Stars child: Tileyard Music’s Nicole Blair
Out of leftfield: Reservoir hitmaker Mr Franks
For so long the overlooked spine that held the music industry
together, publishing deals are now making headlines. Yet behind the big names and the big cheques, independent publishers are offering songwriters and artists flexibility and freedom. In this special report, Music Week meets the sector’s nimble dealmakers...
---- BY PAUL STOKES ---- P
ublishing deals are always big news. In addition to the investment in a songwriter, the artistic trust and creative relationships these agreements represent, they are the under-appreciated backbone of the industry. However, having been overshadowed in the public gaze by recording and live contracts for many years, publishing deals have recently become actual big news on the telly. Neil Young and Shakira’s agreements with Hipgnosis, Primary Wave’s recent round of acquisitions and Bob Dylan’s 600-song deal with Universal Music Publishing Group have all made headlines on tea time news bulletins.
With this mainstream media spotlight on the sector, the flexibility of independent music publishers is coming to the fore too, as songwriters, artists and their teams are taking an increasingly detailed look at the deals on offer. “It’s an exciting time to be in publishing, with more artists, composers and writers seeing the value in having a publisher as part of their collaborative team this year,” argues Harriet Moss, managing director at Manners McDade. Based above influential London club Fabric and with a roster including Nils Frahm and Poppy Ackroyd, Manners McDade embodies how distinctive and focused indie publishers can be.
“We’re a small independent so the mega deals don’t affect us,” Moss explains. “But confidence in the sector as a whole
musicweek.com
“We are truly seeing the way people consume music alter the revenue of a song”
Chris Meehan SENTRIC
MUSIC GROUP
trickles down and is a positive force for good. We don’t feel threatened at all. As an independent publisher we value the strength, breadth and spirit of the independent sector. We are very specialist in the genres we work within, and our sector is less impressed by just fat cheques. They want a collaborative team who will work with them.” Michael Harwood and Charlie Arme, co-founders of Tileyard Music – whose roster boasts singer-songwriter Danny Shah, who has written for David Guetta, Kylie Minogue and HRVY; Kygo collaborator Marli Harwood and rising songwriting star Nicole Blair – are similarly buoyant, suggesting a strong publishing sector is good for all. “There’s a big story every week right now on someone transacting on a catalogue or signing a big money deal, and it’s brilliant for the whole business,” suggests Arme. “For us, even though we have been in the midst of a pandemic, I actually believe it has also been a fantastic time for indie publishers to sign talent,” adds Harwood, indicating there have been plenty more deals beyond the headline grabbers. “There has been a real opportunity for the more nimble indies to be able to sign writers and artists that they might otherwise have not been able to.”
Ben Marlow, head of royalties at music industry accountants CC Young & Co, agrees with this positive assessment of the sector. “Perhaps the publishing headlines are more visible and more relevant given that we have a live industry on a forced hiatus, but really I think that the publishing sector has been in good health for many years now and 2021 will see that continue,” he predicts. “Of course, publishing will face difficulties as a result of the pandemic, but the outlook is for it to bounce back and continue growing thereafter. The number of deals being done shows the confidence in publishing rights not just as something popular right now, but an invaluable asset that will outlive us all.”
So what is it that makes the independent publishing sector so resilient in the face of a global crisis and serious chequebook muscle? As hinted above, the sector possesses the sort of flexibility, creativity and passion that usually accompanies the ‘indie’ tag. “One size does not fit all, and our songwriters see the value in our bespoke and high-touch attention we offer them, which isn’t always possible at larger companies,” argues Rell Lafargue, president and chief operating officer of Reservoir, who have Ali Tamposi, Young Thug and Sheryl Crow on their books, and recently did a deal for
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