Protection and Collection: What is Music Publishing in 2021?
January, 26 2021
Whether you're a songwriter with a publishing admin deal, or self-publish, music publishing is likely one of your primary revenue streams. The role of music publishing is to license, collect on and promote your songs to music users including any company and/or artist needing music for an album, advertising campaign, movie, television show, video game, etc.
Publishers issue mechanical and synch licenses for the songs they represent, and subsequently collect royalties and fees for the songwriter. This is referred to as the “administration” of a song. In return, the music publisher gets a commission of the income generated by this process. Music publishing at its core has always been a "microtransaction business" in the sense that units sold, downloaded or streamed are calculated via pennies or fractions of a penny---and this is especially true with the new digital music economy and as growing delivery platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and other digital service providers continue to disrupt the industry.
In 2018, Congress passed the Music Modernization Act (MMA). The MMA was heralded by songwriters, musicians and publishers as the last best hope to restructure the industry to adapt to the new digital music economy in a way that treated the songwriter fairly. As 2021 gets underway, the MMA is poised to restore the monetary and licensing relationship between music publishers, the songwriter, and digital distribution companies like Spotify, Apple,
Amazon, and YouTube.
Meet The Mechanical Licensing Collective
The last few years have been interesting as the owners of master recordings (typically the label) have collected almost 5X more income per stream than the song's creator. Publishers and songwriters hope the MMA will recalibrate the balance between the owners of the underlying copyright and the owners of the master recording. The law calls for the creation of a new oversight organization, now called the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). The MLC's mandate is to grant mechanical licenses for interactive music streaming and to help track and monetize how mechanical royalties are collected from the aforementioned digital service providers.
The MLC has created a universal database and has already issued blanket licenses on behalf of hundreds, and in the future, thousands of publishers for music usages on all of the streaming platforms.
And it went live on January 2nd, 2021.
Get Ready for Changes Coming in 2021
And now The Music Modernization Act has taken effect in January 2021 with the launch of the MLC. Whether you have an existing admin or music publishing deal, or self-publish, these changes will affect your catalog and potentially boost your earnings going forward.
It's time to prepare for the changes coming to music publishing.
And here are a few tips to help you get your songs organized.
- Get Your Songs and Your Catalog Together
No song can be fully registered or properly licensed until the writers clarify who owns what portion of any new song. Talk to your co-writers. Work out your splits. Resolve your shares. Incomplete registrations or conflicting claims can create a nightmare of paperwork and confusion. Before the new system is in place, get your business together. Once that's done submit these songs to your publishing administration company for proper processing. - Get Your Catalog Organized
Your music publishing administrator, and subsequently The MLC, can only help songwriters if your music is in their system. Get your information together by talking with your admin company. Prepare your songs so that they can be ingested into your publisher’s database, and so this can then be volleyed through to The MLC. Create an Excel spreadsheet. Invest in a copyright management system like Songspace. Include the names of all the songwriters and their CAE/IPI numbers, the ISWC code for each song, all of the publishers and their IPI numbers, and the IRSC codes for any recordings of your material. - Beyond The MLC, Your Song Metadata Needs To Be Worldwide
While the MLC is great, there is also a vast world beyond this whereby your songs have to be registered. Once you submit your songs in the organized way cited above, your publisher can then register your work with countless other entities: domestic organizations from Music Reports to HFA; international societies from SACEM in France, to STIM in Scandinavia; and sub publishers that may be affiliated with your admin company in most every country throughout the world. - Get Educated
Changes are coming to the music publishing industry and your ability to make money with your songs lies with you. Choose a publisher and admin company that can act as your ally around the globe. Even for musicians and "industry insiders" with a lifetime of experience, the new mechanical licensing system, along with the new rules on data quality, Common Works Registrations, general royalty rate hearings, and the ongoing battle over streaming rates can be difficult to grasp and keep up with. Talk with your publishing admin company. Know your songs' income possibilities. Bolster your music career, prepare for your future, secure new placement opportunities, give yourself the tools to know where your money is coming from.
2021 will bring some exciting changes to music publishing. Get on the train and align yourself with a tested music publisher. 2021 is going to be great year for you and your songs.
“About Missing Link Music
Missing Link Music are established music publishing and rights management experts, with a proud history of exponential growth over the last 20 years. Our modern stream-lined approach to royalty collection is designed to get the songwriter and copyright holder paid quickly, fairly and transparently.
Additionally, Missing Link Music is one of the leading independent music publishing companies offering fast, efficient and transparent licensing and royalty collection for songwriters and copyright holders. Its custom-tailored royalty and licensing system was developed in-house, and is modeled on the global CWR-based data exchange format embraced by music and media companies around the globe. Whether you need a royalty advance, comprehensive international royalty administration or help getting your songs commercially placed with artists, in films or on TV –- Missing Link Music is there for you.”