Lecture Notes: The New Music Business - Publishing

Introduction

• Speaker: Ari, host of "The New Music Business" podcast
• Guest: Jacob Paul, VP of Platform Growth and Brand Strategy at Cobalt and Cosign
• Focus: Understanding music publishing, differences between artist and songwriter, and how songwriters are paid

Key Concepts

Distribution vs Publishing

• Distribution: Sends recordings to streaming platforms and pays master royalties
• Publishing: Manages and pays royalties for songwriting

Master vs Publishing Royalties

• Master Royalties: Paid automatically through distributors (e.g., Spotify)
• Publishing Royalties: Not automatically paid; require active collection

Artist vs Songwriter

• Artist: Performs the recording; may not always write the song
• Songwriter: Writes the composition; entitled to publishing royalties

Overview of Cobalt and Cosign

Cobalt

• Background: Independent publishing company; 4th largest globally
• Approach: Tech and commercial disruptor; provides transparent data and efficient royalty collection
• Model: Popularizes admin deals over traditional (co-pub/full pub) deals

Cosign

• Launch: New admin publishing service by Cobalt
• Target: Emerging songwriters and artists
• Model: Flexible admin deals with global registration and collection, 20% admin fee

Publishing Basics

Importance of Publishing

• Ensures songwriters are paid for their work
• Complex system due to various collection societies globally

Publishing Deals

• Traditional Deals: Include co-publishing and full publishing
• Admin Deals: Service-based model focusing on royalty collection without copyright ownership

Challenges in Publishing

Black Box

• Unclaimed royalties may be redistributed to major rights holders
• Registering songs promptly is crucial to prevent loss of income

International Royalties

• Direct registration with international societies can maximize income
• AMRA: Cobalt’s PRO, facilitates global royalty collection

Why Choose Cosign

• Flexibility: Short-term deals, ideal for growing songwriters
• Transparency: Direct payments and detailed earnings data
• Comprehensive Coverage: Global and multi-type royalty collection

Conclusion

• Ownership: Emphasized as crucial for making it in the new music business
• Cosign: Provides tools for emerging songwriters to collect their rightful income effectively

Additional Resources

• Website for Cosign: cosignmusic.com