Audiomack ARTIST GUIDE
Artists 101
Should I sign to a publisher?
Signing to a publisher can be a great opportunity for the right artist. More hands-off than a label, you open yourself up to new revenue streams with a pub deal. Be aware of the type of publishing deal you’re signing, and make sure you know how long the publisher will be collecting on your music.
“In terms of opportunities and ease—a PRO [Performing Rights Organization] might have deals with more distributors of music and therefore you might be opening up different revenue streams for yourself. They handle all the accounting and making sure you’re getting paid, and if there’s any audits that need to be done. It’s a little bit more hands-off and you can trust them to do that, paying a little bit of a margin to do that.”
—Greg Norman, Major Label Attorney
“Any decision you face that could mean giving up your rights requires careful consideration. Hire a lawyer to go over the contract and consider whether your current career position and industry goals would be met by signing. In general, music publishing revenue is harder to collect than recording revenue, so a publishing deal may be very impactful, both for songwriters and for bands who already have record deals.”
—Mark Tavern, Music Industry Educator
“A pub administration deal handles registrations for you, in exchange for getting a cut of your earnings for a certain amount of years. You sign for two years? They collect for two years. If you’re signing a co-publishing deal, with those big advances involved, they end up collecting forever, even after your two or three-year term. It could be in perpetuity.”
—Adam Freedman, Entertainment Lawyer
