What is a music publisher?
Understanding the Role of Music Publishers in Royalties and Rights Management
A music publisher owns or administers musical works written by songwriters. Publishing companies range from large, multi-national corporations to individual, self-published songwriters.
Publishers discover and promote songwriting talent, as well as provide important business services for their songwriters. These services include pitching their song catalog to music executives, recording artists, producers, managers and others to secure placement for the songs on appropriate commercial recordings.
In addition, music publishers finance and produce demo recordings, pitch songs for television shows, movies, and commercials, issue licenses and collect royalties. Music publishers also register musical works with the U.S. Copyright Office and enforce the copyrights they own or administer.