Music Publishing & LicensingAn evaluation and survey of MDIA 3307

My place in the Industry

Currently ’s social media marketing

advisor Friend and general advisor to local band

Fathers of the Revolution General patron of house shows Co-founder of WIMI: women in music

industry A networking group that holds mentoring

sessions with professionals in the industry

Currently (continued) Visual artist

Album art for Evan Sites’ latest single Gig posters for various artists

The Future Artist Manager

While it poses some difficult work, it’d be a very rewarding position where I could use a very hands-on approach and my natural nurturing personality

Marketing Something I’ve always enjoyed A focus on social media marketing and

lots of visual marketing tactics

The Future (continued) Working for an independent label

Smaller labels have smaller staffs, meaning each person is involved in more aspects of a label’s day to day work and many needs

Publishing Synch licensing

A interesting and engaging mix of creativity, business skills, and people skills

Publisher / administrator Working hard for artists to best exploit their

copyrights would be very rewarding

What I’ve learned about music publishing

Publishing has many facets Not just one revenue stream Made up of many parts

Publishers Mechanical royalties, Performance

royalties Performance Rights Organizations Synchronization licenses Sundry licenses Ect.

Types of Publishing Deals Administrative Deals

Writer(s) retain copyrights, publisher hires administrator who oversees the daily work

Work-for-hire Writer writes song for a company that then

retains the rights to the song Co-Publishing

Usually a 50/50 split Sub-publishing

Deals with foreign administrator

Mechanical Royalties Royalties paid for physical reproductions of

songs The rate for mechanicals is statutory. The current rate for mechanicals is 9.1¢ Mechanical Royalties also apply to covers of

an artist’s songs Once permission for a song has been given

once, the mechanical license becomes compulsory

Harry Fox Agency administers mechanical licenses

Performance Royalties Performance Royalties are earned when

a song is performed, whether it is by the author, the artist it was written for, or a cover

Blanket licenses Performance royalties are collected by

performance rights organizations (PROs)

PROs There are three PROs ASCAP, SESAC and BMI SESAC is invite only

Synchronization Licenses Synch licenses are for synching audio to

moving picture, like putting music in a film

There is no set rate for synch licenses Subjective, specialized deals

Sundry Licenses Sundry licenses cover music used in

advertisements, karaoke, samples and toys, ect.

For example: Money in Advertising Rates for a 12 month campaign

Regional: $75,000 - $125,000 National: $175,000 - $500,000

Exposure Can reinvigorate old artists (Nick Drake & VW) Can popularize new artists (Yael Naim & Apple)

New Terms & Concepts

Administration Deals Ownership is retained by writer Admin gets a percentage of money that

comes in through publishing What I’d recommend to artists, because

good publishers have connections they don’t

Most Favored Nations All people get the same deal If a film is willing to pay a high amount

for one song, they have to pay that amount for all songs

Controlled Composition A three-quarter rate, this allows a label

to only give a writer 75% of the statutory rate for mechanical royalties

A way for labels to nickel and dime writers

If I was managing an artist, I’d make sure to look out for this

What area of the Industry do I find exciting?

Sync Licensing Marries the creative side with the

business side, while emphasizing relationships

Even if you’re only in charge of obtaining the necessary permissions and not choosing the music, you’re still an important part of making a scene complete

Areas of Publishing Revenue I Can Take Advantage Of In The Future

Administrator If I was an administrator I could receive

a percentage of the money coming in, agreed upon with the copyright holder

Pitching songs I would receive a portion of money from

a sync license deal if I pitched a song and got it placed in a film, ad or tv show

PRO – operating expenses PROs take a portion of performance

royalty income for operating expenses If I worked for a PRO, I would get paid

from the money taken for operating expenses

How has my viewpoint of the industry changed?

This course built upon a foundation The Business of Selling Music course gave a a solid

foundation This course built upon that foundation

We went much more in depth on concepts Taking this in conjunction with the SXSW trip really

helped me grasp concepts discussed at panels and in mentor sessions

I feel confident and informed about issues within the industry When Thomas Golubic asked us if we knew about

something at breakfast, we all nodded enthusiastically – because this class taught us.