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STARTING YOUR MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPANY Starting
your own publishing company is actually not that hard. You as a songwriter may truly benefit from setting
up your "own" publishing company because not only will you be able show off your own catalog of songs you've
written - but also you may exploit songs of other writers that you acquire material from. You will also
be able to collect your money from mechanical and performance licenses direct. (Opposed to getting your money through another
publisher).
Step 1 First of all - you will need to think
up a few really 'you-neek' names for your company. I suggest trying as many combinations of words
& "new" words as you can possibly think of (that you like). BMI and ASCAP, including local
government business databanks already have many of the most common names taken. So like I said - be unique. Many
big name artists sometimes can't use their established artist names because they are too close to other names that already
exist. So with this being a reality - many recording artists spell their "known" names backwards. For example: ECAF
Music for Babyface or ECNIRP Music for Prince.
Step 2 You will need to join a performance
rights organization such as BMI, ASCAP or SESAC. Get in touch with these organizations to request the necessary
information and application to join as a writer and publisher. Your company can only be an "active"
member of one. There is a fee.
BMI Atlanta 3340 Peachtree Rd. NE Suite 570 Atlanta, GA 30326 (404) 261-5151 Los Angeles 8730 Sunset Blvd. 3rd Floor West West Hollywood, CA 90069-2211
(310) 659-9109 Nashville 10
Music Square East Nashville, TN 37203 (615) 401-2000 New York 320 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019-3790 (212) 586-2000
ASCAP 1- 800-95-ASCAP ATLANTA PMB
400 541 Tenth Street NW Atlanta, GA 30318 Tel: (404) 351-1224 NASHVILLE Two Music Square West Nashville, TN
37203 Tel: (615) 742-5000 NEW YORK One
Lincoln Plaza New York, NY 10023 Tel: (212) 621-6000 LOS
ANGELES 7920 W. Sunset Boulevard, 3rd Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90046 Tel: (323) 883-1000
SESAC NASHVILLE 55 Music Square East Nashville, TN
37203 615-320-0055 NY 152 West
57th ST - 57th Floor New York, NY 10019 212-586-3450 LA 501 Santa Monica Blvd - Suite 450 Santa Monica, CA 90401-2430 310-393-9671
Step 3 Now you must get your company set up
with the local city / county / state government to get a business license / permit to do business as a music publisher.
You will need to decide in which business manner to file your company - Sole Proprietor - General Partnership - Corporation
- D.B.A. (Doing Business As), etc. You will also need a Federal Tax ID to complete your applications to
BMI, ASCAP or SESAC. Great sources for business license & tax id info: www.allbusiness.com www.sbaonline.sba.gov
Step 4 Open up a Business Bank Account.
If you've followed the steps above, and your credit is not TOTALLY ruined... bad checks, etc. - you should have
no problem opening an account. And even if your credit is bad... there are still ways to do this. Step 5 Contact The Harry Fox Agency to request information and an application to join.
This is so they can issue mechanical & digital licenses to collect money in your behalf - from the sales of your songs.
They also can perform audits when considered necessary. THE HARRY FOX AGENCY, INC 711
THIRD AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10017 (212) 370-5330 That's all there is to it… Good Luck!
To get more information about Music Publishing, click here
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