What is Music Publishing?

Music publishing is probably one the least understood – but also most important – part of the music business. It is how song writers earn their income, and it is how musical acts can make money.

There are five common types of music publishing royalties that a songwriter or artist can collect. Royalties are generally equal to a specific amount per copy, performance or other usage. The 5 types are:

Mechanical royalties. Songwriters get a royalty each time their composition is sold or reproduced with the intention of being sold. The songwriter gets a royalty for every reproduced copy, regardless if those copies get sold or not. Musicians are also owed a mechanical royalty for the sales of music on their own albums. Streaming services such as Spotify also pay a mechanical royalty each time an artist’s song is queued for streaming.

Performance royalties. Songwriters get a royalty whenever their songs are performed in public which includes usage on television, plays on Internet radio and plays on satellite radio.

Licenses for synchronization. This refers to situations where a piece of music and a picture or image are synced together, like in a movie soundtrack. Whenever a song is used for a show, movie, commercial, video game, presentation or YouTube video the artist or songwriter is owed a royalty. For instances like these, the copyright owner of the master recording is also owed a fee.

Licenses for sampling. Songwriters and artists are owed a royalty if someone wants to use a sample, sound bite or drumbeat from a song they have written or recorded. The user must also get your permission first. Both the songwriter and the owner of the master recording are owed money when another artist uses a sample from the original work.

Print rights. Whenever a composition is duplicated in print, the songwriter or publisher gets a royalty. This includes sheet music, lead sheets, books, etc.

So who owns the rights to the song and gets the royalties? If a songwriter isn't working with a music publishing company, the songwriter owns the music publishing rights. For all publishing royalties, 50% goes to the songwriter and 50% goes to the publisher.

For songwriters and artists, it’s important to understand music publishing and royalties to ensure you are receiving your money due and that no one is taking advantage of your talent or recordings.