Getting a music publishing deal
In the current musical climate maybe the sensible option for artists and musicians is to forget about chasing traditional recording contracts and focus their efforts into getting a publishing deal. Think about it, record companies are signing fewer new artists, established artists are making more money through touring and sponsership than through record sales, on top of this the new breed of record buying teenagers are more use to getting their music for free through file sharing.
The truth is that it has never been easier for a musician to record and release their music to a worldwide audience so the record company suddenly looks a bit redundant. On the other hand the benefits offered by the publishing companies still look very attractive, firstly they are more likely to take a chance on a promising artist who may still need some development and a good publishing company will help them with this. Secondly if we are to believe what we are told about the future of the industry then alterntive sources of income such as advertising and licensing for film, TV and video games are going to become more important for an artist or band.
In the past a lot of bands and performing songwriters have always chased the record deal first assuming that publishing companies are more geared towards helping non performing songwriters an composers. This is not the case and if a traditional record deal is the goal a publishing company will certainly be a strong partner to help you acheive this.
So if you haven’t considered it before and most of your efforts have been targeted at the record companies why not shift your focus and try a different route by approaching the music publishing companies.
