100% publishing rights and 50% sync fees a bad deal?

[philadeaus]

Thank you to everyone who responded with good information regarding the subject of writers giving away all rights to the publishing of their works. I have learned a few things about the subject and about this forum. Most importantly I have learned that semantics matter and the less that can be misinterpreted or allowed to take the discussion off topic the better. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I just wanted to get some real substantive replies rather than the usual fluff that happens on some other forums.
As for the Publishing deals in question, it appears that even though a publisher has nothing without a hit song to publish, at this point in time, they still seem to be able to take 100% of the publishing and songwriters really believe that is the "way it is". I am old enough to have seen many changes take place in the music business and know that every deal stands on it's own. Everything is negotiable. It may be that in order not to have to give away 100% of the publishing rights I would have to be my own publisher and hire a powerful promotional team and get my songs used, heard and marketed in less conventional ways. There are options. just not with the deals that this particular publisher wants to make. There are better deals out there and things are changing all the time. Perhaps this will change in time too.

[philadeaus]

I just have one more question for clarity on the deals being discussed. if the publisher is getting 100% of the publishing and the writer is getting 100% of the writer's share... what is the writer's share? Share of what? Does it include a "writer's share" of the publishing? Maybe I am just not understanding the deal. In this kind of deal. does the writer get ANYTHING when sheet music or a songbook is sold?

[eeoo]

I believe the responses you are seeing are geared specifically toward licensing your music for film and television opportunities through music libraries who act as the publishers, I imagine that if you're an established songwriter getting cuts on hit records you can negotiate different scenarios. I don't know anything about that world, I only know anything about licensing through libraries and in my experience and everyone else I know doing the same thing, 50/50 is standard. Royalties are distributed in two ways, the publisher's share and the writers share so when you hear someone say 100% of publisher's share it's the same as saying 50% of the total royalties.

eo

[Casey H]

I just have one more question for clarity on the deals being discussed. if the publisher is getting 100% of the publishing and the writer is getting 100% of the writer's share... what is the writer's share? Share of what? Does it include a "writer's share" of the publishing? Maybe I am just not understanding the deal. In this kind of deal. does the writer get ANYTHING when sheet music or a songbook is sold?

In film/TV music, sheet music and/or songbooks almost never exist. That is more for publishing songs for artists to cut.

There are 2 main streams of income for film/TV music:

(1) Upfront master/sync fees. These are usually split 50/50 between writer and publisher.

(2) Performance royalties (Paid by PROs such as ASCAP. BMI, etc. for broadcasts). This is where each dollar (the "200% pie") is generally split evenly between the Writer's Share and the Publisher's Share. When you give up your publishing, that means the publisher collects the Publisher's Share. You still collect the Writer's Share. Each of those shares is 50% of each actual PRO dollar.
* 100% of Publisher's Share = 50% of total pie
* 100% of Writer's Share = 50% of total pie

A great many Taxi listings are for film/TV music libraries and that's why you see the language you referenced in so many listings.

HTH
Casey

[philadeaus]

Thank you eeoo and Casy. your recent replies spells it out perfectly and helped a lot. Now that deal doesn't seem so bad and the wording of those taxi listings make more sense. I really appreciate your replies. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help clarify this and offer your opinion.
Sincerely,
Phil

[coachdebra]

Pretty sure I answered your question here: (first page of the thread)

Actually, I think you are misunderstanding the math and the terminology. If you have a pie (representing royalty income from the deal) and split it in half - the half on the right is called the publisher's portion of the deal (50% of the pie). The half on the left is called the writer's portion of the deal (50% of the pie)

When you start discussing the publishing fee as 100% - that's STILL 50% OF THE PIE. It's not 100% of the pie but only 100% of the publishing fee which is 50% of the pie.

So the deal your describing is actually STANDARD. 100% of the publishing (50% of the pie) goes to the publisher, and implied is that 100% of the writer's fee goes to the writer (50% of the pie).

If/when there's a sync fee - it's split 50:50 - JUST LIKE THE ROYALTIES.

By the way - your confusion is really common and understandable. I get this question all the time, so much so, that I devoted an hour long ArtistsMBA class to clear it up with Sarah Gavigan's help.



Your Business Coach
Debra

[ilovemusic59]

Thanks everyone, I got the answers I needed!

[philadeaus]

CoachDebra and anyone else who knows this answer.
I'm still not clear on one point. If the publisher is receiving 100% of the Publishing, does that mean that any profit from sheet music or music books go only to the publisher and the writer none of that?

[Cruciform]

CoachDebra and anyone else who knows this answer.
I'm still not clear on one point. If the publisher is receiving 100% of the Publishing, does that mean that any profit from sheet music or music books go only to the publisher and the writer none of that?

Film/tv publishers are NOT typically interested in sheet music or music books. Their focus is to monetize music by synchronising it to video. In some cases, they also release music via iTunes etc.

But there is no single answer to your question. You would need to check each specific publisher's contract.

[pedrocosta]

From my experience this deal very much the standard middle of the road deal a music library will offer you.
There are also better ones and worse ones out there.
Also, don't think of it as "giving up" publishing, unless you are currently publishing it yourself and making $.
Think of yourself as the composer (aka writer) and you are making a deal with a publisher to actively work on publishing your music for the duration of your agreement.
Personally I am more than happy to have someone who is good at publishing and has the contacts/deals with production companies do it on my behalf. While I do what I do which is write music.
Long story short Taxi's listing is perfectly OK.
Best of luck!