Copyrighting is an important step in the song publishing process. Copyright is a legal protection that ensures that no one copy or make a profit from a copyrighted song. For a song artist to submit his song to a publishing company for consideration, he should submit a copyright application to the U.S. Copyright Office. This ensures the songwriter protection from any crooked "song sharks," publishers looking to make a profit off of non-protected music. Copyrighting also makes the publishing process easier once a song artist earns the attention of a music publisher. A song artist assigns copyright over to a music publisher in exchange for a cut of the royalties earned.
Song artists record demos and submit them to music publishers for consideration. A demo may be as simple as a vocal/guitar or vocal/piano recording that showcases the melody, chords and lyrics, or it may be a fully-produced recording that resembles the intended finished product as much as possible. Demos exist to convince music publishers that a song is worth recording or placing with a recording artist. A song artist usually submits a three-song demo to music publishers, loading the recording with his catchiest, most marketable songs in attempt to win over artists & repertoire (A&R) executives at music publishing companies.
No matter show catchy or marketable the song, if a song artist does not have connections within the music industry, his chances of getting it published are seriously diminished. Submitting a demo and getting published works on a rare occasion. More often than not, a song artists knows someone in the music business with connections to a music publisher, such as a producer or a friend in a band. A song artist need to network with others in the industry in order to earn the attention of music publishers over the hordes of other song artists looking to get published. Hiring a manager or lawyer to act on his behalf might make it easier for a song artist to get published, as many publishers don't accept unsolicited demos.
Once a song artists earns the attention of a music publisher, he must negotiate a contract with said music publisher. There are many different types of publishing contracts possible between a song artist and a publisher. For example, a music publisher might sign a song artist on as a staff songwriter, advancing the song artist a sum of money to live off of in exchange for the publishing rights to any song the song artist writes during the period of the contract. A publisher may also negotiate an individual song contract. The publisher and song artist must also negotiate the split in royalties earned, such as a 50/50 split.
Submitting demos and negotiating contracts is not totally necessary in order for a song artist to get published. A song artist may also choose to start his own music publishing company and self-publish. A song artist may start his own music publishing company by registering with a performing rights organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, as well as registering as a business with the proper authorities. The song artist may then act on his own behalf in an attempt to license his songs for use in television, radio and other media.