By binger0
Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:56 am
Creating A Publishing Company
As noted in the Publishing basics article, songwriters and publishers earn money based upon how their songs are commercially exploited – how frequently their songs are played, how many copies of their song are sold, etc. If you want to get a greater share of the publishing income from your songs, you should start your own publishing company. It’s not as difficult as you might think.
Performance rights organizations are businesses designed to represent songwriters and publishers and their right to be compensated for having their music performed in public. Obtaining a license from a performance rights organization enables television and radio stations, auditoriums, restaurants, hotels, theme parks, malls, etc. to legally play any song written by an artist affiliated with the performance rights organization. License fees are based on a series of determinants, depending on the type of establishment.
Without a license from a performing rights organization, music users are in danger of copyright infringement. In the United States, there are three major performance rights organizations: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
Performance rights organizations require a name (as well as alternate names in case one is taken) to register a publishing company. The publishing company does not have to be named after you or your band. If you intend on publishing other people’s music, it probably makes sense for it not to be named after your band, so your company will appear more professional. After all, which would you rather sign with: R Jones Music or Ol’ Dirty Bastard Music?
As discussed in the Publishing basics article, publishing income is divided between the songwriter and the publishing company. If you are a solo songwriter looking to establish your own publishing company, the math is simple: you get it all. If you have a band, you should discuss what percentage of the songwriting credit each member will get for each song before you fill out a performance rights organization’s clearance form. You can be creative with the percentages based on your band’s situation. For instance, if you are in a band of four with two writers and two good “idea” people (or good vibes people or people who don’t play well if they don’t get a percentage), you can choose to give them a percentage even though they don’t actually write anything. As long as the songwriting totals 100 percent, you’re good to go.
You have to file clearance forms with a performance rights organization for each song you want to release. The names of all the publishers are required for the forms. If you are not splitting your publishing with any other company, your company gets 100%. If you are splitting the publishing with another company, you must list the percentage amount they get.
After registering with a performance rights organization, you should set up a Doing Business As (DBA) certificate with the clerk of the county in which you (or your band) resides, so you can cash checks or start a bank account. The DBA certificate requires the names and addresses of people who are doing business under a name other than their legal name. For example, if you set up a publishing company named Prime Cheddar Publishing, everyone who will have access to the account but is not named Prime Cheddar Publishing needs to be registered on your DBA.
After getting your DBA, you should set up a bank account to cash and deposit checks. The account should be set up with your DBA certificate, so only authorized representatives of your publishing company can access the account. In addition, some banks require a federal tax ID or Social Security numbers. Keep in mind that setting up a business bank account can be expensive, so you should shop around for a business bank account as monthly fees and check-printing charges can be expensive.
Once you establish your music publishing company, make sure that you register all of your songs with the Copyright Office. After registering your songs with a performance rights organization, check their websites six-to-eight weeks later to see if the songs are properly registered. You can contact the performance rights organizations indexing departments to correct any errors.
RESOURCES
ASCAP Publishing Links
BMI Publishing Links
Publishing Terms
SESAC Publishing
ASCAP- American Society Of Composers, Authors, And Songwriters
ASCAP is a membership association of more than 120,000 U.S. composers, songwriters and publishers of every kind of music and hundreds of thousands worldwide which protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. On-line registrations, a database of song titles licensed by ASCAP in the United States, including the names of the songwriters and the names, contact persons, addresses and, in most cases, phone numbers of publishers to contact if you want to use the work, workshops for career development, listings of job openings.
BMI - Broadcast Music, Inc.
BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music. Founded in 1940, BMI collects license fees on behalf of those American creators it represents, as well as thousands of creators from around the world who chose BMI for representation in the United States. On-line registrations, membership application and information, royalty information, dictionary of music publishing terms, streaming video and songs from selected artists, a calendar of events, and workshop information.
SESAC - Society Of European Stage Authors & Composers
SESAC, Inc. is a performing rights organization with headquarters in Nashville and offices in New York, Los Angeles and London. SESAC will represent the right for your music to be played in public. Unlike ASCAP and BMI, SESAC utilizes a selective process when affiliating songwriters and publishers, resulting in a roster of affiliates who have personal relationships with the SESAC staff. SESAC's creative staff works with songwriters to develop and perfect their talents.
As noted in the Publishing basics article, songwriters and publishers earn money based upon how their songs are commercially exploited – how frequently their songs are played, how many copies of their song are sold, etc. If you want to get a greater share of the publishing income from your songs, you should start your own publishing company. It’s not as difficult as you might think.
Performance rights organizations are businesses designed to represent songwriters and publishers and their right to be compensated for having their music performed in public. Obtaining a license from a performance rights organization enables television and radio stations, auditoriums, restaurants, hotels, theme parks, malls, etc. to legally play any song written by an artist affiliated with the performance rights organization. License fees are based on a series of determinants, depending on the type of establishment.
Without a license from a performing rights organization, music users are in danger of copyright infringement. In the United States, there are three major performance rights organizations: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
Performance rights organizations require a name (as well as alternate names in case one is taken) to register a publishing company. The publishing company does not have to be named after you or your band. If you intend on publishing other people’s music, it probably makes sense for it not to be named after your band, so your company will appear more professional. After all, which would you rather sign with: R Jones Music or Ol’ Dirty Bastard Music?
As discussed in the Publishing basics article, publishing income is divided between the songwriter and the publishing company. If you are a solo songwriter looking to establish your own publishing company, the math is simple: you get it all. If you have a band, you should discuss what percentage of the songwriting credit each member will get for each song before you fill out a performance rights organization’s clearance form. You can be creative with the percentages based on your band’s situation. For instance, if you are in a band of four with two writers and two good “idea” people (or good vibes people or people who don’t play well if they don’t get a percentage), you can choose to give them a percentage even though they don’t actually write anything. As long as the songwriting totals 100 percent, you’re good to go.
You have to file clearance forms with a performance rights organization for each song you want to release. The names of all the publishers are required for the forms. If you are not splitting your publishing with any other company, your company gets 100%. If you are splitting the publishing with another company, you must list the percentage amount they get.
After registering with a performance rights organization, you should set up a Doing Business As (DBA) certificate with the clerk of the county in which you (or your band) resides, so you can cash checks or start a bank account. The DBA certificate requires the names and addresses of people who are doing business under a name other than their legal name. For example, if you set up a publishing company named Prime Cheddar Publishing, everyone who will have access to the account but is not named Prime Cheddar Publishing needs to be registered on your DBA.
After getting your DBA, you should set up a bank account to cash and deposit checks. The account should be set up with your DBA certificate, so only authorized representatives of your publishing company can access the account. In addition, some banks require a federal tax ID or Social Security numbers. Keep in mind that setting up a business bank account can be expensive, so you should shop around for a business bank account as monthly fees and check-printing charges can be expensive.
Once you establish your music publishing company, make sure that you register all of your songs with the Copyright Office. After registering your songs with a performance rights organization, check their websites six-to-eight weeks later to see if the songs are properly registered. You can contact the performance rights organizations indexing departments to correct any errors.
RESOURCES
ASCAP Publishing Links
BMI Publishing Links
Publishing Terms
SESAC Publishing
ASCAP- American Society Of Composers, Authors, And Songwriters
ASCAP is a membership association of more than 120,000 U.S. composers, songwriters and publishers of every kind of music and hundreds of thousands worldwide which protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. On-line registrations, a database of song titles licensed by ASCAP in the United States, including the names of the songwriters and the names, contact persons, addresses and, in most cases, phone numbers of publishers to contact if you want to use the work, workshops for career development, listings of job openings.
BMI - Broadcast Music, Inc.
BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music. Founded in 1940, BMI collects license fees on behalf of those American creators it represents, as well as thousands of creators from around the world who chose BMI for representation in the United States. On-line registrations, membership application and information, royalty information, dictionary of music publishing terms, streaming video and songs from selected artists, a calendar of events, and workshop information.
SESAC - Society Of European Stage Authors & Composers
SESAC, Inc. is a performing rights organization with headquarters in Nashville and offices in New York, Los Angeles and London. SESAC will represent the right for your music to be played in public. Unlike ASCAP and BMI, SESAC utilizes a selective process when affiliating songwriters and publishers, resulting in a roster of affiliates who have personal relationships with the SESAC staff. SESAC's creative staff works with songwriters to develop and perfect their talents.
