Presents

Music Publishing 101

Making the Most Money From Your Music
 As a songwriter, you’re owed money What is music publishing?
whenever the music you’ve written is purchased,
streamed, covered, played on the radio, “Music publishing is the owning and exploiting of
performed in public, heard on YouTube, sampled, songs in the form of musical copyrights.”
sold as sheet music, or used as the soundtrack to
a movie, TV show, commercial, video game, or – Randall Wixen, The Plain and Simple Guide to
presentation Music Publishing

Today, songwriters have more opportunities In most aspects of life, “exploitation” is a bad
than ever to make significant income from their thing, but in the music industry, exploiting musical
songs. Music publishing plays a large role in that copyright is very, very good! It means that the
equation, but it’s also one of the least understood owner of a particular composition (the music and
aspects of the music industry. the lyrics) is putting that song to use in a way that
generates money in the form of:
Access doesn’t equal understanding; and just
because an independent songwriter CAN make • Mechanical royalties
money from publishing these days doesn’t mean • Performance royalties
they know HOW to do it. That’s where CD Baby’s • Licenses for synchronization
“Music Publishing 101” comes in! • Licenses for sampling
• And print rights for sheet music
In this guide we’ll outline the basics and clarify
a few of the more confusing aspects of music
publishing. So let’s get started... So what is a musical copyright
anyway?
Copyright is a designation of intellectual property
similar to a patent or trademark. Once an original
composition has been used in a medium from
which it can be reproduced (having either been
recorded or written down in some fashion), the
composer is granted exclusive rights to that
piece of music, including:

• The right to reproduce the song

• The right to distribute the song
• The right to perform the song
• The right to create derivative works

Fun Fact: Speaking of sheet music, that’s exactly how this whole
business first came to be called music publishing — because back
before the advent of recording and radio, publishing sheet music
was one of the only ways to earn money from a musical copyright.

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MAKING THE MOST MONEY FROM YOUR MUSIC
 One of the keys to music publishing is the fact bargain? As mentioned above, a typical
that every recorded piece of music has two royalty split between the songwriter and
separate copyrights (which are not always the publisher is 50/50 — but 50% is a small
owned or exploited by the same persons or price to pay if they’re using their publishing
parties). expertise to generate big income from the
exploitation of your copyright.
These two separate copyrights are:
Where does the money come from
1. The composition itself — a song’s music
and lyrics, apart from any particular recording
in music publishing?
of that composition. This copyright is owned
Ever wonder why the main songwriter in one
by the songwriter and/or publisher.
of those megastar bands from the 70’s could
afford three mansions when the other guys in
2. The sound recording — a particular
band could only buy one house? Well, music
recorded version of a musical composition.
publishing has the potential to generate big
This copyright is owned by the recording
money for songwriters. Here’s how:
artist and/or label.
Mechanical royalties — As a songwriter/
Music publishing involves the exploitation of
publisher, you are owed a royalty every time
the first of those forms of copyright.
your composition is reproduced (on vinyl,
tape, CD, MP3, etc). The mechanical royalty is
Who owns your publishing rights generally equal to 9.1 cents per reproduced
and how does the money get split? copy (regardless of whether those albums or
singles are sold).
If you’re a songwriter, and you’ve not signed
a deal with a music publishing company This is true whether another artist is covering
— you do! You are considered both the your song or if you’re recording them
songwriter AND the publisher. You are owed yourself. (Though if you’re acting as your own
both shares (50% for the songwriter, and label, you’ll basically be paying that royalty to
50% for the publisher) of any mechanical yourself).
royalties, performance royalties, or licenses
that your songs generate. However, it’s Performance royalties — As a songwriter/
up to you to exploit the copyright to your publisher, you are owed a royalty whenever
compositions, and it’s up to you to collect the your compositions are performed “in public.”
royalty payments. This includes:

The second part of that equation is decidedly • Plays on terrestrial and satellite radio
easier than the first, so it is often beneficial to (Sirius, KEXP, etc.)
work with an established music publisher who • Usage on network and cable TV
can (either for a extended period of time or in • Plays on internet radio
perpetuity) help you expand opportunities to • Online music streaming (Spotify, Pandora,
earn money from your songs. etc.)
• Performance in live venues
What does the publisher get out of the

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MAKING THE MOST MONEY FROM YOUR MUSIC
 Licenses for synchronization — When a Performing Rights Organizations (PROs)
recording is used as the soundtrack for a such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, or SOCAN,
TV show, movie, commercial, video game, who then distribute the money to their
presentation, or YouTube video, a fee is affiliated songwriters and publishers.
owed to the songwriter, the publisher,
AND the copyrighter owner of the master Many songwriters affiliate themselves with
recording. In industry-speak we say that PROs like ASCAP or BMI, but fail to
a recording is “synced” with a moving register as a publisher as well. If you’re
image, thus the term sync licensing! only registered as a songwriter, you
can collect the 50% songwriter share of
Licenses for sampling — Both copyright publishing royalties. But you’d be leaving
holders (the owner of the master recording the publisher’s share on the table. To
and the owner of the composition) are collect ALL the money that’s owed to
owed money when another artist uses a you, sign up with CD Baby Pro Publishing
sample from a one of your recorded songs. Administration (details below) — and
we’ll collect the publisher’s share of your
Print rights for sheet music — As publishing royalties for you!
the songwriter/publisher, you are paid
whenever your composition is duplicated Want help collecting the
in print form, including sheet music, lead
sheets, fake books, etc.
publishing money you are owed?
As you can see, there’s a lot to understand
What is a Performing Rights about music publishing. This guide merely
Organization? skims the surface, but one thing should be
clear: there’s serious money to be earned
Performance royalties are paid by radio from your songs.
stations, venues, and TV networks to

CD Baby wants to make sure you’re getting paid everything you’re owed.

Sign up for CD Baby Pro Publishing Administration to make the most money
from your music.
How It Works
1. We’ll register you with a Performing Rights Organization, if
you aren’t already.
2. We’ll register your songs worldwide (with Performance Rights
Organizations, Mechanical Rights Organizations, YouTube and
more).
3. We’ll collect royalties on your behalf and pay them directly
to you!
Sign up at CDBabyPublishing.com

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MAKING THE MOST MONEY FROM YOUR MUSIC