ABSTRACT
Artists who are also songwriters, or who can become songwriters, add a valuable income stream to support their careers as well as their manager. The songwriter also earns royalties from the printing and publishing of sheet music, karaoke tracks, and from licensing the song for use in advertising and in movie and television soundtracks. For the artist manager with a limited background in songwriting, discussion about income from songwriting begins with an understanding of copyright, which establishes the rights of a writer to protection from theft and is the basis for ensuring earnings from creative works. Many recording contracts with large and smaller labels require the artist to be a songwriter, and the artist will be required to publish their songs with a publishing company that the label also owns. Streaming is the largest paying sector of the recording industry and they're not feeling it in their royalty statements. Publishing is also a negotiating asset for the artist-songwriter seeking management.
