What is the role of a music publisher?
The music publisher is the business partner in a musical composition. A good music publisher has the knowledge and contacts to promote a musical composition. They earn income by issuing licenses to those wishing to use the music. Typically a publisher enters into a songwriter/publisher agreement with the songwriter whereby the songwriter assigns control of the copyright to the publisher in exchange for a percentage of the income derived from the exploitation of the copyright. Most publishers also handle administrative tasks such as, collecting royalties for the songwriter, negotiating and issuing licenses, arranging and administering foreign rights, securing commercial recordings of songs, auditing record companies and producing new demos of the music submitted to them. Publishing is the only branch of the music industry that does not manufacture anything. It is one of the hardest to comprehend. All publishing companies scout around for new acts in the same way that record companies do
