What is a Music Publisher?

A music publisher is a person or organization that helps songwriters (and other owners of song copyrights) promote and monetize their songs and ensure that they are properly compensated when their songs are used by record labels, radio stations, bars & restaurants, film studios, advertising agencies, karaoke machine vendors, and the many other music users. 

Music publishing is the business of protecting and promoting song copyrights (which are separate and distinct from sound recording copyrights) while collecting the royalties that these copyrights generate from around the world each time that their song is performed or reproduced (e.g., each time your song is played on the radio or Spotify, and each time that a record label sells a new copy of a CD containing your song). 

Why SoundCloud Publishing?

Creators who partner with SoundCloud uniquely stay independent while our team works to identify and collect their music publishing royalties from dozens of territories around the world as well as securing sync placements in film, TV, video games, trailers, other multi-media and advertisements, which can generate significant additional publishing income.

Are you claiming your royalties?

For every 1 million streams on Spotify, roughly $500 is set aside for publishing to be retrieved later. If you don’t have a publishing administrator set up, you are losing money! Your uncollected publishing royalties go into a pool of unclaimed publishing royalties and is eventually distributed to other songwriters and publishers!

Do I qualify for a Publishing Administration deal?

Yes! If you’re releasing original music as an artist, songwriter or producer - you have publishing royalties accumulating, which means you qualify for a publishing administration deal. 

What’s the difference between how Publishing and Distribution royalties are collected?

Our Distribution service collects your sound recording royalties, which are also called master royalties, while our  Publishing service collects your composition royalties. Below is a graph we’ve provided for a better understanding of how both sides of royalties are collected after you release an original song. 

Performance royalties are collected from thousands of sources worldwide by your performance rights organization (“PRO”)or collective management organization (“CMO”) (e.g., ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, PRS, SACEM, JASRAC, etc.) with the “writer’s share” being paid directly to you while the “publisher’s share” is collected by your publisher and paid to you according to your publishing administration agreement. By assigning the administration of the publisher’s share of your performance royalties to a publisher, you maximize your writer’s share by ensuring a more complete and efficient royalty collection process globally. Separately, your mechanical royalties are collected by the MLC,  Harry Fox, and Music Reports in the US and paid to your publisher who, in turn, accounts for all of these royalties globally and pays you directly.