Wow, it has been a long while since I have blogged about the music publishing industry.
It looks like Eric Whitacre has taken up my slack, featuring guest blogger John Mackey on his blog:
I’ll say that again. If you are a published composer, you keep 10% of the list price on a set of music. When I told this to somebody in Hollywood once, the reaction was, “wait, that’s backwards. The agent gets 10%; you get 90%.” Not in music publishing. A very established composer might get a great deal and see 12% or maybe even 15%, but that’s unusual. Granted, the publisher doesn’t get all of the other 90%. The music store keeps 40-50% of it. But the fact is that if you publish a piece through a standard publisher and the retail price is $10, the music store gets $5, the publisher gets $4, and the composer receives $1. But if you’re self published and you sell the sheet music directly (rather than through a music store), you get the full $10. Even if you sell it through a music store, you’ll see $5, which even by my music-school-level math education, is better than $1.
Read the rest of the rant here. And if you need more Eric Whitacre in your life, look here for a recent article about he and Hila in Classical Singer.
And listen here for the some incredible Whitacre music – I’m a big fan of “Little Man in a Hurry.”
donald patriquin says
Not sure whom I am directly addressing – Dr. Phil, Eric, or John – but I’m certainly thankful to all of you for raising and responding to this issue. This issue is important to all who buy and perform music. The remarks of the two composers are really ‘spot on’ – they ARE accurate, and present well the state of affairs for both budding and established composers. I enjoyed your cat-punctuated (Cat-a-strophic?) article, John. Quite a tour de force. However, you should know that your website might be viewed with raised eyebrows in my native Quebec, where ‘osti’ is a serious Québécois profanity!
I’ll add a few comments that I think could really help with self-publishing, particularly concerning PDFs. One of the comments on John’s blog suggested placing some kind of ‘permission’ notice on every page of the music. Excellent idea. Over the years I have found that more and more choral directors do less and less copying and more purchasing, though it astounds me how church musicians still too often ‘steal for Jesus’ and, needing an anthem for ‘next Sunday’, simply make copies. The copy company gets 100%! Solutions for both choirs and composers: Read on!
PDFs: Reasonably inexpensive PDFs can help address the copying problem, so do be sure always to indicate that PDF masters can be obtained (immediately?) by contacting the publisher at – give an email, website, telephone number, etc. Also, place an up to date ‘PDF’ date on your music, e.g. “PDF printed February 11, 2011”. This indicates you are on top of things, that you are not likely a dead composer, and that a PDF is readily available. The problem is often time, not money, when it comes to copying. Don’t give anyone excuses for copying!
Very important: When a director wants PDFs I always ask right away “What is the size of your choir?” It is very easy to verify this on the Internet, as a growing number of choirs – especially the bigger ones – have websites. Sometimes I am quick enough to get onto a choir’s site while I am talking to its conductor. I have yet to be ripped off by a conductor.
GETTING IT OUT THERE: I fairly often attend choral gatherings, especially in Canada, and especially large ones where there are commercial exhibits. I have found it very useful, even exciting, to rent a booth/table and set up shop. I used to take to such exhibits two very large, heavy display racks that I had made, put a lot of music in them and give away or sell a lot of music. This worked reasonably well, but I now take along just a few loose-leaf books (one each for SA Secular, SA Sacred, SATB Sacred, Secular, Christmas etc.,) each containing single, numbered copies. I have a notebook in which delegates (or I) can jot down their email address and the copy numbers. Then, following the meeting I send them PDF samples of the music they have asked about. I advise making these PDF samples large enough to get a thorough idea of what the piece is about- generally all but the last page. Another way of getting music into conductors’ hands is to create hard-copy sample music octavos, maybe 8 to 16 pages, with a page or two of your new music, best sellers, and the like. Be prepared to GIVE these away! They’re great conversation starters for the myriad of conductors who will come to your table. It’s important to have a significant amount and variety of music to display when you attend such meetings.
Sadly, I rarely see composers at these wonderful gatherings. Not only are they great places to network, to meet people who have sung or would like to sing your music, but also you have first-hand exposure to a large number of speakers (I heard and met Phil Copeland at ACCC last year!) and of course great choirs and ensembles, often from various parts of the world. A networking possibility like no other.
PUBLISHING: There are certainly benefits in having your music published commercially and sold via music distributors. I balance the commercial route with PDF & self-publishing. Without publishers and music distributors we’d be singing the same pieces over and over! They do get music into the public eye and ear. I have always found it more satisfactory to seek out a smaller, well known ‘niche’ publisher rather than one of the big guys. You can get buried in a huge Schirmer catalog, whereas a smaller but dedicated publisher such as Earthsongs not only publishes but gets it ‘out there’. Browse through the choral section of a large music store and see who is publishing what!
NICHES: It may not be a bad idea to become known in particular – though not exclusively – for a specific genre of music. There are many choral niches- music for children, TTBB, the church, massed choirs, the environment, specific events (e.g. I’m currently revising my Requiem For The Titanic as 2012 is the 100th anniversary of its demise), Christmas, world music and so on.
READINGS: One advantage of selling one’s choral music – whether self or commercially published – via music distributors, is that many publishers, distributors, and occasionally music stores, have readings. It is invaluable if you can get your piece(s) onto a reading- especially if you turn up for it yourself! “OMG – He is here – a live composer!”
WEBSITE: Once you have a critical mass of saleable music do consider having a website. And do organize it with the conductor very much in mind. It is surprising how even some of the best composers have websites that are not really user friendly. There’s not a lot of use, for example, in listing all the church music you have ever written regardless of forces (SA, SATB, Unison). Categorize your music with choral needs very much in mind. The best way is to test it out on a number of conductors, and reward them (and yourself) with a free PDF piece. Feel free to ‘steal’ ideas from donaldpatriquin.com!
Writing music is a challenge, and getting it out there is an equal challenge. Both can be great fun if you approach them creatively. I know choral directors will take note of the problems facing those who write music and continue to give composers the breaks they richly deserve. Please BUY their music!