Publishing Music: How to Get Your Songs Published!

What’s the key difference between amateur and professional songwriters? Pros get paid! Publishing music is how songwriters ensure they’re paid royalties for their work and is a critical step on the journey to building a sustainable career.

But how do you make the leap from writing a song to publishing music? What’s the process? It can seem daunting at first, but it’s not impossible. In this article, we’ll walk you through the basics of music publishing, explain key concepts, and offer some insight into how to start publishing music.

What Is Music Publishing?

Fundamentally, music publishing is about rights management and royalty collection. Every time your song is played or performed, you’re entitled to compensation. The publishing process is how the industry ensures that compensation finds its way back to the songwriter.

This seems simple enough, but it’s no small feat. The music industry is vast and complex, constantly evolving to incorporate new technologies and trends. With more platforms and revenue opportunities than ever before, the importance of publishing can’t be overstated. Publishers and creators need to adapt and change to keep up with this shifting landscape.

Rights and Royalties

Every song has an owner (or owners), and a copyright is a legal recognition of this ownership. The copyright of a song is always (initially) owned by the writer, not the performer. Even if the performer gets the fame, the writer gets the royalties.

The copyright holder of a song has publishing rights for that song, which can be licensed in a variety of ways for various purposes. These licensing rights include:

• Performance rights: The right to perform the song in public including on radio, on streaming services, at live concerts, etc.
• Mechanical rights: The right to sell physical media containing the song such as vinyl records and CDs, and through digital sales like downloads and streaming.
• Sync rights: The right to use the song in traditional media such as movies, commercials, TV shows, and video games, and in new media such as YouTube videos, podcasts, etc.

Each of these licensing rights can generate royalties and must be managed independently.

When all these rights are licensed together in a bundle, that’s called one-stop publishing. The more divided these rights are between different parties, the more complex the legal quagmire becomes, further complicating an already complicated process.

Publishing Music vs Distributing Music

It's important to note the distinction between music publishing for songwriters and music distribution for recording artists, which can easily be confused.

Distribution is focused on a particular recording of a song and offering that recording in the marketplace. In contrast, publishing focuses on managing the rights and royalties of the underlying song composition (lyrics and melody). While you may be both the songwriter and the recording artist, these two processes are distinct in the industry.

Publishing Music: How to Publish a Song

Now, let’s look at a basic overview of the various steps you (or your publisher) need to take to get started publishing music.

Copyright Registration

Registering a copyright is always the first step in the publishing process. In the U.S. (and in most countries), the writer automatically holds the copyright when a piece of original music is created. However, registering your copyright can give you legal protection by clarifying ownership disputes long before you end up in court.

Use the U.S. Copyright Office website to file your registration. Other countries have their own copyright offices (e.g., PRS for the UK, SOCAN in Canada, etc.). The process is easy and cheap, especially considering the massive legal headaches it could prevent in the future.

Performance Rights Organization Registration

As the songwriter, you need to register with a performance rights organization (PRO) in the country you reside in. Your PRO will then collect performance royalties on your behalf. Anytime your music is played on streaming platforms, radio stations, or at live shows, PROs make sure you receive your songwriter’s share.

You must register each song you publish in the PRO’s database to ensure proper royalty collection. Considering worldwide distribution, this can be a huge undertaking as each region has its own PROs to deal with.

Mechanical Rights Organization Registration

While PROs focus on performance royalties, mechanical rights organizations collect royalties from sales of physical and digital media. Only a publisher can register your songs with a mechanical rights organization. Like PROs, mechanical rights organizations are specific to different regions of the world, so you will need to be registered everywhere your music is sold.

For example, in the United States, your publisher would register your works with several mechanical rights organizations including The Mechanical Licensing Collective, Harry Fox Agency, and Music Reports.  

Sync Licensing

Music publishers can help secure sync licenses for songwriters by working with music supervisors, agencies, and sync platforms for use in films, TV shows, and commercials. They will manage the rights, negotiate favorable terms, and track royalties to maximize revenue for songwriters.

Publishing Music: Choose Your Path

Before you do any of this, you need to decide how you want to proceed on your publishing journey. Music publishing happens in two ways: either you do it yourself (DIY), or you partner with a professional publishing company, which is highly recommended.

Option 1: DIY Music Publishing

Once upon a time, publishing music DIY-style was impossible. Now, modern technology puts this task within your grasp. This means handling copyright registration, royalty collection, and sync placement on your own or through third-party services.

Why go it alone? Because you retain more control over your songs and keep all the revenue. If you’re just starting out, this might be feasible. However, as your catalog grows, publishing can quickly become a full-time job, leaving you less time to do what you really need to be doing: writing more great songs.

The other problem is that sync and cover licensing opportunities usually result from networking. If you’re well-connected in the industry, this might work out. Otherwise, it can be a real challenge.

Option 2: Publishing Companies

The second option is to partner with a trusted music publisher that will manage your catalog of songs, collect royalties owed, and leverage their network to find licensing opportunities.

In most cases, publishers have spent years putting together a network they can tap with new music. Trying to build that from scratch as a new artist is extremely difficult.

Beware of upfront costs. You should never have to pay a publisher in advance. All their fees should come from revenue generated by your songs. You’re not a customer; you’re in a partnership.

Conclusion

Publishing music is a critical step toward becoming a professional songwriter. Knowing how to protect your rights and collect royalties ensures you get paid for your hard work. The process is complex, but it’s worth understanding in the long run. Plus, you don’t need to go it alone. Publishers are here to help you along the way.

If you’re an aspiring songwriter ready to publish — and you don’t want to take on this daunting task yourself — partner with an experienced distributor you can trust. Sugo Music Group has been helping artists publish and distribute musical recordings worldwide for over 40 years. By working with one of the industry’s top leaders, you can get your music the exposure it deserves and become the songwriter you’ve always wanted to be.