Music publishing agreements series; (part 22) The various types of publishing contracts

Other than the publishing agreement itself (also called the “Exclusive Songwriter Agreement”), there are several other types of music publishing agreements:

1. Single song agreement: the composer is paid a one-off recoupable advance for a single song that the publisher requires;

2. Exclusive publishing agreement (or “staff writer deal”): the composer agrees to write exclusively for the publisher for a particular period thus, any music written during that time belongs to the publisher for the rights (or more likely, in perpetuity). Generally, the composer cedes his royalty income to the publisher, in return for a share of the income, a negotiated recoupable advance and future royalties, or even a monthly salary. These deals are linked to an album project (e.g. a staff writer was brought in by EMI publishing to assist Robbie Williams in his last album). In principle, this is just a standard publishing agreement with an employment contract flavour.

3. Co-publishing agreement: the composer and the publisher are co-owners of the music for a period, based on an agreed split of the royalties. The composer cedes an agreed percentage (e.g. 50%) of the royalty income to the publisher. This is probably one of the most common scenarios, other than the standard publishing agreement, where the only difference is that the publisher is the owner, but the royalties are split 50/50 (here, both parties are owners).

4. Administration agreement (admin deal): the composer self-publishes and merely licenses the administration of the royalties to the publisher for a period, for an agreed royalty split (or he has another publisher who holds the rights, but wishes to sub-contract the administration). Naturally, the split will be less for the publisher than in a full publishing agreement. Only established composers, and usually those who have their own publishing houses, can negotiate admin deals, because the ownership of the copyright is not transferred to the administrator publisher, who also only gets 10% to 20% of the royalties received. But remember that his responsibilities will also only extend to exploitation and administration (i.e. pushing for, and monitoring, the royalty income).

5. Collection agreement: similar to an admin deal, but with no rights to exploit. Simply the collection and disbursement of royalty income – this is basically an accounting function.

6. Sub-publishing agreement: an agreement between your publisher, who is based locally, and a foreign publisher or publishers in other territories. Usually, these are like admin or collection deals, in that the copyrights are not transferred to the sub-publishers, however copyright transfer is not unheard of. Under this deal, the publisher allows the sub-publisher to act on his behalf in the other territory or group of territories. The composer therefore has two or more middle-men.

7. Purchase agreement (also known as “Outright Sale”): under this agreement, one publisher sells his catalogue of copyrights to another publisher. This usually takes place when two publishers merge. It can also take place when a composer decides that he needs a lump-sum payment and is prepared to sell some of his songs outright for this reason. He is paid the lump sum, and the copyrights now belong to the publisher, in full and in perpetuity.

Conclusion

This series is only a general guide to the huge world of music publishing agreements, and is by no means an exhaustive statement of their terms and conditions. To reflect every type of publishing deal would lots and lots of articles. The series is also not intended to explain any specific agreement – each contract is different, therefore it is in the composer’s own interest to seek and obtain specialist legal advice on publishing agreements that he may enter into. Nevertheless, if you have a good understanding of this series of articles, you are well on your way to negotiating a better publishing deal.