Music Publishers are businesses that work with songwriters and composers to maximise licensing revenue ("royalties") for the commercial use ("exploitation") of their artists' musical works.
Publishers do this by:
- Licensing musical works for use in films, TV programmes, and advertisements.
- Promoting their writers' songs and compositions to record labels and managers of commercial recording artists, so that other artists record and perform their works.
- Getting their writers' songs and compositions on promotional recordings and compilation albums.
- Fostering their songwriters' and composers' creative development by connecting them with other writers, musicians, studios, promoters and industry contacts.
- Protecting their writers' works against infringement, such as unlicensed commercial use or plagiarism.
..among other things.
So that writers can focus on perfecting their craft and have time to create music, many publishers will provide writers with royalty advances.
Publishers look after copyright and royalty administration for their writers including registration of their songs or compositions with APRA|AMCOS, which writers or their managers normally need to do themselves in order to collect royalties.
In exchange for their services, publishers collect a share of the royalties generated by their writers' works.
Through agreements with publishing companies in other countries ("sub-publishers"), music publishers are able to promote their writers' works for licensing in other parts of the World, and monitor royalty collection internationally.
APRA|AMCOS Publisher Services delivers a range of services including:
- admission of new APRA|AMCOS publisher members
- administration of agreement and title registrations submitted by APRA|AMCOS publisher members
- management of APRA|AMCOS data relating to publishers' copyright ownership and royalty payments
- administration of copyright ownership disputes between members
- education and provision of information to publishers e.g. bi-monthly email bulletin Antenna, regular seminars on industry issues, online access to lists of unidentified works/films for which APRA|AMCOS is holding royalties
- servicing the business needs of publisher members
View the Services for Music Publishers brochure (pdf).