What does a music publisher do? Publishing deals explained

A music publisher looks after the song side of your music, meaning the composition and lyrics, not the recording. A publisher registers your songs with collecting societies at home and abroad, makes sure you and your co-writers are listed with the right names, IPI numbers and shares, collects the performance and mechanical royalties your songs earn, including in other countries, and checks that the money adds up. Many publishers also negotiate sync deals (music set to picture) and approve adaptations such as translations.

There are two main kinds of deal. Under an administration agreement you keep ownership of your songs, and the publisher manages them for an agreed period in return for a fee or a share of the income. Under a traditional publishing deal you transfer all or part of your copyright to the publisher, often for a long time, in return for more active work on your songs and sometimes an advance. Before you sign, check the term, the territory, which songs are covered, whether rights are transferred, the costs, the statements and how the deal ends.

What a music publisher does

A publisher works for the writers of a song: composers and lyricists. In that role, it has nothing to do with the recording itself. Releases, streams of your master and store statements run through your distributor or label. How the two income streams sit side by side is covered in music royalties explained.

Without a publisher, you do the registration yourself as a member of a collecting society. At BumaStemra in the Netherlands, for example, writers and publishers can each be members for their own share of a song.

Registering songs: IPI numbers, ISWCs and shares

Every registration answers three questions: which song it is, who wrote it and who gets which share.

• IPI number. A unique international number linked to the name of a composer, lyricist or publisher, used to make sure royalties reach the right person. When you join a society such as BumaStemra, you are assigned one automatically (BumaStemra's explanation). Publishers have IPI numbers too.
• ISWC. The code for the song itself, just as the ISRC is the code for a recording. One song can have several recordings, each with its own ISRC.
• Shares. How the song is divided between all its writers and any publishers. The shares must add up to the whole song and match what your co-writers register.

Here is what a correct and an incorrect registration look like (a made-up example):

Details like these decide whether you get paid. Societies such as BumaStemra match usage reports to registered songs automatically, and BumaStemra's From Play to Pay guide advises making sure the title, composer and performer of the track on a streaming service match the registered work, down to spelling and punctuation. If writers or publishers register the same song with different splits, there is a dispute. For streaming, BumaStemra does not claim when the dispute is with an outside writer or publisher, and in a dispute between its own members it pays out only once the dispute is resolved. It also only claims streams from the date a work is registered, so register each song at the same time as the release. For consistent data, see the release metadata checklist; for agreeing shares, see royalty splits with collaborators.

Collecting songwriting income abroad

Societies work together through agreements: when your song is used in another country, the society there collects and passes the money on to yours. Some societies also license the big international streaming services directly for many countries. This covers a lot of ground, but a publisher can add two things:

• Sub-publishing. A publishing agreement can include sub-publishing, in which a local publisher in another country, often affiliated with the society there, represents your songs in that territory.
• The United States. Performance and mechanical rights are handled separately there. The MLC administers blanket mechanical licences for eligible streaming and download services in the US and pays self-administered songwriters, publishers and administrators, and collective management organisations (The MLC). Not every society collects from The MLC for its members. BumaStemra says it cannot yet do so; its members can register their songs there themselves or through a publisher, and should then exclude their US online mechanical rights at Stemra.

Administration deal or traditional publishing deal

There are hybrids too, such as a co-publishing deal, in which you share the rights in your songs with the publisher. Which model fits depends on what you need: registration and collection only, or creative support and money up front as well. The more a publisher does and advances, the more it usually asks in return.

What to check before you sign

1. Term. How long does the deal run, does it renew automatically, and for how long can the publisher keep collecting after it ends for use during the term?
2. Territory. Does it cover the whole world or certain countries, and do you already have arrangements with someone else in any of them?
3. Which songs. Only the songs you list, your whole existing catalogue, or everything you write during the term?
4. Transfer or not. Do you keep ownership and grant a mandate or licence, or do you transfer the copyright? Read exactly which rights the contract names.
5. Costs and share. What share of which income does the publisher keep, calculated on gross or net amounts, and are there extra costs? If there is an advance, which income is it recouped from?
6. Statements. How often do you get a statement, how detailed is it by song, country and source, and can you have the underlying data audited?
7. Notice and ending. What notice period applies, what happens to the registrations when the deal ends, and do transferred rights come back to you?
8. Control. Can the publisher grant sync licences or approve adaptations without consulting you?
9. Fit with other agreements. Does it fit your society membership and what your co-writers have arranged? Two parties claiming the same song in the same territory lead to disputes and frozen payments.

Local law can add protection. In the Netherlands, for example, a transfer of copyright or an exclusive licence must be agreed in writing and covers only the rights it expressly names or that necessarily follow from it (Dutch Copyright Act, article 2, in Dutch). The Act's chapter on exploitation contracts also entitles authors to information on exploitation and income at least once a year, lets them terminate if the work is not exploited sufficiently after giving written notice with a reasonable period, and makes clauses claiming future works for an unreasonably long or insufficiently defined period voidable. Rules differ between countries, so have a lawyer who knows copyright check the draft, especially if you are transferring rights or signing for a long term.

Do you need a publisher?

Not necessarily. As a member of a collecting society you can register your songs yourself. Use abroad is then collected through your society's agreements with other societies, and some societies also collect directly from large music services. A publisher or administrator can be worth it if:

• your music is used a lot outside your home country and you want your songs registered there directly and completely;
• you expect income from the US, where mechanical royalties for streaming run through The MLC;
• you work with many co-writers and the registrations and shares are hard to keep track of;
• there is demand for your music in sync, or you want help finding it;
• you would rather outsource the administration and keep your time for making music.

A traditional deal can make sense if you want creative support or an advance on top of administration and are prepared to transfer rights for it. Weigh up carefully what you give away, and for how long.

Where Crystal Publishing fits in

Crystal Publishing is Crystal's publishing branch and an example of an administration offer. Crystal Publishing registers your songs with collecting societies and collects your publishing income, and you remain the owner of your songs. You see the terms and costs before you sign, so you can go through them with the checklist above.

Distribution and publishing are two different things. Through distribution your recordings reach the streaming services and your master income comes in; publishing is about the songwriting income from your songs. For the price of distribution, see the pricing page, and if you have questions, get in touch.

Common mistakes

• Confusing a distributor with a publisher. A distributor collects for the recording, a publisher for the song. One does not replace the other.
• Signing for every song without noticing. A contract that also covers your existing catalogue or everything you write in future has far more impact than one for a few titles.
• Letting two parties claim. Two parties claiming the same song in the same territory lead to disputes and frozen payments.
• Leaving out co-writers. A producer who co-wrote the music belongs in the song's registration. Agree the split before release.
• Registering a cover or adaptation as your own song. A cover remains the original writers' song, and an adaptation needs permission from the rightsholders. See releasing covers, samples and remixes.
• Registering late. Registering a song long after its release can cost you income.