Of great importance to many aspiring artists and bands is the “publishing development deal,” whereby a major publishing company will offer an advance to a promising songwriter/artist, in the hopes that his artist will eventually secure a record deal and establish a successful artist career.

For many young artists, this publishing offer is a “dream opportunity,” where he/she gets to quit their day job, so they can concentrate strictly on doing what they love best: working on their music. The idea that a publishing company (which is often affiliated with a major label) will pay for their demo costs, new studio equipment, some living expenses, and help shop you for a record deal, can be incredibly appealing.

There have been many artists who have benefited from this type of deal. Two current stars that come to mind are Beck and Paula Cole. Their respective publishers believed and invested in them at a very early stage, and these artists went on to become major acts, subsequently earning great royalties for themselves and their publishers.

Here’s how this deal usually works: a publisher will offer the young writer/artist an advance of about $25,000-$30,000 for a one-year deal, with options for two or three more years. In return, the artist assigns half (50%) of the publishing rights of all songs written during the term of the agreement. In most cases the publisher will retain their half of the rights for the life of copyright, with no reversion clause included in this contract. This is because the publisher is taking a chance on investing in a young artist, without any guarantee that this artist will even get a record deal, let alone have a hit and generate royalties.

In addition to providing the financial support, the publisher will try to work closely with the artist, offering valuable feedback and direction. The publisher may act in an A&R capacity, helping the artist assemble the best demo presentation to impress the labels when it is time to shop for a label deal. The publisher may also hook the artist up with a hit record producer to create some master quality recordings, and set up collaborations with other talented writers to come up with the best songs possible.

When the artist’s presentation is finally ready, the publisher will help shop the artist for the coveted record deal. At this point, the situation gets a little more intense. As the label execs start to give their definitive feedback, the artist and publisher get an immediate indication whether or not their publishing relationship (and all their hard work together) is going to result in the securing of the record contract.

If the artist does land the record deal, the publisher and the artist are on their way to establishing a longer-term, working relationship. The publisher will want to pick up their options for the publishing rights for the next several years, and they’ll be happy to pay the artist additional advances and bonuses. It is common for the publisher to pay an immediate bonus of about $20,000 when the artist signs their record deal, and advance another $20,000 when the album is finally released. The publisher can also be helpful in placing songs in films and TV shows, and in soundtracks.

If this publishing scenario sounds terrific for the aspiring artist, then it can be pursued. However, there are other factors to be aware of. First, by signing this type of development deal, the artist usually gives up reversion rights on these songs in the contract. Secondly, by going for the development deal first, the artist might miss a chance to ultimately attract a much larger advance ($100,000 or more) should they secure a record on their own. Of course, some artists simply want to keep all of the publishing rights, and not make any deal.

It is certainly not for every writer/artist, but this publishing development deal has proven to help many talented young artists. It is ultimately up to the artist to decide whether to give up publishing at an early stage to help boost their career.

By Dale Kawashima

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

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

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If you are interested in getting into the business side of the music industry, you may want to consider a career in music publishing. There are a wide variety of jobs in this field, such as talent acquisition, songplugging, copyrighting, licensing, business affairs and royalty collecting.

A publishing career may not seem quite as glamorous as working for a record label, but it is just as creative, and often provides more stability and job security. When the corporate powers are deciding which employees should be fired at their struggling music divisions, they usually start with the top execs at the record label. This is because publishing has always been looked upon as a very long-term business, where the royalties and profits are projected to develop at a steady but more gradual pace.

Of course, the most popular job in publishing is the A&R/talent acquisition exec, whose duties are quite similar to an A&R person’s job at a label. This position has two, main objectives: (1) discovering and developing new songwriting talent (usually artists/bands or writer/producers); and (2) acquiring the available publishing of artists already on the charts or purchasing older, classic catalogs.

As could be expected, competition is absolutely fierce for these top creative jobs. Most execs start out as interns or assistants, pay their dues, and work their way up the corporate ladder. However, sometimes a person will prove their creative success in a related field (as an artist, manager, club booker, music journalist, radio programmer, etc) and jump right into a high-level, exec position.

Another, sought after creative position is that of a “songplugger.” This job previously entailed simply plugging songs demos for current recording artists who needed outside songs. But over the past decade, it has evolved into developing writer/producers, and setting them up to collaborate with artists, because most acts today insist on co-writing most of the material for their albums.

An additional, different type of songplugging has emerged, which is promoting songs for film, TV and soundtrack projects. Every major publishing company now has a staff of execs whose objective is to exclusively focus on this increasingly lucrative field. It can now be said that film & TV pluggers probably earn more income for their companies that the traditional record pluggers. The exception would be in Nashville, where placing songs on country artists’ albums is still far more lucrative than film and TV royalties from country usage.

The creative/A&R side of publishing might seem more attractive, but there are many interesting and rewarding jobs on the administrative and business affairs side also. The administrative and business departments provide an equally important facet of the company. For instance, the copyright staff performs a critical function: making sure the literally thousands of songs published by the company are fully protected, via copyright and renewals.

The licensing department works hand-in-hand with the film and TV staff to negotiate the best fees for each song usage, and to help close each deal. The licensing execs play a crucial role in the song placement process. They must develop great relationships with their licensing counterparts at the film and TV studios, or else many deals will fall through.

The business affairs department, of course, is of vital importance to any publishing company. The business execs draw up and negotiate all of the contracts, and are key in establishing a vision of the company’s overall operations. Most business affairs execs are attorneys, but there are other key positions where a law degree is not necessary.

Last but certainly not least, with usually the largest staff within any publishing house, is the royalty department. Numerous, well-trained employees are needed to meticulously collect and distribute song royalties from thousands of songs which are generating income from around the world. Every songwriter who ever had songs published by the company, must rely on the royalty department to deliver their hard-earned royalty checks to them, on time and with the precise amount.

In closing, there are truly a wide arrange of opportunities available in all facets of the publishing business, and you can explore and decide which department looks like the most interesting and suitable for your potential career.

By Dale Kawashima

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

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

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