The Beginner's Guide to Finding a Music Publisher: Who the Major Publishers Are, How Much It Costs, and More

Co-authored by Tanisha Hall

Last Updated: February 16, 2022 References

Signing a deal with a music publisher is a great way to put your music in the public spotlight and collect royalties from your songs whenever they’re played. For example, a music publisher might pitch your music and get it placed in TV shows, movies, or video games, then collect money for its use. The world of music publishing can be confusing, especially if you’re at an early stage of your songwriting career. That’s why we’ve put together this handy Q and A article to help you start understanding it!

Question 1 of 8:

How do music publishing companies find songwriters?

They approach songwriters who already have activity on their music. If you're a vocal artist, you might get approached by a publisher once you’re receiving lots of listens on the music you’ve uploaded online. Or, if you’re not a vocal artist artist, a publisher might approach you when recording artists are already recording your songs.^{[1]
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- If you’re not a vocal artist yourself, try placing songs with artists or find artists to write music together with to help your music get noticed by publishers,
- If you are a vocal artist, try sending your songs to radio stations to get airplay. Or, contact different production companies and pitch them your music to try and get it on TV shows, commercials, movies, or video games.
- Put your music on streaming services like Spotify, YouTube, and Soundcloud to rack up some listens to impress publishers.

Question 2 of 8:

Can I approach music publishers?

Yes, you can. Do some research on different music publishers and choose a few that look like a good fit for your music. Review the information on each publisher’s website and try to determine if there is a certain staff member or department that deals with your style of music. Call or email them to introduce yourself and try to set up a meeting.^{[2]
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- Make sure you have some activity on your music before you approach a publisher. This could be artists recording your songs if you’re a songwriter or streams of your music online if you’re a vocal artist.
- Unless you already have a huge amount of activity on your music, like hundreds of thousands of streams, then start by approaching smaller independent publishers, rather than any of the major publishing companies.

Question 3 of 8:

What should I bring to a meeting with a music publisher?

Bring multiple copies of your best music and printed lyric sheets. For example, make a playlist of the songs you feel are your strongest and bring it on 2 separate USB sticks, in case 1 doesn’t work. Provide lyric sheets for all the songs you plan on playing in case the publishers want to read along.^{[3]
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- Besides your music, bring a positive attitude and try to relax, no matter how nervous you’re feeling. Remember that the publishers are people in the music industry, just like you, and the goal is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship.
- It can help to make a better impression with a publisher if you save up and record your songs at a professional studio in your area.^{[4]
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  Tanisha Hall
  Vocal Coach
  Expert Interview. 27 March 2020.}

Question 4 of 8:

Can I be my own music publisher?

Yes, if you register as a publisher with a PRO. A PRO is a performance rights organization, which is a body that acts as an intermediary between copyright holders like songwriters and parties who want to use copyrighted works. The body basically exists to collect royalties when your songs are used.^{[5]
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Tanisha Hall
Vocal Coach
Expert Interview. 27 March 2020.}^{[6]
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- ASCAP and BMI are the 2 main PROs in the United States. To register as a publisher, just go to either company’s website and follow the prompts to join.
- You have to pay a fee to register with a PRO. ASCAP charges $50 to join as a publisher, for example.
- Keep in mind that you have to do lots of hard work that publishers normally do, such as promoting your music and connecting with recording artists if you’re not an artist yourself.

Question 5 of 8:

How much does it cost to publish a song?

Fifty percent of the royalties the song earns. Typically, 50% of a published song's royalties go to the publisher and the other 50% go to the songwriter or artist. So, if you use a music publisher to publish your songs, you can expect to give the publisher half of everything your songs earn as payment.^{[7]
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- If your songs don’t earn any royalties, you don’t have to pay a publisher anything.

Question 6 of 8:

What music publishing deals are available?

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The most common is a traditional publishing deal. In a traditional music publishing deal, songwriters and publishers split royalties 50-50. The songwriter still owns their songs, but the publisher has creative control over the songs and deals with licensing, pitches music, and collects royalties.^{[8]
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- These types of deals often cover a songwriter’s whole catalogue or require a yearly delivery commitment from the songwriter.
- Songwriters often receive large advances when they sign a traditional publishing deal, so they are very competitive.
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Another type of publishing deal is an administration agreement. In this type of deal, the publisher administers the copyrights for music and collects royalties for a songwriter’s music. The songwriter retains creative control over their songs and usually earns about 85-95% of the royalties, while the publisher keeps 5-15% of the money as an administration fee.^{[9]
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- This is a good option if you’re early in your career as a songwriter because you get to retain full control of your music while building your profile through a publisher’s services. Then, you can sign a traditional co-publishing deal later on if you want to.

Question 7 of 8:

Who are the major music publishing companies?

Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, and Warner Music Group. These companies are known as the Big Three and together generated more than $1 million an hour from streaming alone in 2019. However, there are thousands of other major and independent publishers for songwriters and artists to choose from.^{[10]
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- If you’re looking for a publisher in the United States, you can find a directory of US-based publishers here: https://www.mpa.org/all-publishers/.

Question 8 of 8:

Which music publishing company is the best?

The best music publisher is one that works hard for you. You want a publisher to work as hard on your songwriting career as you have. The publisher you choose doesn’t have to be one of the Big Three publishing companies, just one that will pitch your music hard and get it placed to grow your profile and earn royalties.^{[11]
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- If you’re at an early stage of your music career, don’t worry about finding a publisher yet. Instead, do everything a publisher would do for you to get your music known. Then, when the time is right, hopefully, a publisher will approach you with an offer!