Music Publishing Checklist

This checklist outlines the basic concepts of music publishing agreements. Music publishing is one of the most complex areas of the music industry. They act as an interface between songwriters or composers and the rest of the music industry. A music publisher operates by first acquiring the copyright in a musical work from the songwriter. The publisher will then encourage others to use those works in a variety of ways. in return for permission to use the work, the end user (eg. a record company) will pay royalties to the publisher. A percentage of these royalties will then be paid back to the writer. Publishing contracts should not be confused with recording contracts.