Chapter 17 – Signing to a music publisher and the six figure deal.
Now the wheels were in motion with Sony, it was time to meet with some music publishers. For those of you who are unaware of the roles a music publisher and record label plays, they are as follows. (Though please note the following is is based on my own experience). When an artist signs to a record label they often sign to a music publisher as well. In a nutshell, the record label is responsible for all things related to the ‘recording of the album’. Things like manufacture of the actual physical cd or vinyl, studio time and musicians, putting the album out, the marketing and promoting of it, and sending you on tour etc. The domain of the music publisher revolves purely around the intellectual property, in other words, the songs/compositions. Their job is to collect your publishing royalties, hook you up with other writers and to find other avenues to get your music into – ie adverts and film etc. Whether or not the publisher actually does these things depends…. Some publishers are great and are really hands on, some do bugger all.