How Can I Get My Song Published?
Fledgling music artists today have many different ways of using their music to make money. This is handled through music publishing -- the right to sell or place on sale a piece of music for the public. This could be either through digital downloads, sheet music, physical CDs or records, or for use in different media (television, film, video). Knowing how to publish your original musical works can potentially increase long-term revenue.
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Instructions
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Copyright the musical compositions. A musical work is lawfully copyrighted the day that it is created. However, if the composer plans on using this anywhere in the public -- which is generally the case -- they will need to copyright it. Copyrighting gives the owner the right to use the song in any way that they please and protects them to a large degree against theft and infringement.
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Join a performance rights organization. These organizations give licenses to radio and television stations, restaurants, webcasters and other businesses that wants to use musical work. There are three major performance rights organizations: The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), and The Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).
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Research music publishing companies. One well known resource for finding music publishers in in the "Songwriter's Market", which is put out yearly by Writer's Digest Books. There's also the Music Publisher's Association that has a list of over 75 music publishers. One more way is to look at the songs on your favorite CD and find out who the publisher is. Each publisher will have guidelines outlining what kind of music they publish, who to contact, and what to include in submissions.
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Make a demo. Most publishers today will either want a CD or access to an online MP3 that they can hear to evaluate whether they want to represent the song. Most computer music recording software is capable of recording very high quality recordings. The demo should concentrate on highlighting the song's high points with a focus on the melody and lyrics. Fully produced demos with full instrumentation should make sure that the vocals are out in front clearly. Too much going on can distract from the song.
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Mail the demo. Make a note when the demo was sent and follow up within the response time that was included in the music publisher's guidelines.
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Tips & Warnings
Self-publishing your music is possible by the use of organizations such as TAXI, Sonicbids, and freelance business sites. There is a fee involved for each, but it is an opportunity to keep most, if not all, of the royalties and rights from your work, as publishers usually take 50 percent of the song's copyright. However, it requires considerably more work and time to establish the right relationships and contacts.
References
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