Publishing Admin 101

Admin isn’t everyone’s cup of tea - and the admin surrounding music in advertising and branding in particular often gets placed on the last page at the bottom of a checklist even though, for the most part, there are royalties waiting at the end of the rainbow.

If you’re a composer or music agency looking to tap more into the how-to of publishing administration - and the benefits of bumping it up your to-do list - we at Sounds Like Publishing have put together a handy checklist that guides you through the basics. 

Know your rights

… so you don’t miss out on what you’re entitled to. Generally speaking there are the publishing rights (split 50% publisher and 50% composer, the latter one commonly known as writer share), the master recording rights (though currently no royalties are paid for the recording side. Write to your MPs!). Music rights is an ever evolving field but as it currently stands with advertising and sonic branding, the main royalty distributions come from the publishing rights from TV, Radio and Cinema broadcasts.

Everyone involved should know their rights by the start of a project and not after, as it can easily become a messy and sticky situation if negotiations on rights take place after a project has been carried out.

• If there is more than one composer, what are the writer splits? Ensure that this has been agreed in writing with all parties.
• Who holds the publishing rights? If there are any publishing splits this should also be agreed in writing with all parties. If the publishing share is assigned to the music agency or brand, it’s important to determine if either of them have publishing administration in place, and who has responsibility for registering copyrights. If there is no publishing admin in place, composers’ shares will not be registered automatically, if at all.
• Who holds the master rights? As already mentioned, the recording side isn’t currently subject to royalties but it’s still important to have these rights agreed in writing by all parties.

Get your admin sh*t together

…so you have the assets and admin collated for the registration process. This is important on both a composer and music agency level. Whilst this admin part of the process might feel boring or daunting for some, this is a key step in the process and the future you will thank yourself tremendously if you gather all necessary information relating to the particular track or project in question. So get those i’s dotted and t’s crossed. Make a nice little folder with the assets below:

• There should be a signed commission agreement/deal memo between the composer(s) and the music agency, setting out ownership and rights.
• There should also be an agreement/licence between the music agency and advertising agency/brand setting out the composition title, the usage (media, term and territory), project/client name and other useful information.
• Collate all final audio files as they were sent to the client.
• If there is a video, ask for a copy of the final version.
• Any information on clock numbers and alternative titles are always good to have as extra identifiers when the composition is being used on broadcasts.

Registration time

…which will be a walk in the park when you have all the admin ready to go! At this point it is where any assigned publishing administrator (oh, you don’t have one yet? Drop us a line and we’ll talk!) takes the baton and all the admin assets and registers the track with the relevant PRO (performing rights organisation), in the UK this is PRS. The same has to be done with each territory’s PRO where the composition will be used as PRS won’t alert overseas PROs automatically. This is where the admin can get tricky and multifaceted if you self-publish, but as long as you know your rights and have got your admin sh*t together, you will be closer to the finishing line.

Sit back and reap the rewards

…but do familiarise yourself with the different PRO distribution schedules and royalty stances, both domestic and overseas, as some territories can take up to 18 months to release royalties for commercials, and some territories currently do not pay out royalties for advertising at all. It’s good practice to be aware when broadcast periods should be released for payment and it will better enable you to see when something might be wrong or may have slipped through the cracks. Other than that, your publishing administration is done! However, remain vigilant on potential cases where a client might have used the composition beyond the agreed licence term and/or territories and media, and flag any relicenses with your publishing administrator for continued tracking and distribution.