A music publisher deals in the marketing and commercial exploitation of songs. Originally, the term referred to publishers of sheet music, but this has changed largely over the years, and today's music publishers rarely deal with printed music or scores. (Those who do have come to be known as "music print publishers".) Music publishers regularly handle and control the rights to transcriptions and uses of musical works, and act on behalf of songwriters in matters of distributing royalties and protection against copyright infringement. A song is a relatively short musical composition. ... Sheet music is written representation of music. ... In music, transcription is the act of notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Royalty may refer to either: the royal family of a country with a monarchy royalties the payment made to the owner of a copyright, patent, or trademark, for the use thereof This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... Articles with similar titles include copywrite. ...

Music publishers' roles

The primary job of today's music publisher is to link up new songs by songwriters with suitable recording artists to record them, with the intent of creating a hit record and generating large numbers of sales and airplay. Promoting such songs, supervising the collection and payment of publishing royalties for sales to their writers, placing writers' songs in other media such as movie soundtracks and commercials, and handling copyright registration and "ownership" matters for published songs, are among other jobs handled by a music publisher. Music print publishers also supervise the issue of songbooks and sheet music by their artists. A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... A sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, or inclusion in a soundtrack. ... Airplay is a technical term used in the radio industry to state how frequently a song is being played on a radio station. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... // In film formats, the sound track is the physical area of the film which records the synchronized sound. ... In some forms of copyright laws, only a copyright registration makes a creative work eligible for protection. ... 31 Songs (published in the United States as Songbook) is a 2003 collection of essays by English writer Nick Hornby about songs and (more often) the particular emotional resonance they carry for him. ... Sheet music is written representation of music. ...

Traditionally, music publishing royalties are split fifty/fifty, with half going to the publisher (as payment for their services) and the rest going to the songwriter – or songwriters, as the case may be. Other arrangements have been made in the past, and continue to be; some better for the writers, some better for the publishers. Occasionally a recording artist will ask for a co-writer's credit on a song (thus sharing in both the artist and publishing royalties) in exchange for selecting it to perform, particularly if the writer is not well-known. Sometimes an artist's manager or producer will expect a co-credit or share of the publishing (as with Norman Petty and Phil Spector), and occasionally a publisher will insist on writer's credit (as Morris Levy did with several of his acts); these practises are listed in descending order of scrupulousness, as regarded by the music industry. Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 - August 15, 1984) was an American musician, songwriter, and pioneer record producer who helped shape modern pop music. ... Harvey Phillip Spector (born December 26, 1940) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. ... Morris Levy was an American music industry executive, who ran Roulette Records. ...

The most unscrupulous type of music publisher is the songshark, who does little if any real "legwork" or promotion on behalf of songwriters. Songsharks make their profit not on royalties from sales, but by charging inexperienced writers for "services" (some real, such as demo recording or musical arranging, some fictional, such as "audition" or "review" fees) a legitimate publisher would provide without cost to the writer, as part of their job. A dubiously-honest music publisher, whose main source of income is the naivete of new songwriters, whom they charge for services a reputable publisher would provide free to their clients. ... A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. ... In popular music an arrangement is a setting of a piece of music, which may have been composed by the arranger or by someone else. ...

Some music publishers also fill other business roles, with regard to writers and artists – many serve as record producers, and vice versa, or as artist managers. This is generally considered acceptable, although sometimes aspects of one role can negatively impact other dealings a publisher or manager may have with their client. Rock-n-roll pioneer Buddy Holly split with longtime manager Norman Petty over publishing matters in late 1958, as did the Buckinghams with producer James William Guercio almost a decade later. John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival was sued by his former publisher Saul Zaentz (who'd also served as his manager) over a later Fogerty song that sounded slightly like a CCR song Zaentz published. (Fogerty won in court.) In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), better known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and a pioneer of rock and roll. ... First album cover, 1967 The Buckinghams were an American pop rock band which saw enormous radio popularity in 1967 (see 1967 in music), selling more records that year than any American artist except The Monkees. ... James William Guercio (born in 1945 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American music producer, musician and songwriter (occasionally credited as Jim Guercio), and is probably best known for his work as the producer of Chicagos early albums. ... John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock or roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that The Saul Zaentz Film Center be merged into this article or section. ...

Famous publishing catalogues

As intellectual property, copyright ownership can be bought, sold, or inherited, as can rights to royalties under a publishing contract. Several bands and artists own (or later purchase) their own publishing, and start their own companies, with or without help from an outside agent. The sale or loss of publishing ownership can be devastating to a given artist or writer, financially and emotionally. R&B legend Little Richard was largely cheated on his music publishing and copyrights, as were many performers. Brian Wilson and Mike Love of The Beach Boys were crushed to learn that Murry Wilson (father to three of the Beach Boys, Love's uncle, and the band's music publisher) had sold their company Sea of Tunes to A&M Records during 1969 for a fraction of what it was worth – or earned in the following years. For the 2006 film, see Intellectual Property (movie). ... A publishing contract is a legal contract between a publisher and a writer or author (or more than one), to publish written material by the writer(s) or author(s). ... Little Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman, December 5, 1932) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942 in Hawthorne, California), is an American pop musician, best known as the lead songwriter, bassist, and lead singer of the American rock band The Beach Boys. ... Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941 in Los Angeles, California) is an American singer and songwriter who was one of the lead singers and lyric writers of The Beach Boys. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was a musician and record producer, best remembered as father to Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson. ... A music publishing company, founded in 1962 by Murry Wilson, father to three of the Beach Boys (Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson), and uncle of another member (Mike Love), to publish and promote the original songs written by Brian and Mike. ... A&M Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Universal Music Group. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

A large factor in the Beatles' breakup was when their publisher Dick James sold his share of Northern Songs, the company they'd formed with him in 1963 (then taken public in 1967, with shares trading on the London Stock Exchange), to Britain's Associated Television (ATV) in 1969. Neither the Beatles nor managers Lee Eastman and Allen Klein were able to prevent ATV from becoming majority stockholders in Northern Songs, whose assets included virtually all the group's song copyrights. Losing control of the company, John Lennon and Paul McCartney elected to sell their share of Northern Songs (and thus their own copyrights), while retaining their writer's royalties. (George Harrison and Ringo Starr retained minority holdings in the company.) The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Dick James (born Reginald Leon Vapnick, in 1920, in London died 2 January 1986) was the singer of the Robin Hood and The Buccaneers themes, from British television in the 1950s and was a friend and associate of renowned record producer George Martin. ... Northern Songs Ltd. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building Paternoster Square. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Lee Eastman (12 January 1910 - 30 July 1991) was a New York show business attorney, the son of Louis and Della (Freyer) Epstein. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Sir James Paul McCartney MBE (born June 18, 1942) is an iconic Grammy Award-winning English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940 in Liverpool),[1] known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor, best known as the drummer of the Beatles. ...

See also

• History of music publishing
• Transcription (music)
• Interview with BMG Music Publishing Executive