What up Playa? You should now be starting to see the big picture. There's no business like the entertainment business. But here's the problem: you always put on a show, but you're not taking care of business. If you are a young artist just starting out, you probably don't know much about the rules and regulations of the Music Industry.
You might have read a few articles or books about the music business here and there, but unless you are a lawyer, you probably didn't understand them. Don't worry, I have your back. Think of me as your music business guardian angel. I'm here to help you make your show more business-like. Let's face it: the music business is a well-oiled machine made to do one thing: make money. As you go through your career, you will notice that there is always someone waiting to take advantage of your skills and success. No matter how big you get, you will never be able to get rid of the middleman all the way. You can screw up your face all you want, but if you think you can cut out the middleman, you need to close your eyes and go back to La-La Land, because homie, you're still dreaming. Even if you become a Hip Hop mogul like Russell Simmons or P. Diddy, you still have to answer to someone else, and that person is usually making more money than you are. Okay, I'll stop here because I'm known for going off on a tangent about the many, many ways in which the music business is not fair in terms of money. So let's talk as soon as possible about getting paid...
Take care of your money
Now that we've established that other people will be making money off of your skills, let's talk about how you can start to do the same. I get a million and one email every week with questions about the music business. "What is publishing, and what does it have to do with me?" is the most common question. Publishing is a pretty hard subject, so I'll try to explain it as simply as I can. Class, please sit down and pay attention.
Publishing is how you make money off of songs you've written. This cash comes from two different places.
- Source #1: Mechanical Royalties. This is the money that record companies give to the publisher for songs that have been mechanically recorded (pressed-up) on record or CD.
- Source #2: Public Performance Income. This is also called "performing rights," and it lets other people use your music on the radio, TV, movies, and other places.
Playa put on the brakes! You don't have a right to all of the money; only a part of it is yours. Let me explain. Publishing Royalties are a simple term for all of the money made from publishing music. There are two parts to publishing royalties: the part that goes to the publisher and the part that goes to the writer. Think of the shares as two halves of a pie. The publishers' half is 50% of the pie, and the writers' half is 50% of the pie. Together, these two halves make up 100% of Music Publishing Income.
The publisher gets both shares and gives the writer's share to the person or people who wrote the song. The person who owns or controls the rights to the song is called the Publisher. This means they own it and can do whatever they want with it, like rent it out for movies or sheet music. Also, giving other singers the green light to record it again. Whether you decide to self-publish or not, as a songwriter you will have to deal with a Publisher at some point. The main benefit of self-publishing is that you have full control over your copyrights, but if you don't have the time, energy, and money to do what a publisher does, you should learn how to play "Let's Make a Deal."
What a Publisher can do for you as a songwriter
- Sign up your songs with agencies that collect royalties, such as BMI, ASCAP, SEASAC, and the Harry Fox Agency.
- Put a patent on your songs so that your butt is known all over the world.
- Set up deals for music books and sheet music of your songs to be made and sold.
- Make sure your songs are on the radio, in video games, like downloadable ringtones, in movies, and everywhere else you can think of.
- Protect yourself from people who try to steal your work by sampling, sharing files, or bootlegging.
- Grow as a writer and get your name out there.
- Working on your behalf to get licenses
Your best bet is to work out a co-publishing deal with a big publisher. This way, things will be done right and you won't go crazy in the process. There are so many different kinds of publishing agreements that it would be hard to describe them all in detail. However, you should only agree to a deal that you can live with. If you think about the long term, your money will grow. If you think about the short term, your next song might be for Food Stamps.
