OffKey Season 3 Episode 6: Publishers & Publishing Agreements
This week on OffKey, we’re looking at a key player on the Songwriter’s Team: the Music Publisher. Featured in this episode are the insights and expertise of: Norman Arnold, a composer and producer based in LA with experience working for Warner Bros., Disney, NBC, CNN, and more; Mark Jowett, the co-founder of Nettwerk Music Group and head of A&R and Publishing; Karen Kosowski, songwriter and producer based in Nashville; and Byron Pascoe, an entertainment lawyer at Edwards Creative Law. We discussed the role of music publishers, opportunities for songwriters in sync, and what to look out for in publishing deals.
Publishers & Publishing Agreements
If a songwriter wants to make money from their work, they need to get it out into the world and there are some key players that help to make this happen. As we discussed in the episode on the Songwriter, many songwriters write on their own; however, co-writing is very important to songwriting in the industry these days, especially in popular music and for film and TV. We all know some great co-writing teams such as Paul McCartney and John Lennon or Elton John and Bernie Taupin, but the co-writing I’m referring to is less about exclusive long-term writing relationships and more about bringing various skilled songwriters together into a room to write great songs to be placed with a particular artist or in a particular film or TV show. A key player on the songwriter’s team that is instrumental in bringing songwriters together and finding these placements is the music publisher, which is the primary team player we’ll focus on in this episode.
As the Canadian Music Publishers Association puts it, the publisher can be understood as the “manager of songs” or the “place where songwriters and artists connect”.
Along with setting up co-writing sessions, music publishers play a role in finding placements for songwriters’ songs in movies or TV shows. Synchronization placements or “sync” are great opportunities to to make money on the composition side.
Another key player on the songwriter’s team is the entertainment lawyer. Songwriters and artists are essentially small businesses, and in order to understand the business side of a creative industry like music, the lawyer is an extremely helpful resource. Any creator starting out should be aware of the risks of signing a contract that they do not fully understand — and when legal lingo is involved, agreements can be challenging to unpack.
One type of agreement that is important for songwriters to be aware of is the publishing deal. When a songwriter signs a contract with a publisher, they grant the company the sole right to publish their songs during the term specified in the contract. The publishing company then takes a percentage of royalties from the sales of the song, which varies depending on the contract.
As we’ve learned, any contract can be totally different from the next and one should always unpack the fine print. However, there are a few general things to look out for when considering an agreement, including the term of the contract, the royalty splits, and the ownership of the songs.
If you’re a songwriter starting out, your songwriting process may be simply you with your notebook, keyboard, or laptop creating music on your own. However, as you build your career, the team members that you take on — whether they’re cowriters, producers, publishers, music supervisors, etc. — will likely be instrumental in finding opportunities and taking your career as a songwriter to the next level.
Thank you to Norman Arnold, Mark Jowett, Karen Kosowski, and Byron Pascoe for their contributions to this episode!
If you have any topics you would like me to cover in future episodes, please feel free to reach out via email to offkey@membran.net. Otherwise I can be found on Instagram at @membranlabs or @taliyasw
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