ABSTRACT
Anyone can become a music publisher. Every songwriter and composer is a de facto publisher, by virtue of creating a musical work: a writer or composer owns the “writer share” and the “publisher share” at the point of creation. It is not until a writer voluntarily chooses to enter into a publishing deal with a thirdparty publisher that there is a division between writer and publisher. The breadth and depth of expertise among publishers, however, is nearly as varied as the genres of music that they represent. A music publisher deals in the marketing, commercial exploitation, and administration of songs. Originally, the term referred to publishers of sheet music, but this has changed largely over the years, and today’s music publishers rarely deal with printed sheet music (those who do have come to be known as “music print publishers”). Music publishers regularly handle and control the rights to uses of musical works, and act on behalf of songwriters in matters of distributing royalties and protection against copyright infringement. As the music industry has evolved from sheet music and piano rolls to vinyl records to compact discs to MP3s and beyond, music publishers have remained committed to working to achieve the best possible compensation for their copyright owners.
