very easy to do. It's just a matter of filling out an
application and paying an application fee.
Check with your PRO's website for information on how to do this.
Music Licensing Audio Interview Bundle
Over the
last couple years I've done 20 one on one audio interviews with some of the
most knowledgeable and hard working people in the music licensing
business. I've interviewed supervisors,
publishers, music library owners, songwriters, producers, film composers, a
songwriting team, a stock music expert, Sublime's ex saxophonist, an SEO expert
and more.
These
interviews together contain over 15 hours of some of the best training you'll
find on how to license your music, how to market your music, how to make money
in the music business and more. I've
always said there is no better way to learn about the music business than to
learn directly from people working in the business.
I've
recently re-mastered and re-edited all 20 interviews and am pleased to make
them available to you in one easy to download zip file containing mp3s of all
twenty interviews.
I'm going
to sell "The Music Licensing Interview Bundle" for $19.97 but if you purchase
it between now and Sunday you can get all 20 interviews for just $9.97.
If you're a
fan of my site and work and want to learn more about how to license your music and support my site at the same time, please consider purchasing this specially priced
package today.
Visit http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/music-licensing-interview-bundle.php to access the interviews
immediately.
