Can You Succeed as a Songwriter Without a Music Publishing Deal? with Mark Sholtez
Based on the Podcast Episode: “Can You Succeed as a Songwriter Without a Music Publishing Deal? with Mark Sholtez” – Episode 42, The Magic of Songwriting with Francesca de Valence
Not every songwriter will get a publishing deal, so we pose some questions to Mark Sholtez that may help songwriters understand how they can succeed as a songwriter without a music publishing deal. Mark is an ARIA nominated and APRA award-winning songwriter and recording artist currently signed to EMI Music Publishing Australia.
He was the first Australian artist to record for the legendary Verve record label in New York, and his career to date has included collaborations with music industry icons including Tommy LiPuma (Barbra Streisand, George Benson, Miles Davis), Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient and noted veteran engineer Al Schmitt (Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson), multiple Grammy winning producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Tracy Chapman), as well as internationally renowned artists and songwriters including Don Walker (Cold Chisel), The Veronicas, Iain Archer (Snow Patrol), Troy Cassar-Daley, and Wendy Mathews. Having had success both as a published and self-published songwriter, Mark offers invaluable insights.
This conversation was recorded at Airlie Beach, QLD, for the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival.
What is an essential element of being a songwriter?
Community is really important. You can’t be successful on your own. It’s always about building relationships, whether that be relationships with your team – publisher, producer, record label – or building relationships with other artists and other writers. In order to be in the room with others making great work, you need to know who they are and what their goals are. Before discussing what you’re going to write about, sit down and find out who they are. Perhaps ask them, “What do you want to say? What is it about you that your audience doesn’t know? What’s happening in your life?’ That way you can find a thread of commonality between all the writers and explore that in the writing session.
How do you get in a room with other artists and songwriters?
The infrastructure of a publishing team can help set up sessions with other writers, and the reputation of the publisher relationship and help people feel confident about your level of writing. But you can also directly ask people and introduce yourself. Start by building collaborative relationships with others in your immediate accessible community. Discover what you can do to help others realise their creative goals, rather than just be looking for ways for how people can help you. Ultimately, people respond to enthusiasm and a genuine commitment to create good work.
What does having a publisher mean for a songwriter and is it still necessary to have a publisher?
A publisher helps songwriters plug their songs into the world. Having a publisher means that someone is actively seeking opportunities for your songs with other artists, and for songs that you may have recorded as an artist and placing those in TV shows and films. They can also give songwriters access to other creative communities and get you into rooms with people I might not be able to do so easily on your own through their relationships. The trade is you have to give some of your rights and profit away in order to get that. For some, that’s a valuable trade.
Traditionally, songwriters would have needed a publishing deal. But time has changed the music landscape with things like the internet, streaming, and having direct access to your fans through social media. And it’s no longer the case that you need a publishing deal. For example, there are independent people who will work with artists to pitch their work for sync.
How can you make the most of your publishing deal if you’re not an artist?
If you’re not an artist and solely a songwriter, a publisher won’t be taking recorded masters and trying to locate them into film and TV, they will instead take songs you’re writing to other artists to record.
Publishers get a list from record company A&R saying ‘[name of artist] is looking for [this] kind of song’. There are lots of writers around the world with those lists and they’re creating really targeted work for their publishers to pitch into those opportunities. But they still need other people to record their songs in order to pitch.
What quality of demos do you need for pitching your songs to artists?
The quality of demos you need depends on the audience. A certain type of artist might want a demo of the bones of the songs so they can think about how they might dress the song themselves. And a record company A&R might be listening for something that sounds like a hit song on the radio, so having the ability to get your demo sounding like this is important. That might mean you have a producer you can work with, and you might get a session singer to sing on it if you don’t have the capacity to do this yourself. In the pop world, the demo might need to sound like the final. In the country world, a voice memo demo might be enough.
What do you need to have before you can get a publishing deal?
It will come down to luck, timing, and relationships, but something in your control that you can do is have a compelling body of evidence that you’re committed to. If a publisher hears a song and thinks it’s really good, the first question they might ask is, ‘What else do you have?’ to show your song is not a fluke. A publisher is looking to sign you for the songs you’ve written but more often than not, a publisher is interested in what you are capable of. And a body of evidence highlights where you might be headed.
So, can you succeed as a songwriter without a music publishing deal?
Not every songwriter is going to get a publishing deal, but you can still succeed as a songwriter without a music publishing deal. Here are our top tips for how to succeed as a songwriter without a music publishing deal:
- Build your own relationships with producers, writers, and artists
- Be open to writing with others
- Be committed to creating a lot of great work
- Be bold and create your opportunities for your songs
- Look for independent people who can help you get your songs out into the world
Want to increase your opportunities but you’re not published?
If you would like more information about how you can get into writing rooms with others and create an undeniable body of evidence, check out our online songwriting programs here.
