Finding The Meaning of Music Publishing Through A&R

As an independent writer and musician, the words “music publishing” always gave me anxiety. Whenever it was brought up, it felt like someone was reminding me of an essay or test I had yet to start and really didn’t know where to begin. I’d tell myself that if I just dedicated a couple hours to looking up all the questions I kept asking myself about this seemingly irritatingly complicated part of the music industry, I could feel a little more confident in how I was handling my own catalogue of works -- and that all my owed royalties were being collected.

Going It Alone

Still, my ASCAP account remained at a balance of zero and every time I thought I had a good grasp on publishing, a new question would come up and my google searches became futile, and I’d give up in frustration.

“I’ll just figure it out when I have to” became my go-to attitude for all things publishing-related.

It wasn’t until I started working at Songtrust that I finally started to understand the complexity of publishing. The more questions I asked, the more I realized:

1. The tragic lack of education concerning publishing wasn’t just a “me” problem, it was an industry problem that affects artists of all sizes and success.

2. Songtrust actually offered a real solution for the toughest aspects of publishing.

With these points in mind, my job began to shape itself within the growth team at Songtrust.

Going Above and Beyond The A&R Role

My role today is to reach out to artists and managers directly, and talk to them about how they can maximize their global publishing collection through Songtrust. I also make a point to communicate the importance of publishing and how the attitude I once had of “I’ll just figure it out when I have to” towards publishing can be something of the past for independent musicians. My ultimate aim is to help them understand that publishing can be manageable without signing away any of your ownership or rights.  

The Songtrust Mission

To be a part of a company that advocates for artists and empowers the creators directly has always been a goal of mine in the music industry. The age old story of artists being hoodwinked into bad deals and contracts was something I could not be a part of and actively wanted to fight against. Luckily, Songtrust has allowed me to have a job where I can both spend my day talking directly to artists, learning about their catalogues and experience in publishing, as well as provide some insight on solutions to maximize their royalty collection as they further their careers.

At the end of the day, my goal at Songtrust is to give another weapon to creators to help them remain independent and in control of their catalogues while also making sure they were getting the money they are owed in publishing. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

Songtrust is rapidly growing and looking for talented, diverse, and intelligent people to join our team. If you want to continue learning and help move our mission forward, take a look at our open positions.