Music publishing is the business of publishing songs so that they can be heard and generate money. The profits generated are referred to as royalties. Songwriters turn to music publishers to help get their songs submitted to recording artists, managers and record labels. Publishers also work to get songs placed into projects such as TV shows and films. Once a song has been recorded, released and starts to make money, the songwriter and publisher share the royalties.
There are a few common licensing deals that can be arranged between a publisher and writer. A single-song deal involves the publishing rights of only that song over a specified amount of time. A year-to-year deal involves multiple songs over a year period. An exclusive deal covers a specific amount of time in which all songs written will have all their publishing rights transferred to the publisher in exchange for an advance to the writer.
When it comes to royalties, it's important to note the difference between songwriting royalties and publishing royalties. Only the writer can claim songwriting royalties, while publishing royalties are shared with the publisher, usually in a 50/50 split. The percentages get more complicated when more people are involved. Two co-writers would split their 50 percent of the publishing rights. If those writers each had a different publisher, then those publishers would split their share as well, making the deal a four-way 25 percent publishing split.
The most typical publishing arrangement is a co-publishing deal, where publishing royalties are evenly split in exchange for song-placement, promotion and administrative services from the publisher. It's also common for a publisher to only offer administrative support, leaving the other duties to the writer. Many writers also choose to start their own publishing companies, handling all duties themselves and keeping all publishing royalties. Self-publishing can be more fruitful for established writers and singer-songwriters who already have industry connections of their own.