Music Publishing & Songwriting

Had an interesting question come in, pertaining to the last week’s blog “The Place To Start In 2009”. Terry Wilkinson writes:

“Excellent blog, but can you explain how you would parlay a booking agent career into a successful music publishing career? I’m very interested!”

It occurred to me in reading that comment that while I’ve often suggested that artist managers, djs, club owners and booking agents should consider expanding into music publishing, I’ve never really told people how to do it. It’s strange sometimes how you think that because something is clear in your own mind, it must be clear to others—only to find that it’s anything but. I remember a guitar instructor telling me once “I can’t hear the music you might be hearing in your head. All I can hear is what you’re playing”.

So for those who may already have careers in other areas of the music business—whether it’s booking clubs, managing artists, spinning records, promoting to radio, or running a live music venue—here’s why and HOW I think you should be in the music publishing business.

First, keep in mind that you are already one step ahead in the single most challenging area of music publishing: finding talent and new songs. If you are booking clubs, even in a small local area, you are seeing new artists and bands at the very earliest stage in their development. If you are a good booking agent, you know which of those artists is building a following, who has a song that’s starting to have a life of its own, and who might be on the verge of being discovered by a label. If you are a good manager, you can spot the gifted songwriter or performer that just needs development and some solid career strategy. If you’re a hot dj, you know the underground records that are making the club crowd go nuts. This kind of knowledge is the core of A&R, and it is the most essential element in any music publishing business. Everything else is sales and marketing, and accounting.

Secondly, booking agents, managers, club owners, and others also probably already possess another of the key skills that every publisher needs—they know how to develop talent. In fact, if a publisher were to sign a young, developing singer-songwriter, the first thing the publisher would try to do is find them a good manager. The next step would be to find a booking agent. Clearly, if a manager or booking agent were to actually become a publisher, they would have one less step to take in that development process.

Here’s the 4-Step Process for Getting Started:

1. Find The Songs and the Songwriters.If you’re in a position to hear new artists at an early point in their career, then it’s simply a matter of watching for the emerging stars—particularly those whose success is centered on their songwriting abilities. It won’t do you so much good to find the next Rihanna. You need to find the next KT Tunstall. You may find that the real songwriter in the band is the keyboard player who never gets noticed on stage. You may see that someone is an incredible songwriter, but a marginal performer. The key is to find the person with the ability to write great songs—that’s what publishing is built on.

2.Start Your Own Publishing Company

There’s a reason that this is Step 2. You can’t ask songwriters to sign to a publishing company that exists only in your own mind. That’s exploitative (in a bad way) and damaging to the artist or writer. I’m a big proponent of being aggressive on the business end, and taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible. I am NEVER a proponent of conning gullible young artists into bad deals. You need to have a real publishing company set up, and a plan for how you are going to operate it, before you go out and build a roster of writers and a song catalog.

3.Sign Up Some Songs

Once your company is in place, it’s time to approach the songwriters in whom you’ve identified some potential, and try to sign them to publishing deals. These could range from single song deals (in which you would publish one specific song in their catalog) to exclusive writer agreements (in which you would publish everything they write for the next several years) to limited catalog deals (where you might publish only the songs for the album they currently have out).

It may be necessary to pay some money to the writers as “advances” in order to inticen them to sign to you. Or you may be able to offer them other professional services in lieu of an advance. They may be happy to sign to you, just to have someone working with their music, or to be moved up your priority list in terms of bookings or future gigs. Whatever it takes, you’ll need a signed contract that clearly outlines the terms of the publishing agreement, and the duration of the deal.

4.Make Music Make Money

Now that you’re up and running, the challenge is to get your writers’ music used in as many ways as possible. Not just to book a Saturday night show, but to get their song played on the radio. Not only to get them a key opening slot opening for the hot touring act, but to get their song placed in a television show, or featured on an advertisement. Maybe there’s another artist you book, someone much more successful, who would be interested in doing a cover version of one of the songs from your writer. The fundamental function of a music publisher is to get the songs in the catalog placed in as many money-making venues as possible. If you do that one thing well, your publishing company will almost invariably be a success.

Sure—this is a simple overview of the music publishing world. There’s much more to it and some of it, especially a knowledge of administration and protection is essential stuff. But all of that can be learned. If you’re interested in finding the knowledge you need to operate your own music publishing company, check out my book “Making Music Make Money: An Insider’s Guide To Becoming Your Own Music Publisher” or even better, join up for Berkleemusic’s “Music Publishing 101”, which I designed. By the time your done with the 12 week course, you’ll have all of the information you need, and most of the groundwork laid, to get straight to work in your own music publishing business.

But here’s the most important part: the pay-off. Why go to all the work of starting a music publishing business—especially if you’re already a successful agent, manager, or club owner? It’s a matter of long-term ownership—that’s the place where fortunes are made.

Thousands of club owners, booking agents probably saw John Mayer, Colbie Caillat, Nickelback, or John Legend playing in clubs during the early days of their careers. Many of them probably booked those artists in small clubs and showcase venues. Some may have become friends, or supporters, or even helped out financially when times got tight. But once those artists’ music broke through, all the early supporters had little to show for it, other than bragging rights as having discovered the next big thing.

If one of those people had offered a fair, lucrative, win-win publishing deal to the artist at a critical juncture in their early career, they might have been able to have a long-term stake in a catalog of songs that would now be worth millions. If you don’t believe me, read up on David Geffen, and his early involvement with publishing on several key artists on his management roster.

Thanks for the query Tim— hope this is helpful. I encourage you and anyone who finds themselves working with new, developing talent, to start thinking about expanding your business into the world of music publishing. You’re already part of the way there…