The business of music publishing

Music publishing is the business of acquiring the rights to, and licensing of, musical compositions. Whilst composers are, in most circumstances, the original owners of the copyright, they will generally enter into an agreement with a publisher, who either acquires the copyright and carries a liability to pay the composer a share of the future publishing incomse or administers the copyright on a limited term contract for a fee.

The principal functions of a music publisher include:
-persuading artists or record companies to record the compositions its owns or controls ( first releases and "covers");
-marketing the compositions to films, televisions and advertising agencies for use;
-collecting fees and royalties and making payments to composers;
-administration of the compositions, including registration of copyrights where applicable;
-protecting the copyright from unauthorised use; and
-publishing print music.




The global revenue received by music publishers generated from the ownership of music copyright was estimated at US$6.0 Billion in 2005.

Music publishing revenues are derived from the following primary sources:
-Mechanical - Royalties from the use of the copyright in a recording, including both physical recordings (eg CDs,DVDs, videos) and non-physical recordings (eg digital downloads, mobile phone ring tones). These are also commonly referred to as phonomechanical or reproduction revenues
-Performance - Royalties or fees for the right to use the musical composition in combination with an image ( e.g in films, televisions programmes, advertising and video and computer games).
-Other - Roylaties received from other uses such as printed music.

Music copyright royalties generate a global spread of income, but it is estimated that over 85% of music publishing revenue is derivied from the US, Canada, the western countries in the EU and Japan. This revenue concentration greatly facilitates the ability to enforce the international protections offered by music copyright.

The music publishing market is dominated by the publishing businesses associated with the major record companies:
- EMI Music Publishing
-Sony/ATV Music Publishing
-BMG Music Publishing
-Universal Music Publishing
-Warner/Chappell Music

Together, these five businesses comprise approximately 65% of the music publishing market with the remainder independent publishers and copyright owners. Vivendi S.A, the 100% owners of Universal Music Publishing, entered in an agreement for the purchase of BMG Music Publishing in September 2006, effectively reducing the number of major music publishers to four.