What's The Deal With Self-Publishing?

Why Are We Talking About This?

Over recent years, many independent musicians are choosing to be self-published.  This means that, instead of finding an agent who seeks out a publishing company that contacts distributors and handles licensing, the artists are doing it themselves.  Even smaller labels are choosing forgo large music publishing companies and instead are adding publishing to their business model.  While this sounds like a difficult task, third party distributors are making it increasingly accessible.

Third Party? Sounds Sketchy...

For artists with just one or two projects and little administrative support, full-service distributors who also handle licensing and offer artist website creation are ideal.  Companies such as TuneCore and Bandcamp have become popular for these reasons.  For labels seeking to handle multiple artists and projects, companies such as CD Baby are preferable.  I have been using Ditto music for D3T Productions because it offers international distribution of both music and video.  For us, that makes more sense than using multiple distributors.  [Correction: Sept 18, 2015: Ditto does provide physics distribution. ]. However, for that label, there has been little demand for physical copies of our work, so we are keeping that consideration as a secondary priority.  It makes more sense for the artist to sell physical copies at shows than it does for a fan to order it online.

The great thing about all of these companies, is that the artist or label keeps all of their copyrights and ownership of material.  You aren't signing anything away, you're just partnering with a company to get your work into the market.

So What's The Big Deal?

For a self-published artist in any media, the biggest positive is the increased revenue.  (Laidman, 2015). There is usually a yearly up-front free or a small percentage taken by the third party distributor.  The artist keeps there rest of the income to use as he or she pleases.

For a self-published label, there is greater freedom in how and where work is sold.  It also allows the label to work directly with the artist to find a distribution plan that best fits that artist’s market.  (Alemany, 2014).

Sounds Easy To Me

However, for both artists and labels, publishing become another business venture.  Some consider it to be an entirely separate business because it requires cashflow management, marketing, administrative work, and consistent monitoring. (McCartney, 2015).  While this kind of freedom is fantastic for an artist or team that is dedicated to fulfilling an overall business plan vision, it can be daunting to a single individual with little industry experience.  Many of these services also offer marketing support that, while an additional cost, can be invaluable help.  After all, it takes a dedicated team to make an artist successful.  If the artist is unable to build her or her own team, then taking advantage of other resources becomes important.  At the end of the day, no matter how a work is distributed, it cannot be successful if it does not reach its audience.


Sources:
          Alemany, Tara.  Self-Publishing: Here for the Long Haul or a Passing Trend? Business 2 Community. 2 February, 2014.  Accessed 17 September, 2015 at www.business2community.com
          Ladiman, Jenni. New Publishing Trends Reshaping Reading. Chicago Tribune. 29 January, 2015. Accessed 17 September, 2015 at www.chicagotribune.com.
          McCartney, Jennifer. A Look Ahead to Self-Publishing in 2015. Publishers Weekly. 16 January, 2015. Accessed 17 September, 2015 at www.publishersweekly.com