what does a music publisher do?

It is the responsibilities of a music publisher to ensure that all the royalties for the performance used for commercial purposes are collected. Most of the time, arecord label or artist will make a contractual agreement with a publisher to collect the royalties and distribute them to the appropriate owner. The publisher will be lawfully entitled to a percentage of the royalties that are collected; this percentage is agreed within the publishing contract and can sometimes go as high as 50%. However some artists or labels will construct or own a publishing company to increase the profit of their earnings, although this can be very time consuming and is not always a popular method, especially for an independent artist.

The publisher will license the work, which secures the compositions, and prevent commercial use of the intellectual property without consent. Essentially publishers are almost like the police for music, ensuring everything is promoted and used legally. Publishers also work hard to maintain a working industry, without publishers music and art could be aired freely and no one would get paid.

The music publisher will work with the MCPS and the PRS to ensure that they are receiving maximum royalties through a variety of functions. The MCPS have the responsibility of monitoring the use of music through a number of methods, these include- CDs, DVDs, sheet music and others, generally anything tangible that contains the music. The PRS monitor performances through radio play, jukebox machines and others; royalties are also collected from artists that cover any music protected by the publisher.

Digital downloads and streaming has become one of the most common methods of listening to music, which unfortunately have made it easier to pirate and download art illegally. The popular web page Youtube among others is responsible for ensuring that the property of the publisher, artists and labels are broadcasted legally and that the appropriate parties are issued with royalties.

Publishers are continually forming new structures to battle the issues with online distribution and media based formats that allow users access to music. The way we listen to music is technologically advancing which makes publishers duties more and more difficult, however that is what they are paid to do. The music industry will always need publishers to protect it, as mentioned earlier artists and labels need the publisher to do all the leg work to make sure that the industry receives a profitable income and can maintain a healthy business.

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