Page 32 - Mar_Apr23

The Business of Composing, Part 1 - Commissions & Publishing

royalties and licensing revenue will be worth the ser- Traditional publishers may not accept a work they
vices that the publisher provides (editing, engraving, believe can’t sell (deservedly or not), and so self-pub-
production, representation, marketing, handling li- lishing allows this work to have a life. For example,
censing, and registration for various revenue streams). Jake Runestad’s best-selling piece “Nyon Nyon” was
rejected by a traditional publisher and went on to sell
Independent/Self-Publishing thousands of copies through self-publishing. The free-
With the advent of the internet, personal comput- dom of self-publishing can also help to stretch the art
ers, notation software, and social media, composers form beyond the vision of traditional publishers, which
gained the ability to connect with conductors more ultimately helps choral music grow in new directions.
directly, retain their copyright, publish scores on their The financial perks are significant, but they come at
own websites, and ultimately take more control over a cost: composers are responsible for all of the details
the distribution of their works (though self-publishing related to the publication of their works—engraving,
pioneers Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus did this editing, sales/distribution, rights and licensing, etc.
pre-internet!). This method requires technological For composers who like to be hands-on, this can be an
competency, a significant time investment, and busi- effective way to handle publishing, but it can also be
ness acumen, but it also offers a much higher royalty demanding of one’s time and brain space. Self-pub-
rate and more freedom. lishing doesn’t require a composer to be completely
When a work is published by the composer on their hands-on, as there are options to have works distrib-
own website, they receive 100% of the sales royalties uted by other companies (more on that option below).
(unless a royalty is paid out for a copyrighted text). Once a work has been self-published, traditional
Because the composer is also the publisher, 100% of publishers may be more reluctant to accept it for pub-
performance and mechanical/sync royalties are also lication if they feel they’ve already lost some of the
received (again, unless there is a copyrighted text in- market for the piece. Be cautious about “skimming the
volved). By retaining the copyright, the composer also market with self-publishing” and then seeking tradi-
has complete control over the use of their works— tional publishing later—it may or may not work. Some
right of first refusal to premiere recordings, ability to composers seek the “best of both worlds” by seeking
approve or deny requests for arrangements and tran- publication with traditional publishers, then self-pub-
scriptions (and create their own transcriptions without lishing the works that are not accepted. This can be an
needing permission from a separate publisher), and effective way of gaining visibility with a broader au-
other privileges. dience through the traditional publishers’ marketing,
When self-publishing, composers can publish any- and then having an outlet for the rest of one’s music
thing they want, and it can look any way they want it as well.
to without imposed standards from an external source.
We have seen self-publishing scores that look pristine Marketplaces
and professional and some that look like they were In the last fifteen years, retail marketplaces have of-
barely edited. Some composers have a clear under- fered independent/self-publishing composers a distri-
standing of writing for chorus successfully, while oth- bution arm that pays a higher royalty rate than tradi-
ers may need a conductor or editor to let them know nal publishers (anywhere from 25-70% depending on
an 8-bar high B in the sopranos isn’t practical. Some the company and situation). Some of these companies
self-publishing composers may need to find an experi- will advertise on behalf of the composers/works, while
enced editor to assess their work before publishing. It is others merely provide the distribution platform. Some
important to have high-quality score covers, engraving marketplaces offer physical printing of scores, while
design, audio recordings, and descriptions of the work some only offer digital downloads (PDFs).
for publishing and submission to any of the market- Graphite Publishing offers their own version of a
places or retailers described below. traditional publishing company that pays a royalty

30 CHORAL JOURNAL March/April 2023 Volume 63 Number 7