Many artists are becoming smarter and taking their careers in their own hands. Artists are realizing that giving full ownership and creative control to major labels is not necessarily the way to go.So instead, artists are creating new ways to “survive” musically by linking publishing deals.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term and what it entails, STACKS Magazine is here to help save your career by giving you the 411 on publishing.

What is publishing?Publishing is the contractual relationship between a songwriter or music composer and a music publisher, in which the writer assigns part or all of his or her music copyrights to the publisher in exchange for the publisher’s commercial exploitation of the music.

Some of the industry’s biggest music publishing houses are Sony, Universal, EMI, and Warner. Most publishing groups enter contract agreements with the writer and share the income generated by their songs. In today’s era, unlike back in the 20th century when only sheet music was entered into publishing contracts, songwriters and publishers earn income from all commercial mediums from recordings and radio to television and video.

Music publishers (like Sony) are the one’s with the power when it comes to the relationship between the songwriter and recording company.Publishers gain copyright ownership from the songwriter and most of the time demand half of the royalties.Although “promising” songwriters retain a monetary advance, those stacks are often times minimal and not enough to truly survive on until royalty payments start coming in.So it is important that songwriters budget their stacks carefully during this waiting period. (See our YOU AND YOUR MONEY post for more info on ways to manage your money.)

Stay tuned for the continuation of the Music 101 segment on Publishing. In the next post, STACKS Magazine will put you up on game with mechanical licensing and how becoming a member to a performing rights organization (PRO) can benefit you.