Music Publishing

4Publishing companies

Anyone can become a music publisher. Every songwriter and composer is a de facto publisher, by virtue of creating a musical work: a writer or composer owns the “writer share” and the “publisher share” at the point of creation. It is not until a writer voluntarily chooses to enter into a publishing deal with a third-party publisher that there is a division between writer and publisher. The breadth and depth of expertise among publishers, however, is nearly as varied as the genres of music that they represent. A music publisher deals in the marketing, commercial exploitation, and administration of songs. Originally, the term referred to publishers of sheet music, but this has changed largely over the years, and today’s music ...