2 Publisher Name Questions

[k o star]

1st question is... can the artist name be same as the publisher name if they're the same person...
example of when all 3 of these are the same person/entity:
Artist: Spiderman
Writer: Peter Parker
Publisher: Spiderman

2nd question... Is it practical to do so... if not, why not?

I've registered a company name & decided to use that name for myself as an artist & a publisher that's why I wanted to know... I'm hoping it's ok to do so this way cos it would be more convenient...
All feedback welcomed...

Kel-ism

[Casey H]

I'm not at all an expert, but I don't know why you couldn't use the same name though it might be better as Artist: Spiderman... Publisher: Spiderman Publishing or Spiderman Productions. That would help prevent confusion and probably sound more professional.

I know with ASCAP (and probably BMI) when you request a publishing company name, their big concern is making sure it doesn't look or sound like another publisher name. That's why they ask you to list 5 choices, they research them, and give you the first one in the list that is "clear".

Casey

[marcblack30]

I'm with ASCAP, my writer name is "Marc David Blackwell"
When I signed up for publishing, I had requested some really cool names, my last request was "Marc David Blackwell Music".
Yep... they chose that one! At least it should be clear, and that's what I care about the most is getting paid correctly.

The only drawback I can see with using my actual name for publishing is that I can't pretend that my publisher is someone else.
But, for what I'm doing it hasn't been and hopefully won't be a problem.


I think adding "Publishing", "Productions", "Records", "Music" to the end is a good idea.

[k o star]

Thanks Casey... Thanks Marc...
I've pretty much decided to go with Productions yea...
Ur comments really helped alot...

K

[Casey H]

Marc brought up a good point. You might find a situation where using a publisher's name on your copyright notice, letterhead, etc is an advantage. If the publishing company name is not related to your name, it could look more impressive. This is not a big deal but as long as you are going though the trouble of picking a name, why not cover all the bases? Some people create names based on their kids' names, pet's name, etc. If you will be producing mainly one genre, a name could emphasize that - e.g. have "screaming rock" in it. Of course, it's harder to get a unique name when you do that so you need to be more creative.

My cute story of how I got my publishing company name, H*peful Dream*r Music. (the asteriks are because I'm google-paranoid)...

When I applied to ASCAP, I really wanted "caseysongs", the name of my website and modeled after George Harrison's "Harrisongs". That was my first choice. Then I started listing names derived from my kid's names, initials, etc. As i was doing the form, my family was around so I asked them for ideas. Since they liked to tease me about my wide-eyed rock 'n roll dreams, my daughter who I think was around 13 at the time brurted out, "H*opeful Dream*r". We all laughed and I put it down as my 4th or 5th choice-- H*opful Dream*r Music.

Weeks later, I got my packet from ASCAP... None of my first few choices passed the uniqueness test and.... I ended up with H*opeful Dream*r Music! My daughter gets the credit.

For a while I pitched songs for other artists as well as myself. One of the joys I had was to see that publisher name in the credits on the HBO program, "Cat House". I snapped a photo of the TV screen when playing a DVD with the epsiode.



Casey

[k o star]

What a beautiful story & publisher name!! Thanks for sharing it Casey...


Kel

[k o star]

So... after thinking about what has been said... my plan now would be this cos I'm tryna keep things real simple as I don't really wanna have 3 diff names, just 2:

Artist: Peter Parker
Writer/writers: Peter Parker
Publisher: Spiderman Productions

Or rather:

Replacing this:

Artist: K.O. Star
Writer: Kelvin Tan
Publisher: K.O. Star Productions

With this:

Artist: Kelvin Tan
Writer: Kelvin Tan
Publisher: K.O. Star Productions

Anyone thinks it's not a good idea?

K

[deantaylor]

Hey K.O.

I just got my first ASCAP check yesterday. It is made out to my publishing company ... WHAT MATTERS MUSIC. It appears I have to register this business in my state (fees involved), then set up a separate business checking account just to cash the check .. would be SOOOOOO much easier if the check was made out to me personally.

So I checked with ascap and they have an option to make out the publishing company checks to me (my name only). I changed to that for the future. You may want to see if your PRO has this option.

Dean