January 12th, 2012

Can your archive music and videos make you revenue and help grow your audience?

Most musicians create valuable content without even realising it. Recently Fugazi published on their web site an archive of live performances from their entire career that you can download and pay any amount for, from $1. When Fugazi were recording shows in the 80′s it is unlikely that they thought one day they would all be available, but throughout their career they were creating valuable content. Bands from Metallica to Grateful Dead and Phish are all doing the same, taking the content from the vaults and selling it to the hardcore fans. This is especially vital now there is not the large income from sales of new albums. It’s all about making the most from the fan base you have.

As a new DIY artist you may not have years of out takes and live recordings, but you most likely have a trail of content on your old hard drives, in note books and perhaps even on cassettes. You can use this content to help connect you to your audience and create an additional revenue stream. Here are a few ideas to turn your archive into something that will help advance your career:

  • Demos – These are always of interest to fans, even if you don’t think they are up to much. Alternative and early versions of songs help tell the story of you and your music, free up this content to your fans. Using sites like Bandcamp you can sell these tracks and create another income stream or use them to exchange for a fan’s email address to develop a long term relationship. Remember that once you have an email address you can earn revenue from that fan over the coming years in merchandise sales, live concerts and numerous other ways.
  • Live recordings – Recordings of gigs and practice sessions can be turned into downloads you can sell or swop for email addresses via sites such as Bandcamp. You can even rip MP3′s off fan shot Youtube videos if they have decent sound and offer these as downloads.
  • Videos – Anything you have on video is potential content you can post for your fans, whether its a live gig or you’re just messing about. Always think about if you are adding to or taking away from your legacy and public image with everything you post.
  • PDFs – You may have written a book without even thinking about it. Sites like Zinepal allow you to create a PDF book from your blog posts that you can make available from your site. Have you got any essays, music notation or interviews that fans may be interested in? Turn them into PDF’s and allow fans to download them. Create a zip file at one of the sharing sites (like megaupload) and let people download the content, what have you got to lose?
  • Interviews and spoken word content – MP3′s don’t just have to be music. Artists such as Amanda Palmer have successfully sold spoken word, interviews and even podcasts. Keep any audio recorded when you’re out on the road or at practice and see what interesting content you have created. One band we know recorded their funny discussions on the way to gigs and sold them to fans. See what you can come up with.
  • Old artwork/photos/press clippings/scanned postcards/photos of old tour t-shirts – These can all be turned into PDFs for fans to download. The weirder and more engaging and funny the better! The scanner is your friend, scan every piece of print press, you can then posts these cuttings on your site.
  • Anything else digital, free and individual to you – look through your old files and see what you have from short stories to tapes of you talking when you were at school or board games that you print out from a PDF. See what you have and what can be turned into content that you can give away to fans.

Have a good look through your digital archives and see what you have, you never know what will help create a revenue stream and connect you to your fans. You will most likely find you have far more content than you expected.

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December 30th, 2011

Best Live Unsigned blog posts for musicians of 2011

2011 has been a great year for unsigned musicians, more and more artists from Amanda Palmer to Steve Lawson are taking their music career into their own hands and making a living from being a musician, with the support of their fans. We thought we’d post some of our most useful and popular blog posts from the last 12 months:

  • Over 25? Are you too old to become a full time musician? – If you’re over 25 it doesn’t mean giving up, it is never too late to build a audience! It matters less how old you are and more how good your music is, who it appeals to and how much work you are prepared to put in.
  • How to organise your first national tour – Like it or not playing live is still one of the most effective ways to connect to an audience. Here we look at the details of planning your first national tour.
  • What do A&R people really want? – Often bands focus their efforts on getting A & R people to shows and trying to impress them when what they really want to see is that you already have a fan base and you’re out there playing live and making things happen for yourself.
  • How to create a music press release – Getting print press is difficult at the best of times but without a great press release it is virtually impossible. This blog post takes you through the process step by step.
  • How to get booked for festivals – This is especially relevant in January as now is the time the slots become available. Many festivals do accept applications from unsigned bands, you just need to know how to approach them.
  • 6 reasons social media doesn’t work for some bands – Social media is one of the best ways to build and connect with your audience but it just doesn’t work for some bands. In this post we look at how to avoid being a spammer and really engage with your potential fans.

Thanks for reading the blog in 2011. This is truly the best time ever to be an independent musician and we hope all this information has been useful.

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December 22nd, 2011

Frank Turner and why your band should be playing house concerts

In 2005 Frank Turner left post-hardcore band Million Dead and began a career as an acoustic singer-songwriter. He toured relentlessly playing over 1000 gigs. He would play anywhere and one of the things he did was play lots of house concerts between gigs at traditional venues as a reward for fans. This touring has lead to a really supportive audience, you build your fan base one person at a time. Next year he is playing Wembley Arena. It shows that with hard work and a supportive audience you can make progress, it has taken him six years but it has worked really well for him. Every time you play live whether it’s in someones house or in a stadium it’s an opportunity to make new friends and further connect to your existing fans. This video shows Frank playing in the homes of his fans:

House concerts are a great opportunity to play live in areas where you haven’t got a big enough fan base to fill a club or bar. So if you only have 10 or 20 fans in an area but they are prepared to put on a concert in one of their homes you can go and play there, make some money and probably get some accommodation and food as part of the deal. It’s really useful to do house concerts to fill gaps between dates in a long tour. Here are a few things to expect at a house concert:

  • A house concert is a concert that takes place in a fans home, the audience is usually around 10-20 people, but sometimes more.
  • This audience tends to include mostly the person hosting the gig’s friends and neighbours.
  • A suggested donation of £10 per person seems about right and you can always sell merchandise. People are often keen to buy merchandise of artists they feel connected to and house concerts are a great way of building these connections.
  • Usually house concerts are not for profit so the money goes to the performers directly.
  • These gigs aren’t open to the public and aren’t advertised on the bands website.
  • Often the people putting on the house concerts put on a meal for the musicians and the audience.
  • Most bands play acoustically although you can use a small PA if required, these things do tend to be fairly low volume events.
  • Bands sometimes do two sets, sometimes one long one. Sometimes there is only one act and a support. It’s really up to the person putting on the event, the available space and the musicians involved.

No two house concerts are the same, they are unusual events and are individual and special. If the person hosting the event is OK with it you can even UStream the event so your fans around the world can watch. You don’t have to be an acoustic act to play them but remember that you may have problems if your band is a really loud death metal act! Drums are always a problem in residential areas.

Getting house concerts can be a bit more difficult than usual gigs. One of the best ways to get them is to ask your followers on Twitter, on your mailing list and across other social media sites. See who is interested and find out how they want to do it. With the increased popularity of house concerts a few networks have sprung up to connect hosts with performers with sites such as Slowbizz and the House Concert Network. Ensure you and the person putting on the gig are aware of each others expectations, otherwise people can end up disappointed when things don’t go to plan. Remember parking can be a problem if a large number of people are visiting!

House concerts are another great way to get connected to your fans. Who knows next time you come to the hosts town you may well be playing the larger venues and listing your gigs on Live Unsigned. It’s all about building that fan base.

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December 9th, 2011

Over 25? Are you too old to become a full time musician?

At a recent music industry event a well known music industry manager said that he wouldn’t even consider working with an act unless they were “under 25, good looking and ready to sign to a major label in 6 months”. Many people within the music industry are the same. But when you look at how many great records are made by people well over 25, well into their 30s, 40s and beyond surely these people are wrong? Artists from Miles Davis to Sonic Youth to Neil Young and David Bowie all made landmark records later in their careers.

So if you look at the amount of amazing records released by musicians over 30 there seems to be no reason why you can’t build an audience to become a full time musician whatever age you are. It is probably going to be hard to attract certain audiences, for example the painfully cool NME/Pitchfork are often very reluctant to cover older bands but you can still build a niche audience. Even they have covered artists like Seasick Steve. Here are some things to remember:

  • Many artists don’t find their true direction until later in their career – Leonard Cohen made his first album at 31. Miles Davis didn’t begin his electric period until he was 42. Not everybody finds their musical style at 18, it can take a while. Many artists make their best records later in their career. It is sometimes harder to get things going later in life due to other commitments but if you are willing to put the hard work and effort in it is still a real possibility.
  • If you want to build an audience it’s all about getting to know people and developing a relationship with fans – Build direct relationships with fans, promoters, agents and other bands. This is the key point, it’s all about who you know.
  • There isn’t just one way to “make it”  - One musician we know does very well performing at house concerts and selling merchandise at gigs. Another makes a good living playing at “medieval fairs” in the USA and many more earn a living selling direct to fans via their websites without ever troubling the mainstream media. The old way of signing to a label and releasing a record is not the only way, it is easier than ever now for artists who don’t fit the old label mould. So much of building a career in music is just keeping going.
  • Fans care less than the industry how old you are –  Fans care about music. Often they like to have a relationship with the artist and care less about your age. Yes image is important but not to every fan. Every artists relationship with their fans is different so focus less on the industry and more on the fans. Focus on your niche, know who your fans are and build a relationship with them.
  • Often managers want younger acts because they think they are easier to manipulate – They can mould them in to what they want (or so they think).  Many managers are looking to bank 20% gross of a major label advance, this a way of making quick money off an act whether or not they sell any records or develop a fan base.
  • Think about the legacy you are creating – If you make great records and actively try to build an audience through gigging and the web eventually someone will find you. In the last blog we looked at Jon Gomm, he was well into his thirties before a viral video hit  connected him to an audience with Youtube plays approaching a million. Van Gogh sold only one painting during his life time, but left a legacy that the world continues to enjoy to this day. Great art eventually finds its audience.

Building an audience is never easy but it can be done however old you are. If you want the industry to come to you work on building your fanbase, if you are selling out decent size venues and building an audience the industry will come to you anyway and you can then approach them on your own terms. Keep posting your gigs on Live Unsigned, using social media to interact with fans and playing live, you are never too old to make things happen. Stop worrying about if you are too old and start building a fan base.

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December 2nd, 2011

How do you get support slots with touring bands?

One of the things unsigned bands often want to do is do support slots with well known acts. Support slots allow you the opportunity to connect to both a new audience and people within the industry. Bands have supports for a few reasons but mostly to get a few extra people through the door. Sometimes when a band is signed to a label they will get bands on the same label to do the tour support. Here are a few things you can do to help you get support slots:

  • Make friends with the bands you want to support – The best way to get support slots is to have the bands themselves recommend you for the slot. Getting to know people in bands is easier than you would imagine, especially if they are active on Twitter or you live near a place where the bands hang out. Don’t go asking for a support slot straight away, focus on building a friendship just by talking about shared interests, otherwise you will come across as just another desperate spammer. Don’t forget tour managers, roadies, lighting people and others within the industry can also have an influence on decisions. Make friends with everyone and treat them with respect. Be genuine and honest, people will see through you otherwise!
  • Build relationships with promoters – Offer to play the horrible last minute gigs and bring an audience. Make friends with everyone in the venue and work harder than any other band to get people to the gig. Post gig dates on Twitter, your website and Live Unsigned. Make sure you are the band promoters think of first.
  • Approach your contacts at the right time – Ideally before the gigs are announced or as soon as they are. Don’t hassle bands when they are in the studio, play the long game and build relationships over time.
  • Play for free – Sometimes it is best to look at support slots as free marketing, exposing your music to a new audience. This is why it is so important to get email addresses and sell CDs/merchandise. You are unlikely to get paid at this stage and even if you do it won’t be much more than expenses. It is all about working your way up.
  • Remember that some support slots are paid for – It may seem shocking but “buy ons” are not unusual for support slots, bands pay to support better known bands for the chance to play for their audience. For a UK tour with a well know band support acts have been known to pay thousands for the opportunity. It happens more than you would think.
  • Focus on support slots in your local area – Initially focus on getting the local support slots, where you have a local fanbase that will come and see you. This should give you the chance to bring a decent crowd.

Once you get the support slot it is all about making the most of the opportunity to try and get more supports. There is a blog post we wrote here about it here, once you have that support slot make every effort to connect with the other bands audience.  Decent support slots are hard to get but can really help you to fast track your career.

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November 22nd, 2011

How does viral video really work? (a case study)

Often bands talk about how they are “going to do a viral video” but you can’t just decide to create a viral video, it has to happen organically. You can do all you can to make it happen by getting key influencers (blogs etc.) to share it and by making the content as amazing as possible but there are no guarantees. If you could just make it happen everyone would do it.

 

Last weekend Jon Gomm’s Passionflower video was viewed over half a million times. The video was posted a few months ago but only suddenly became popular when someone downloaded the video from Jon’s Youtube channel (using some dodgy software) and reposted it as “Insane Guitar Skills “Passionflower”" on their own channel. This version of the video was then posted online and discovered by a user of the site Reddit who shared it there and it became popular and ended up on the front page. A few days later the video has had 600,000 plus views across the two versions (Jon’s and the original). Jon got the person who posted the new version to direct people back to his Youtube channel.

The results of this have seen Jon offered gigs across the world and he has made contact with a whole new audience. “In the past hours I’ve sold hundreds of downloads, had gig offers in New Orleans and Poland (yay), dubious record deal offers (boo) & a grateful email from an inspired recovering heroin addict (amazing)” Jon said on his Facebook page.

So what can we learn from this?

  • The title is really important – “Insane Guitar Skills” gets more views than simply the title of the song. Once they are viewing they are blown away by the playing, but getting them to watch first is the hard bit.
  • The content must be so good people will share it because it is truly remarkable, unusual and impressive. If you want people to share your video you need to get an emotional reaction, in this case “wow check out this amazing guitar playing”.
  • However good something is, people on Youtube will write nasty comments about it – Jon is an amazing guitar player but people have still made nasty comments about it. They are called Trolls, ignore them.
  • Reddit, Digg etc. are really important – From the front page of Reddit Jon’s video was shared across blogs and social media, Reddit is a great place for people to discover your music, the hard bit is getting Reddit users interested in your music. You have to make your content really remarkable to do well there.
  • The chain for a “viral video” is complex – From the original post to the video being re-titled, to the social news site Reddit then blogs and social media, the viral path was not straight forward and it is different for everything that goes viral (although the basic principal of making great content and getting influential people to share it still holds true).

What tends to happen with a viral hit is that the effect doesn’t last for too long, it is all about making the most of it when it does happen. Make sure you answer every message and build a relationship with every new fan you gain this way and start thinking about how to create another one! Perhaps its best to keep gradually building your audience, listing your gigs on Live Unsigned, getting email addresses and think of a viral hit as something that would be a bonus if it comes along.

 

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November 15th, 2011

How do you connect to an audience of 10000 fans?

Most bands dream of walking out onstage to a packed audience, full of excited fans, screaming and clapping. That is the dream. But what is the path to get to that point? How do you go from playing in a pub to gaining the attention of the fans and the music industry? It happens all the time, bands gradually build a following and then eventually they are playing to large audiences across the world. The problem is that the path to success is different for every band. Often the things that you think will be a big break, like a play on the radio or a placement on a film, don’t have the effect you think they will and bands get frustrated and split up.

So what you need to do is put your band in a position so that you can begin to grow this audience. The hard bit isn’t getting the 10,000 fans, the hard bit is getting the first 5 or 10. It is a slow process, you need to get the first few fans really on your side, give them access to you and the band and treat them as friends, say thank you and spend time with them. The early stages of your career are not the time to be aloof. You need to get those first few fans, build a relationship and get them to tell their friends. The word of mouth will take you on, you never know who your fans will be friends with.

The way it normally happens is you play some gigs and you start to build a following. Then through playing live you start to meet people on your local scene for the type of music you are playing. Often these people will know everyone else on the same scene, from bloggers to promoters to people in the radio. The key is to build a relationship with these people. Don’t try and spam everyone on the scene with random emails, it is all about building real relationships with people and hanging out in the right places. Don’t try and sell yourself all the time, just make friends. Once you get to know people doors will open for support slots and press coverage. Once you start to get support slots and press you will start to build a fan base. Once you have a fan base you will start to get offers from the industry. Remember that you don’t have to accept everything you are offered and be very careful who you trust. Always check anything you sign with a lawyer.

Obviously it goes without saying that you do need to work hard, have an amazing live show and music and have the social skills to be able to network like crazy (or someone to do it on your behalf). If you read through the previous posts on this blog all the information is there, it is all about building the relationships with the fans and the industry to the point where you can effectively monetize that audience to make a living from music.

It takes time and it’s not easy and maybe your music will never be commercial enough to be able to sustain the audience to achieve the lifestyle you want. Sometimes making weird odd and esoteric music can be an advantage, it is far easier to get people talking that way. The only way to find out is to work hard and see what happens, although you can base your predictions on the level of success of similar acts. The problem is that because each act is different it is very hard to estimate how popular they can become.

So if you want to play to an audience of thousands start by building an audience of 5 people, then 10 then 20 then 100 and a thousand. You will often find that your audience jumps in size due to a combination of things, perhaps a blog and a radio play and some sort of marketing, it is rarely one thing that makes a difference, usually some sort of combination. The marketing people say that for an audience to remember who you are that they have to see your name nine times, so the more places you are the more chance you have of standing out among all the other bands out there.

Make use of all the amazing tools available to you now, from Live Unsigned listings to social media to UStream. If you want to build the audience faster, work harder, get to know the right people and invest more money in PR and marketing. Make sure you know exactly who your fans are before spending any money. Test this by playing some gigs and see what type of people like what you do, then focus on finding more people like them if you want to do what you do and make a living from it.

The music industry is largely still all about who you know (and how hard you are prepared to work), it only takes building a relationship with a few key people to know everyone you need to connect with, it just takes time.  Tools like Twitter and other social media have made it easier than ever to build these relationships, even if you don’t live in a city where there is a big scene for your style of music. Remember to do every piece of publicity you can, from the web radio show with a few hundred listeners to the blog with twenty readers. You never know who is reading or listening, perhaps they may know someone who can open the door that changes your life forever.

Every person you meet on your journey can have an effect on your career, from the barman whose partner is a top journalist to the person who looks crazy but has 10,000 followers on Twitter. The path for your band to gain an audience is different to that of every other band, the only way is to make a start and start building that audience one person at a time and see what happens.

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November 2nd, 2011

Do you still need to sell CDs when everything is digital?

Ten years ago it used to be easy to know how to sell your music, you printed CDs then hoped you would sell them at gigs or if possible you would get a distributer. Now most people consume music digitally via the web, often illegally. So do you need to sell CDs or any physical products? It depends on the relationship you have or want to have with your fans. When you are out playing gigs (listed on Live Unsigned) selling merchandise is a great way to raise some cash and build that fan/artist relationship.

One of the best ways for a band to make money is to sell merchandise, but do fans really need another dull, plain CD in a plastic case? This is an unremarkable object at best, it just carries music that is available digitally usually at a lower price. If you really want fans to buy something at least get a digipack CD or consider getting some vinyl printed. Often fans will buy vinyl but will still listen digitally. Via Bandcamp you can include a download code so they can still listen even if they don’t own a record player. Make sure you have the audience for vinyl first, if you are selling 500 digipack CDs then it’s worth considering the vinyl option (the minimum order tends to be around 300 units due to high set up costs). If you are not sure ask your fans via social media.

The key thing is to create objects people actually want, something cool and interesting they can keep in their house and show off to their friends. Often you will find people take photos of interesting merchandise and post it on their social networking profiles, giving your band extra exposure. The odder and more unusual something is the more chance people will want to talk about it.

A good example of a micro label creating something interesting is ZX Tapes who produce limited editions of 30 tape cassettes. Even though the tape format is considered outdated they create limited edition art objects that always sell out. They really make an effort to make something special and will most likely be highly collectable in years to come.

The Flaming Lips sell some really limited items. They sell real human skulls for $5000 with a USB stick containing a 24 hour long song or christmas tree ornaments or strange items made of jelly. The hardcore fans want to support the band and buy interesting items. If you want your fans to care be interesting and remarkable.

KISS are the established masters of this. Nothing is too tasteless, from coffins to breakfast cereal to comics to KISS Mr Potato Heads and condoms. Their loyal fanbase (the KISS army) have been paying for this ever expanding range of merchandise since the 70′s. They even do a “KISS Kruise” where you can party all night and day on a boat with your idols for up to nearly three thousand dollars a ticket (and where you can buy a unique range of special KISS Kruise merchandise!). They know how to work their fan base.

Many other bands offer interesting merchandise:

  • Ween do a colouring book.
  • Justin Bieber has a shower curtain.
  • Metallica do a Master Of Puppets pillow case, for the the metal fan who has everything. They also do a Metallica Monopoly set!
  • Franz Ferdinand sell y-front underpants.
  • Feist sells a music box that plays instrumental versions of her songs.
  • Ben Kweller sells a branded toothbrush
  • No Age have sunglasses.
  • Slayer sell a slaytanic motorcycle helmet.
  • Weezer sell a branded Weezer Snuggie.
  • AC/DC do wine (not to be shaken all night long).
  • U2 do lego versions of the band (Edge is still wearing a hat).

What all these odd and occasionally tasteless items do is connect the fans more closely to the artist and provide a revenue stream. The weirder they are the more likely it is that people will talk about them via Twitter, across social media or down the pub. T-Shirts and stickers are cool but if you really want to make an impression a Kazoo with your logo on it can be a way of standing out. Try to make as much of what you sell unique and special, even if it is just signed, limited and a numbered edition. Try and keep your logo consistent and if you think an item of merchandise is tacky then don’t do it.

You don’t need to sell a plain CD but it is a good idea to sell some sort of item that gives fans a souvenir of your music. Every artist/fan relationship is different. Make sure that your merchandise offer is as unique as your music and as special as your relationship with your fans.

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October 27th, 2011

Does your band need a music publishing deal? (part 2)

In part 2 of this post we will look at what questions you should ask before signing with a publisher.  Always take legal advice from someone who specialises in the music business before signing anything.

  • Is there an advance? Many bands look for a publishing advance to keep themselves afloat financially until they sign to a record label (if this is what they plan to do). Some publishers offer a good advance, but make sure that you are not signing with a company purely for this reason, you need to think about whether the deal is good for you in the long term.
  • Is it an exclusive agreement? Many companies who arrange publishing deals for syncs are non exclusive (for example Sentric or Music Dealers) but most conventional publishing deals are exclusive for a specific amount of time. Ensure you look carefully at this.
  • What is the split? This is the amount that goes to you and the amount that goes to the publisher, for example this can be 50/50 or 70/30 in your favour. You should get at least 50% but ideally more. This is where you really need to negotiate to get the best deals.
  • Is your publisher the same company as your record company? This can be seen as a conflict of interests, giving the publisher/record label too much control. Even worse than this are the current 360 deals where bands allow record companies to control merchandise, live revenue, publishing and other revenue streams. Bands are often pressured to sign these for an advance but they can do serious damage to your career in the long term.
  • How many territories does the publishing deal cover? Is it just for your country or for the whole world? We live in a time where music spreads at the same time internationally so make sure that you have a decent publishing deal across all territories, this doesn’t always mean having the same publisher across the world.
  • Is there a minimum delivery commitment? This is the amount of songs you have to deliver during the time of the contract, maybe 10 songs in a year. However if you only write 50% of a song (when writing with others) this may mean you have to write 20 songs to deliver the same amount of material to your publisher. If you are in doubt check this with your lawyer.
  • What is the term of the contract? The term is the length of time the contract covers, it could be months or it could be for decades. A mistake here could be very expensive for many years to come.
  • Have they a proven record of getting sync deals? Ask to see what sync deals (for TV, Games, Adverts etc) that they have recently done for their clients. This is an area where there is a serious revenue and you need to see a proven record for success in this area before signing anything.
  • Are you a priority for the publisher? If the publisher has many similar writers to you is your music really going to get the push it deserves? Ensure that your music will be a priority for the company.
  • Is it a full publishing agreement? With this agreement the income is collected by the company then split between publisher and writer. The publisher owns the copyright on the song in this case.
  • Is it a co-publishing agreement? Here the writer receives their percentage as before but the writer also receives a percentage of the publisher’s share. This allows songwriters to receive an amount of the publisher’s share (as they are part publisher and writer), co-own the song and receive an overall greater percentage.
  • Is it an administration agreement? Here the writer does not give up any copyright up on the song, the publisher acts simply as an administrator collecting revenues for a percentage of the amount. These deals are less likely to be offered to artists who are unknown as there is less income for the publisher.
  • Can you speak to some of their current clients? If possible ask to speak to some writers who are already working with the company and see what they think. Consult with any friends in the industry to find out what the publisher’s reputation is, any inside information is very useful. Try and find out if the company pay royalties on time and think about what you really want from a publishing deal, this is an important decision.

This is only the start of the questions you need to ask. Music publishing is a complicated business and many people (including those who work in the music industry) find it confusing. Always seek legal advice. Most bands would rather be out playing live, meeting fans and posting their gigs on Live Unsigned but publishing and syncs are a great way for musicians to create another stream of income.

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October 18th, 2011

Does your band need a music publishing deal? (part 1)

Music Publishing is one of the most confusing parts of the music industry. Most bands would rather be out playing live (and listing their gigs on Live Unsigned) or making records. However, you can earn a decent income from publishing via syncs (licensing to adverts, films etc), mechanical royalties on CD/download sales, radio plays, ringtones, sheet music, live performance and many other uses of your music. Every time you hear a piece of music being played in public someone is getting paid for its use. Publishing is a fantastic opportunity for bands to earn an income.

Not everyone needs a publisher, you can simply register your songs yourself with the PRS, ASCAP, BMI or the relevant performing rights society for your country and they should collect your royalties for you. However one of the key jobs of the music publisher is to chase your royalties internationally and make sure that you get paid what you are owed. For example if you have an international hit single would you know who to contact to ensure you get all the money you deserve? Also a good publisher will actively push your music for syncs and other opportunities, so although they take a percentage of your earnings they should get you more work and it could make you more money.

Essentially the role of a music publisher is to:

  • Find Talent – Publishers look to find up and coming songwriters in a similar way to a record label A & R person. Sometimes they will pay for demo recordings (although this is becoming rare). Often publishing deals are signed alongside record deals, although it is often considered a very bad idea to give your rights for both publishing and recording to the same company. Some bands sign a publishing deal for the advance to keep them going in the early stages of their career. Knowing when to sign to a publisher is very difficult as there is no answer that fits all bands, we will cover this in more detail in part 2 of this post.
  • Register songs – They register songs on your behalf with the appropriate collection bodies. In the UK it is the PRS, in the US BMI or ASCAP and is different for every country. If you are not sure, search Google for “performing rights society” and the name of your country.
  • License and exploit material – Publishers will arrange sync deals for TV, films and advertisements etc. This is a one off fee for the use of your music ‘synchronised’ to a moving picture, on some deals you will also get a performance fee in addition to this. Publishers may be able to pitch your music to artists looking for songs to record.  You need to try a find a publisher who is pro-active in finding these opportunities to maxmise your possible income.
  • Collect Royalties – Publishers collect royalties on your behalf. So for example a percentage of CD and download sales will go to your publisher via the relevant performing rights society, this is called your mechanical rights. Your revenue for radio plays and TV plays are also collected in the same way. Every time your music is played live you should be paid for performance rights. A good publisher will also chase these royalties to ensure you are correctly paid.
  • Protect copyright – Publishers should monitor the use of your music and take legal action as required, this is increasingly difficult now due to the changes in the way music is distributed via the web.

There are various types of publishers. Administrators who do the registration of your songs for you, indies who may pay a small advance and should be more pro-active in getting you opportunities and majors like EMI or Warner who are often affiliated to major labels and will pay out larger advances. The type of publisher you go with depends on where you are at in your career, but always be careful what you sign and take legal advice before you do. Each individual publisher and publishing agreement is different.

In part 2 of this post we will look at what questions you should ask before signing with a publisher.

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