AUTHOR: Pamela Parker TITLE: Consider Music Publishers DATE: 12/14/2006 11:42:00 AM ----- BODY:
I attended a mixer hosted by the Austin Music Foundation the other night. (This is a really great group, by the way, which offers a wide variety services to musicians who are serious about building a career. It's worth checking out if you are in the central Texas area) During a conversation I was having with a songwriter, she made the comment, in passing, that of course she was planning to keep her own publishing rights because she understood she would make more money that way. I've heard that before, and I think it is a pretty common belief among many musicians. Most large record labels require their acts to sign over the publishing rights to their songs as another way to make money - or recoup their expenses, depending on how you look at it. For most acts, little to no benefit is gained by the act in that type of arrangement. But the truth is that a good music publishing company is well worth looking into. The publishers' job is to sell your songs. And they do have incentive to do so, because that's how they make their money. A good publisher will have lots of industry contacts to keep posted on who is looking for music. They'll also subscribe to the insider tip sheets - valuable material for someone serious about selling songs, but very expensive for an individual who is only selling their own catalogue. Bottom line is that if you want to sell songs, you should be courting music publishers as well as the end user buyers. But choose a publisher carefully. Research and ask questions like these:

Ultimately, what you are looking for is a publisher that actively searches for opportunities and has a sales plan to includes all of its catalogue. Answers to these and other questions will help you find a publisher that can actually make you money.

-------- AUTHOR: Pamela Parker TITLE: Consider Music Publishers DATE: 12/14/2006 11:42:00 AM ----- BODY:
I attended a mixer hosted by the Austin Music Foundation the other night. (This is a really great group, by the way, which offers a wide variety services to musicians who are serious about building a career. It's worth checking out if you are in the central Texas area) During a conversation I was having with a songwriter, she made the comment, in passing, that of course she was planning to keep her own publishing rights because she understood she would make more money that way. I've heard that before, and I think it is a pretty common belief among many musicians. Most large record labels require their acts to sign over the publishing rights to their songs as another way to make money - or recoup their expenses, depending on how you look at it. For most acts, little to no benefit is gained by the act in that type of arrangement. But the truth is that a good music publishing company is well worth looking into. The publishers' job is to sell your songs. And they do have incentive to do so, because that's how they make their money. A good publisher will have lots of industry contacts to keep posted on who is looking for music. They'll also subscribe to the insider tip sheets - valuable material for someone serious about selling songs, but very expensive for an individual who is only selling their own catalogue. Bottom line is that if you want to sell songs, you should be courting music publishers as well as the end user buyers. But choose a publisher carefully. Research and ask questions like these:

Ultimately, what you are looking for is a publisher that actively searches for opportunities and has a sales plan to includes all of its catalogue. Answers to these and other questions will help you find a publisher that can actually make you money.

----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Ryan Michael Galloway DATE:1/05/2007 01:00:00 AM Great post. What do you think of businesses like Taxi.com that are supposed to do the same thing (shop your songs) for a one-time fee. I've heard they have a good reputation, but what have YOU heard.

RMG ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Pamela Parker DATE:1/09/2007 03:28:00 PM Services like TAXI are a kind of in between of music publishers and the songwriter him/herself.

A well run service spends the time and money to cultivate industry contacts and build their credibility as a quality source for music. They serve the industry by giving them access to indie music but screening it for them to find quality songs and recordings. They serve songwriters by giving them the opportunity to submit for song placements without having to personally keep up with tip sheets and their own industry contacts.

In short, these services can be valuable for songwriters, either as a beginning step into song sales or a supplement to other efforts. It's up to the songwriter to research each particular service to see if they have a wide range of contacts and a good pipeline of song requests.

TAXI is one of the better of these services, as they actively cultivate and seek sources, and have slowly gained built their reputation as a worthwhile source of songs. Other services do nothing more than subscribe to tip sheets and pass songs along. Those need to be more carefully evaluated as to the cost vs benefit to the songwriter.

I do not think that any service should completely replace the songwriters own efforts to find their own placements, whether personally or through a representative like a publisher, agent, manager, or attorney. ----- --------