Making Money From Your Songs. Part One. What Is Music Publishing?

Exploitation is often used as a reference to the process of generating revenue from your songs and sound recordings. So where do you start in your efforts to make money from your music?

First, realize that there is a distinction between a song, which consists of the underlying melody and lyrics, and the recorded performance of a song. Each is a separate copyrighted work. Typically, each copyright is owned by a separate person or entity. Usually, the song is owned by the songwriter or the songwriter’s music publisher, and the sound recording is owned by the record company that released the CD. However, if you’re an unsigned artist making your own recordings, you’re most likely the copyright owner of both the song and the sound recording.

Being the copyright owner of a song or sound recording gives you certain exclusive rights. The exclusivity means that only you may exercise those rights, or authorize someone else to exercise those rights. You earn money from your songs by granting licenses to others to exercise those exclusive rights, and collecting the corresponding license income. This process of generating income from your songwriting is music publishing.