Recently, one of my music industry students shared the happy news that he had been offered a record deal with a respected independent record company. While congratulating him on his good fortune, I heard one of his classmates say, “Don’t let the record company take your publishing.”

What is music publishing, and why is it so valuable?

Most of us think of publishing as something that happens when words and music are printed on paper, but in the music business, a song can be published without ever having appeared in a printed version.

A song is considered to have been published when it has been made available to the public for sale or other transfer of ownership.

In the pop music world, this can be accomplished in many ways, but the most common way is to include the song on a commercially released recording.

Who has the right to publish a song? The owner of the song has the right to publish it, and the first owner is usually the composer. The owner can decide who can make the first commercial recording of the song, as well as whether a song can be used in a commercial or movie or with a video game. Each new use of the song has the potential to earn money, of course.

People in the music business have known for a long time about the potential to make money through song publishing.

In 1992, singer Whitney Houston recorded a song called “I Will Always Love You” for the soundtrack to “The Bodyguard,” a movie in which she shared star billing with actor Kevin Costner. Houston earned money as an artist from album sales, but country singer Dolly Parton must have been smiling whenever she heard the song on the radio or saw the album sales soar. Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” in 1974 and she collects publishing income for every album sale and radio broadcast of the song, no matter who sings it.

Singer Michael Jackson’s income as a singer/dancer has certainly dropped in recent years, but he was able to maintain his wealthy lifestyle in large part because he purchased the publishing rights to nearly 200 of The Beatles’ songs for $47.5 million in 1985.

The publishing for those same songs is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion today, so Jackson made a smart move when he bought the rights to the songs nearly 25 years ago.

Forbes Magazine recently identified Madonna as the “cash queen of music,” saying she was the richest female musician in the world. She earned $72 million from publishing, touring, merchandising and fashion.

How does music publishing earn so much money and to whom is publishing income paid?

The composer of a song is the first owner of the song (unless it’s a work for hire). The composer owns all the rights to the song, and can license the song for commercial exploitation including use in movies, commercials and for performance and recording by other musicians.

But how can you convince movie-makers and others to use the song so it can earn money? Often, composers will give up ownership of their songs to publishers so the publishers can “exploit” the song by convincing other people to pay for the privilege of using the song commercially.

How much money can a song earn?

The music business is known as a “penny business,” because most royalties are calculated in pennies. The royalty rate for putting one song on an album is 9.1 cents, but if 100,000 albums are sold, the publisher has earned $9,100.

And if the publisher has 10 songs on that album, the publisher has earned $91,000. If the song is played on the radio, more royalties are generated, and if the song is placed in a movie, commercial or other audio or visual use, even more royalties are earned. Some songs, like The Beatles’ songs, continue to earn money for many years.

Songs are protected by copyright for the entire life of the composer, plus 70 years after the death of that composer. As long as a song is protected by copyright, the composer and publisher can earn money from that song. The next time you request a song to be played on the radio, you’ll be earning money for the publisher of that song.

If you’ve ever thought about writing music, this might be a good time to get started. Publishing your music takes hard work, but it can certainly be worth the effort.

Dr. Janet Nepkie is a member of the music industry faculty in the music department of the State University College at Oneonta.

Article Source: http://www.thedailystar.com

For more education on careers in the music industry, check out: www.Music-Career-Guide.com

***

Making beats in todays day and age is becoming easier and easier with all of the new technology that is available. To get the title “Beat Maker” is an easy title to receive nowadays. All you need to do is download some software and sounds, make a few repetitive 4 bar loops and then have your best friend spit hot fire (most times its “not fire”) over the beat. But to become a real producer or even harder an underground legend, it takes a lot of grind and hustle. Most people are not focused enough to get to this level or just simple don’t have what it takes.

Mister K.A. is the true definition of the overly abused word hustler. With over 2,000 tracks used under his belt and the entire internet whispering about his talent, he currently holds the title as one of Hip Hops underground Producer Kings. In the following interview, you will get a chance to get inside the mind of Mister K.A. see what makes him tick and take notes.

How long have you been producing?

I’ve been producing for around 5 years off and on, I’ve been doing this as a full time career for about 2 years now.

How did you learn how to produce?

To tell you the truth, I learned how to produce all on my own. All the programs/equipment that I use I learned on my own. I basically just hooked it up sat it in front of me, and would just mess with it until I started to understand how it worked and could make quality material. Naturally the more I messed with it the better it got, which has got me to where I am today with the knowledge I know.

How often do you make tracks?

When i first started i would make 10-15 tracks a day, now that i am in a better position i make maybe 4-5 beats a week because i do so many other things besides just making them.

The art of being able to create a form of sounds arranged in a way I wanted starting from basically an idea in my head. Choosing everything from the melody to the drums to the bass etc… was just really entertaining, had a lot of feeling of artistic freedom and before I made beats I was rapping a lot. So to be able to make my own beats the way I wanted was just straight dope. Than when the money started coming in… It’s kind of like the icing on the cake.

How did you get discovered?

Well I wouldn’t say that I am discovered yet, I’m still looking for that one major jump off you know? But the way I came up was basically through word of mouth.

How long does it take for you to make a beat from start to finish?

It really depends, I don’t have a set time. But usually takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour is my usual work time. There have been times where I’ve worked on beats for like 2 days. I would add a little bit, leave it alone, play it back later on, add more. Sometimes change up how I work, but usually on grind time it takes around 15 mins to an hour.

What type of music do you produce?

I do mostly Hip Hop, but I do dabble into R&B. I want to get into rock.

Sample or original? Why?

I personally love original, there is nothing wrong with people who just sample, but thats not my preference. I like the idea of building something from absolutely nothing. That and there is no clearance issue selling an original beat.

What equipment do you use?

Right this second I am using FL7 Studio to lay my stuff into, I have 100’s of Vst’s (Too many to name), 61 key midi keyboard, Korg TR61, Motu Ultralite Interface. I am dabbling into Pro Tools at the moment.

Describe the creative process you use to make your tracks?

I start with the melody and lay it on a 4 bar loop, and just keep adding and adding sounds, than arrange it so I can just cut out sounds for the verse, and add them all back in for the chorus, than I will go through the verses and create bridges, breakdowns, drum switch ups etc…

Do you use live instrumentation?

At the present moment I don’t use actually instruments. I would really love to though. I want to add live guitar, bass and also drums very soon. Only thing you might consider live is I do actually do beat boxing into my beats, maybe if I hear some sort of object that makes a good sound I will use like for example a cup full of change for a shaker or something. Switch it up a little bit ya know.

Who have you produced for?

Oh man whenever someone asks me this I always forget everyone. Ive done Stat Quo, Big Lou (Street Sweepers Ent), Chino XL, Outerspace, Papoose etc.. As far as underground and independent artists I have no idea what the numbers are, Ive done joints for at least 2,000 unsigned artists in 2007.

It’s so cliche to say and I am sure almost every producer might say the same, but I’d love to work with Dr.Dre. For the fact he such a perfectionist. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t even mind just sitting in the back watching him work. Might learn a lot that way too, Ive heard him on a phone call I was on a little bit back, he is a very smart man.

Who is your favorite artist?

Without a doubt my favorite artist is Saigon. I’m very pissed that he’s still on this “quitting rap” stuff but I contacted him several times, and if he doesn’t pick up rapping again. I’m going to find him and make him. People need to hear what he has to say. Very talented emcee.

If you could give one tip to a wannabe industry producer what would it be?

One thing I would tell every producer who wants to do this is to just never wait on anything in this game, if you think you can make beats and the good things will just come forth you will be waiting forever. You have to get out there and work hard and make enough noise till people come to you, not you go to them.

What websites besides BeatCreators.com do you use?

There ain’t no other websites baby. www.BeatCreators.com IS the website I go to, all day everyday!

Bonus: What other side ventures do you have going on outside of producing?

On the side I own a promotion company and also I am opening up a recording studio.

Article Source: http://www.beatcreators.com, By Ike Barnes

For more education on careers in the music industry, check out: www.Music-Career-Guide.com

***