What is the difference between recorded music and music publishing

It would try to convince these people to play or perform your songs. Both are great opportunities, they just have different approaches. Subscribe to The Hub to read and learn the best about the Music and the Entertainment industries!

It seems like it was just yesterday when the songs Dani Earlier this week we attended one of the most compelling musical performances we have ever Scott Cohen — London Scott Cohen is one of the most influential executives in Industry Music Publishing deals vs Record Subscribe to The HUB. Record Deals. Post Views: 44, Why Songtrust? General Publishing Questions.

Royalty Collections. In exchange, you will get a share of royalties collected by the publisher. Wait, though — it gets more complicated:. Whenever the song is created, there are two equal shares of royalties attached to it. The split between the publisher and the songwriter — and the nature of the work the publisher will do on the author's behalf — depends on the type of publishing deal.

There are few common publishing scenarios that became industry standards throughout the years — so let's through them one by one. The full-publishing deals used to be the standard of the industry back in the day. The full-publishing deal covers all the material songwriters will create during the duration of the contract — usually with some kind of contractual obligation for a minimum of number of songs written.

For all the compositions written, the songwriter will assign lifetime copyright to the publisher — the publisher will own his share forever. In exchange, the publisher will provide full-circle services to the songwriters, proactively promoting the published material, pitching the songwriter across the industry and so on. In addition, the publisher will put forward an advance, recouped by the writer's share until made whole. Co-Publishing deal is the most common contract in the publishing industry nowadays.

Co-Publishing deals are commonplace for the mid-level songwriters, that are still in need of the promotional support from the publisher but have enough negotiating power to skew the deal in their favor compared to the full-publishing agreement. It might take a while, though — the duration of rights is set up on a case by case basis, ranging from 2 years to 20 and more. Otherwise, the co-publishing deals are a lot like traditional full-publishing.

The songwriters, in their turn, will commit to the minimum number of songs deliverable under the contract duration. For both co-pub and full-pub deals, the sync fees splits will be defined on a case by case basis. Essentially, the publisher will maximise and collect all the sync revenues, and distribute it according to whatever the individual deal is — once again, it will come down to the negotiating power of the songwriter.

Administration deals are a whole other breed of publishing services. Essentially, under the admin deal, the publisher has only one role — collecting and auditing the royalties on behalf of the artist. For that reason, the admin deals are usually longer than the co-publishing once, stretching up to 5 years. Administration deals are commonplace for the well-established songwriters and recording artists writing their own compositions. They do, however, need someone to register their work with all the CMOs around the globe, audit and claim their royalties, look over and renew countless sync, and so on.

So, the triple-A songwriters usually go for administration deals — keeping full control over their music, while maximizing the incoming royalties. The same generally goes for the artists that write music for themselves, focusing entirely on the recording side of the business. That is precisely why most of the distribution aggregators, like TuneCore and CDBaby , offer publishing administration deals in addition to distributing their music to the likes of Spotify.

But what does the future hold for the industry? One could argue that the trends we see today across the publishing business are not that different from what we see on the recording label side. Record labels would sign an artist, take a massive stake in the master, and invest heavily in costly recording process and release promotion. A successful musician without a label was, basically, unimaginable. The new digital music industry is a place of self-promotion and self-production.

The success story in the music industry used to be about 10 songwriters carefully engineering a top song in the major-run studio. This new breed of publishing companies is a lot like distributors on the recording side, building their services around a well-oiled, automated collection pipeline.

In a way, you could see the same thing happening in the publishing business. Content creator for Soundcharts. Deciphering the music business so you don't have to.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more Got it! All Mechanics Music Markets Insiders. Log in Get Started. Get Started. By Dmitry Pastukhov Published November 20, Jump to What is Music Publishing? The 2 Types of Music Copyrights: Composition vs. While labels still fund and assist with this aspect of their artist's careers, there's been a significant decline in artist development on the label side, and often the labels expect a large portion of this to be accomplished prior to a record deal being offered.

Music publishers will take on this responsibility for artists early on in an artist's career if a music publishing deal is in place. If not, often this falls to an artist's manager, or many times, the artist themselves, at least until they have a manager, or a publishing or label deal.

A " deal" is a term used to refer to a deal where a record label or music publisher participates or takes a percentage of the artist's revenues from touring, merchandise, and any other income or revenue streams that are not directly from music publishing or album sales. This is usually justified due to the amount of resources, opportunities, money and investment artists often receive or need from both record labels and music publishers, and on the label side at least, the decline in digital download and physical record or album sales.

Publishers are also now often participating in some or all additional revenue streams of their artists who are also songwriters, due to the decline in artist development being done by labels early on in an artist's career, as well as most artist's need for development, and the risks and costs of artist development.

Typically however, the percentages and revenue streams music publishers participate in are less the amount that labels take part in. Now you have a basic understanding of the differences between record deals and music publishing deals.

Of course, every deal or contract is negotiable, can be slightly different, and full of complex details and terms. You should always seek out the advice and representation of a qualified entertainment or music attorney in order to adequately look out for your best interests in any music publishing or record deal you may be offered.

If you want any additional information or need assistance or advice with a publishing or label deal, contact us at The Fruitful Firm anytime. Zach Scott Gainous is an entertainment and music attorney in Nashville and the founder and managing attorney of Nashville music and entertainment law firm The Fruitful Firm. Zach regularly provides legal expertise, advice and representation to clients across many industries or professions, including music, entertainment, sports, media, technology, and more.