I just wanted to get poeple's opinion on something. Is it necessary or worthwhile for a composer just starting to get his music out there to have his or her own publishing company or is this something that should come later when the composer is more established? Lets say for example I write score for a film and that film gets picked up by universal or whatever am I loosing royalties if I am not a publishing company or do I still retain my publishing share? Does having a publishing company give me more leverage in an independent contract with film maker or anyone else than if I didn't have one?
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It's hard to get any part of the publishing from a major studio - with indies or smaller co's you might have a chance, particularly if you have the director insisting on using you to do the score. Fight for a piece of the publishing - remember it will be part of your future income. JR
There are some types of rights that are easier to collect if you have a publishing company and knowing how to chase down your royalties may give you leverage when negotiating with production companies/ independent filmmakers. However, you have to make sure you retain collection rights in your contract in order to benefit. They're worth fighting for!
Thank you Alle for your input. I have been doing alot of research to educate myself about the ins and outs of the industry including copyrights, publishing, royalties, licensing etc. For the first time I am now in a position to write a score for a short film that will be submitted to a film festival. I am fine with doing this pro bono because it is free exposure and i will request that he includes my name in the credits and link to my site (once its finished). However lets say by some chance the film gets picked up and this short 4 minute film preview starts gaining royalties. Am I cheating myself out of synchronization royalties or do I perhaps lose leverage if I am not the publisher even if the sound is copyrighted in my name? Or is it enough just to have a contract stating that I am entitled to the writers share. Just trying to figure out if it is the right move at this stage of the game to be a publisher.
You don't need to have your own. The best way I have found is to join unions such as BASCA or PRS. They will chase up any royalties you are owed and pay you directly.
Alle, I take offence to "write some catchy tunes and give them away". That's not a viable business model and should not be endorsed. This is an industry after all and musicians and composers have just as much right to make a living as camera guy #2! Rob, short films are very unlikely to make a lot of money on royalties. We're talking an average of <$10. Please feel free to reach out to me - I'm happy to answer questions about music copyright and how the system works. In addition to being a composer I also run Conduit Music Royalty Management: www.musicroyalties.ca
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Thank you all for your suggestions. I am so glad I joined this site. It has been so helpful. As far as giving away music. My policy is I give free cd's to friends and family only, people who I am close with. I also have my songs featured on my facebook page and soundcloud and pretty soon on a website however I don't give it away to the general public in terms of downloads or mp3's so I agree with you Janal on that point.