From the course: The Business of Songwriting: First Steps

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What is a music publisher?

What is a music publisher?

From the course: The Business of Songwriting: First Steps

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What is a music publisher?

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Let's talk about music publishers. Now the first thing to know is that music publishing is a business, and a for profit business. The second thing to know is that music publishers, on their own, don't write songs. They don't record songs, and they don't perform songs. So, given that music publishers don't do any of these things, yet make up a significant part of the songwriting industry, what do music publishers do to earn their piece of the pie. In a nutshell, music publishers make sure songwriters get paid. Their job is to exploit musical assets, songs. And that's exploit in the positive sense of the word. Publishers want to maximize with each song is worth. For example, via placements in TV, and film, cover songs, and any other usage. The professional publisher has the means and contacts to sell the sheet music version of your song. Or an instrumental version, or a ukulele version. Usually publishers have connections in the business that songwriters don't have. Plus, they have the…

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