FAQ

The business of music publishing is concerned with developing, protecting and valuing music.

The business is diverse and demands a variety of skills. These range from the ability to spot writing talent and original music that is likely to appeal to an audience, to ensuring that all uses of music are properly licensed and paid for. Music publishers play a vital role in the development of new music and in taking care of the business side, allowing composers and songwriters to concentrate on their creative work.

The business of music publishing is dependent upon there being a strong copyright framework in place. The control of copyright enables a publisher to recover the investment made in songwriters and composers and to ensure that they are rewarded for their creative work. Without copyright there would be no financial incentive for music publishers to invest in composers and musical works. This would be to the detriment of composers who depend upon publishers to manage the business of exploiting musical works and administering royalty payments.

The relationship between a music publisher and a songwriter/composer is supported by a publishing contract setting out the rights and obligations of each to the other. Under these contracts songwriters and composers assign the copyright in their music to the music publisher in return for a commitment to promote, exploit and protect that music. The publisher agrees to pay the songwriter/composer a percentage of any income earned from such exploitation as royalties. More on Music Publishing

© Music Publishers Association

Finding new and talented songwriters and composers and encouraging and supporting them as they develop their skills, whether through helping with their living expenses, providing them with the facilities they need to produce music or offering advice and guidance in writing for particular markets;

Securing commissions for new works and helping to coordinate work flow;

Registering the works of songwriters and composers with all appropriate collecting societies and agencies, such as MCPS and PRS;

Producing performance materials (score and parts) and demonstration recordings;

Producing and licensing the production of printed music;

Preparing promotional materials, including sampler CDs, study scores, etc;

Promoting composers and songwriters to performers, broadcasters, record companies and others who use music on a commercial basis;

Licensing the use of music;

Monitoring and tracking the use of the music they own and ensuring that proper payment is made for all licensed uses;

Making royalty payments to songwriters and composers in respect of the usage of their music;

Taking appropriate action against anyone using music without the necessary licence;

If you are interested in getting your music listened to by us, we would be glad to listen.

Currently, we are only accepting demos submitted to us via the internet. You can either email your material to us (in MP3 format) at sgomusic@sgomusic.com or, if you have a website/myspace, you can email us and we can visit there.

Following is some information on how to licence the publishing rights for the use of our music in UK TV programmes.

Publishers / Record Companies:
There is often some confusion between the role of Publishers and Record Companies and which to approach for clearing music for terrestrial television in the UK. The basic functions of each may be described as follows:

Publishers:
Represent composers and songwriters and administer their songs (regardless of who has recorded them). Responsible for collecting monies on their behalf and making sure their work is exploited with their consent.

Record Companies:
Represent bands and artists and the recordings of songs that they make (the songwriter may or may not be part of the recording act). Responsible for selling and promoting records and work directly with the band or artist.

The majority of Record Companies are affiliated with the PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd) who have 'blanket licence' with most tv channels in the UK. This means that permission is not required from most Record Companies to utilise their recordings for transmissions on these channels in the UK. You will need to confirm with the PPL that the recordings you use are covered under their blanket licences. You will also need to declare the recordings on your cue sheets so that the PPL can pay monies to the artist.

The majority of Publishers are affiliated with the MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society) which in turn have blanket licence arrangements with the BBC, ITV and many cable and satellite stations. Publishers do not have such agreements with Channel 4, Channel 5 and E4 except with regards to programme trailers. As such the publishers must be consulted directly for the use of any song on these channels which they administer, to ensure that the writer(s) is happy with the use. They will also licence and collect money directly for these uses.

Finding the Publisher:
In order to gain approval for the use of a song you need to know which publisher(s) you should be contacting. In cases where there is more than one publisher (usually when there is more than one writer and each is signed to a different publisher) you will need to gain approval from all of them before proceeding. If any portion, no matter how small, is denied you will not be able to use the song.

You should confirm the publishing details of a song with the MCPS by phoning this help line which has been set up to aid Production Companies with clearing music for television:

MCPS MUSIC LICENSING HELP LINE: 020 7306 4500

A further useful website is www.allmusic.com. Typing in either writer or a song title returns full information on writers.

With thanks to our friends at EMI Music Publishing.