The music publisher plays an important role in the music industry. Understanding this is important for those who would like to craft a career in music and receive royalties for their work and much more.
Speaking of much more, here are 3 responsibilities of music publishers that is good to keep track of:
#1: Secure and promote commercially recorded songs
One of the main tasks of music publishers is to secure recordings of songs that have been released commercially. For this, a proper working relationship with record companies in general is required but also managing a staff of professional managers who are responsible in promoting the music. But this isn’t limited to just songs that they can secure once it’s on the charts but long after that. In fact, a good music publisher will be able to obtain hundreds of recordings of a particular song.
#2: Administration of Musical Compositions
A very necessary (if not crucial) service that music publishers provide is that of the administration of musical compositions. Some of the tasks that fall under administration include collecting royalties due to musicians, the registration of copyrights, negotiating licenses, bookkeeping, the auditing of recording companies and checking the correctness of incoming royalty statements.
#3: Protection from Infringement
This function is basically to ensure that the songs acquired by the publisher aren’t used illegally. So, protecting its copyrights and the rights given by the songwriter is one of its most important tasks. It goes without saying this task apart from the others has wide-reaching effects and often difficult to manage.