Basics of Music Publishing and Licensing — Masil
Music publishing is the business of promotion and monetization of musical compositions.
Music publishers ensure that songwriters receive royalties for their compositions, and also work to generate opportunities for those compositions to be performed and reproduced.
Publishing is the oldest vertical of the music business. It was there long before the first recording mediums came around, and in the early 20th century, sheet music publishing pretty much ran the music business. Publishers were in charge of putting compositions to paper, producing songbooks, distributing them to the stores, and compensating authors for the commercial use of their works.
Back in the day, that meant paying them a percentage of songbook sales — today, it involves collecting royalties across the industry on their behalf.
There are two known copyrights for every track.
One copyright for the sound recording, and one copyright for the composition.
The Sound Recording (Master Rights)
When artists say they “own their masters”, they mean the copyright to the original recordings of their music — also known as the master rights.
Whoever owns the master rights to the original sound recording of a song will earn royalties whenever that song’s recording is broadcast or reproduced — and yes that includes streaming and downloads when you release music to any major streaming platforms or online stores.
The copyright to the Sound Recording is usually owned by the artist or record label.
The Composition (Publishing Rights)
The Composition or “Musical Work” refers to the underlying musical elements, structure and composition of a song. This may or may not also include lyrics.
The composition copyright is usually owned by the original writer or composer of a track.
Thus, we can say that Music Publishing deals exclusively with the royalties generated by a song’s Composition.
There are three primary types of royalties that a publisher helps artists and labels claim. These are;
Performing royalties
Mechanical royalties
Sync licensing royalties
Performing or Performance Royalties
Performing royalties are paid to songwriters and publishers whenever a musical composition is performed or broadcast publicly.
This includes cases like:
– Live performances
– Public broadcasts
– Radio airplay
– Digital streams
Now you know when performing royalties are due, let’s discuss how they’re actually paid out.
Performing royalties are paid whenever a composition is performed live, broadcast or streamed.
But how does this work in practice?
Performing royalties are collected by Performing Right Organisations (PROs), which are responsible for passing this revenue onto music publishers, songwriters and composers.
We’ll get into more detail around Performing Right Organisations further on, but first let’s go through the scenarios in which performing royalties are due.
Live performances
It’s surprising how often artists are unaware they could be claiming royalties every time they play live — and that applies to any venue from pubs and clubs to stadiums and festivals.
You can collect the performing royalties you’re owed by registering any live performances with your music publisher or PRO. Performing royalty rates will vary depending on venue, with performances at larger venues commanding higher rates than smaller ones.
Radio Airplay
Radio airplay is always a great promotional boost, but it’s also a potential earner. Whenever your music is played on the radio — whether that’s terrestrial, digital or internet stations — performing royalties are generated.
Radio stations usually have the right to play whatever music they like. They then report the number of plays each and every track has received and pay out performing royalties to PROs via all-inclusive license fees — and just like live performances, royalty rates will vary depending on the size and reach of the radio station in question
Public Broadcasts
Public broadcasts are counted whenever a recording of your music is broadcast in any kind of private enterprise, from tracks being played over the PA in your local supermarket or railway station to the jukebox in your local pub or bar.
Once again, venues will pay all-inclusive license fees to PROs for the right to play music in their establishment. This money will then be distributed by the PROs to publishers and songwriters in the form of performing royalties.
Digital Streams
Whenever a listener streams a song on a platform like Spotify or Apple Music, a performing royalty is generated. This is because, legally, a performance has taken place whenever a piece of music is streamed — even privately, at home.
However, performing royalties for digital streams are complicated. Following standard practice, streaming platforms will pay out performing royalties to PROs, who then pass on those royalties to songwriters and publishers. But performing royalties are often lumped together with mechanical royalties (which are also due for every stream) in order to streamline the whole process.
Again, as long you’re registered with a reputable, global music publisher, you’ll receive both performing and mechanical royalties for every stream
That’s all you need to know about performance royalties.
Mechanical royalties
Mechanical royalties are owed every time a copy of a musical composition (also referred to as a Musical Work) is made. This applies when a song is recreated in just about any format.
Earlier, these royalties were paid every time a song was mechanically reproduced as a CD or other physical medium.
Nowadays, mechanical royalty payments have been extended to online sales. They’re generated whenever a composition is streamed or downloaded on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon.
That means you could be earning additional mechanical royalties on top of your existing royalty payments every time someone plays your song on Spotify.
And as mechanical royalties are paid in relation to the composition of a song (rather than the sound recording), when someone reproduces and releases your material as a cover version, you’re also owed mechanical royalties.
How are Mechanical Royalties paid?
Major music platforms pay mechanical royalties for streams, sales and downloads to mechanical right collection societies.
Most countries have their own mechanical right society and any mechanical royalties generated in that region are paid to the local society.
For example, in the US mechanical royalties are collected by Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and Harry Fox Agency (HFA). While in the UK they’re processed by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS).
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Each country region has its mechanical rights society… You don’t have to worry about these, a good publisher will help you claim from every territory your royalties are due.
Sync Licensing
Sync licensing (or “synchronisation licensing”) refers to all the music that is used to “support visual content”.
So that includes placements in TV programs, films, advertisements, video games. Think of the songs that get featured in FIFA games, or the tracks you hear in car commercials.
As you can imagine, this kind of exposure can introduce your music to A LOT of new people, as well as forming an association between your sound and a particular brand, product or idea
Sync journey begins with Music Supervisors providing “briefs” to Music Publishers.
This brief will be relevant to a project they’re currently working on. For example, a sports fashion brand may be looking for high energy hip-hop to use on their advertising campaign for a new line of shoes.
Publishers will then search through their roster of artists and pitch any music they think will suit that particular brief.
But here’s the really exciting part — a flat fee will be paid for a sync license.
A sync license gives that brand the right to use a certain piece of music in their content. It is usually negotiated on a case by case basis, but could be up to $10,000 or more for just one placement!
And it gets better.
On top of the flat fee, additional music royalties will be collected and paid every time the placement is broadcast.
That means one well-placed sync could be earning royalties for years to come!
So now you’re thinking, well surely that’s only for big artists with huge fan bases? But you’d be wrong…
Sync is not just for the big artists! It offers a great way for any artist to fund their music career, no matter where they are in their career. As long as the music fits the visuals, any song has a chance.
Platforms like TikTok and YouTube are the latest big players in the world of sync. They’ve started acting as pseudo-A&R services, discovering emerging artists already active on their platform and ‘breaking’ them with an advertising campaign, all while maintaining the authenticity.
Now we know what sync is and why it’s so important for artists. But you want to know how to land a sync deal, of course?
First of all, for music to be eligible for sync placements, two licenses must be cleared:
1. The master copyright
This covers the song’s sound recording and is usually held by the artist or the record label.
2. The publishing copyright
This covers the song’s composition and is usually owned by the songwriter.
But if you have signed a music publishing deal then it will be held by your publisher.
If there is more than one songwriter, they will all need to give permission in order for the license to be cleared.
After getting this in check, you’ll have to know about metadata. What they are and stuff.
Generally, Metadata is so important when it comes to landing a coveted sync placement.
Make sure that all of your metadata is present and correct to be eligible for pitching for sync.
The names of the composer and any co-writers must be correct and sent to your publisher so that the license can be easily cleared.
After that, you’ll need to join a collection society.
Even if you’re not pitching for sync just yet, do it anyway.
The sync license will need to be cleared with them at some point, so it’s important that you are a direct member of your country’s royalty collection societies.
These are BMI, ASCAP, Apra Amcos, etc.
There’s also one here in Nigeria
But I’d always advice you join BMI just to be safe.
Now you know what sync licensing is and how it can work for you as an independent artist, it’s time to start landing those deals! 🥲
So, what are the different types of music publishing companies? I always advice you DYOR to know which fits best with you.
These are a few top ones to join
– SonyATV
– UMGPUB
– Sentric Music
– Ditto Music Publishing
– ROBA Music Publishing
– Concord Music Publishing
And of course, Few Music Publishing from my company Few Distribution.
Macdonald George, founder of Few Distribution, LLC (@fewdistribution).
