Collect your music publishing royalties from around the world
What does music publishing exactely mean?
Did you know that there is more to music than playing live shows and selling?
Music publishing is the business of collecting royalties for the usages of songwriters’ musical compositions and finding commercial opportunities.
Royalty collection is a complex business, knowing your rights and what kinds of royalties you may be earning is crucial to maximizing your income.
Today, songwriters have more opportunities than ever to make significant income from their songs. Music publishing plays a large role in that equation, but it's also one of the least understood aspects of the music industry.
Publishing is a vague word. In general, when someone uses the word “publishing” in the music world, they are referring to the ownership and control of the underlying composition in a song.
In music industry, there are two seperate copyrights to every song released:
COMPOSITION
A song's music and lyrics, apart from any particular recording of that composition.
This copyright is owned
and controlled by
THE SONGWRITER
AND
THE PUBLISHER
Performance royalties
Mechanicals royalties
Synchronisation royalties
Print royalties
Youtube composition royalties
SOUND RECORDING
A particular recorded version (master) of a musical composition that you hear in the form of a CD, mp3 or wav.
This copyright is owned
and controlled by
THE ARTIST
AND
THE LABEL
Download sales
Streaming revenue
Youtube sound recording revenue
Master use license
Neighbouring rights
Example:
Dolly Parton wrote the composition (meaning she wrote the lyrics and melody), to "I Will Always Love You." Arista Records recording artist Whitney Houston recorded a version of Dolly Parton's composition. In this case, Arista Records owns the sound recording of the song while Dolly Parton and her publisher own the composition.
Music publishing involves the commercial exploitation of the composition copyright.
It's important to know that the underlying composition is, by law, automatically owned, controlled and protected under copyright by the songwriters (composer/lyricist)
upon the moment of creation. To legally file for copyright infringement the copyright must be registered with the copyright office.
When a songwriter signs a publishing deal with a publisher, the underlying composition is then owned in part by the publisher, depending on the contract the songwriter signs with the publisher.
If I am the label, am I the publisher?
No, the label is the owner of the soundrecording and the music publisher owns the composition.
What are the publishing royalties I am missing?
PERFORMANCE ROYALTIES:
Performance royalty is related to the right to perform your song in public.
Everytime the song you wrote and composed is played in clubs, restaurant, tv, concerts, radio, Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music... you are owed a performance royalties.
How to get them?
Any public place that has music, live or recorded, needs a license from PRO's to legally be able to play music in their establishment.
A PRO is a performing rights organisation that ensures songwriters and publishers are paid for the use of their music by collecting royalties on behalf of the rights owner.
Performance royalties are collected directly by your PRO and distributed to the rights holders.
Alba Music Publishing makes that easy for you. We already have relationships with the
major PROs worldwide and we will register your songs with each and every one of them to guarantee the songs are being correctly tracked and the money is coming to you.
What about YouTube Performance Royalties?
Because your music is being played on YouTube videos, it’s technically a public performance. And that includes any video on YouTube (by you or anyone else): cover, live performance, original recording lyric video, music video or cat video. As long as it has your compositions in it, it earns a public performance royalty that is collected directly by your PRO.
MECHANICAL ROYALTIES:
Mechanical royalty is related to the right to reproduce your composition on a media.
Everytime the song you wrote and composed is downloaded on Itunes, streamed on Spotify, Apple music... or purchased (like a CD or vinyl) you are owed mechanical
royalties.
How to get them?
All major countries in the world have a mechanical collection society. You as the songwriter can collect mechanical royalties on your own from things like cover versions, but in order to collect the mechanicals from the digital downloads and streams of your music you have to register yourself and your songs in the mechanical collection societies of each country.
Complicated! Just focus on your music and Alba Music Publishing will do the job for you by registering you and your songs with ALL major mechanical societies in the
world.
What about YouTube mechanicals Royalties?
Good news! You are also owed mechanicals royalties when your composition is streamed on Youtube. As for performance , mechanicals are also paid by Youtube directly to the mechanical societies.
What we do ?
We develop, protect and value your music composition. We play a vital role in the development of new music and in taking care of the business side, allowing composers and songwriters to concentrate on their creative work.
As a music publisher, our role involves :
– Establishment of all contracts with the Authors, Composers, Arrangers and where appropriate with any third party or company
– Helping songwriters and composers apply to a PRO and ensure that they receive the royalties they are owed
– Finding new and talented songwriters and composers and encouraging and supporting them as they develop their skills, whether through helping with their living expenses, providing them with the facilities they need to produce music or offering advice and guidance in writing for particular markets.
– Securing commissions for new works and helping to coordinate work flow
– Registering the works of songwriters and composers with all appropriate collecting societies and agencies
– Producing demo recordings
– Promoting songwriters and their music to performers, broadcasters, record companies and others who use music on a commercial basis, both nationally and internationally
– Licensing the use of music, whether directly in the case of individual and special usages (eg synchronisation deals) or via the collecting society network
– Responding to new licensing opportunities that flow from technological developments monitoring and tracking the use of the music they own and ensuring that proper payment is made for all licensed uses
– Making royalty payments to songwriters and composers in respect of the usage of their music
– Taking appropriate action against anyone using music without the necessary licence