So, you know, in every different region, there’s going to be different, business laws and structures that, that really dictate the types of companies, that you can start, that you can start. in the United States, you know, we have, you have to create an entity that that can be an incorporation. An LLC, which is a limited liability company, you can start a production company.
in the uk there’s a sole trader, a partnership, a limited company, that is something that you guys have to do the research on, either on your own with a, a business manager, with a partner, and there are different reasons, both on a business level and  where you are in the region that you live in, in terms of the business structure that that’s best suited to you and the tax implications, and the costs involved.
So, so the first thing you do when you’re starting to contemplate being a publisher is, is do a little research into the type of entity that is gonna be most  practical and productive, and comfortable for you, most affordable on, on a financial level.  On that same note, you have to choose  some sort of a team. And again, based on your needs, your goals and your finances, maybe you need an attorney to help you get started. Maybe you need or want a manager, a business manager, or an accountant.
really you kind of need  one person in all of that as a starting point. And, and, and there is also a lot of information available online, and through lots of different music, central centric websites. I’ll talk a little bit about that at the, at the end of the, the webinar, about where to kind of go for that information. but, but again, start to sort of  ask yourself these questions, evaluate the, the pros and cons, and then look locally around you as to the resources that you have that can help you not only just sort of maybe, you know, reinforce these decisions that you’re kind of picking the right team around you, but that it’s gonna work with your financial  circumstances.
that’s on the business side. On the creative side, there might be  some team members that are gonna make sense for you to, to, you know, to have on within your company. if you are a, a,  you know, a a half of a, a writing duo and you wanna start a company with your, a publishing company with your creative partner or or producing partner, you can do that as well.
do you need an assistant? Do you need an intern? do you need someone to help you because the, the actual administration and the functionality is, is, is not your strong suit. that’s okay. You can find, those people locally and, and you should look towards that. I know for me, I have a lot of interns, that come in and that help me out on a number of different capacities, that I find through, you know, colleges, and, and, and even through my company as well.
So, so, you know, Â decide what, what, and who you need and start putting, you know, you can even do a little kind of spreadsheet for yourself of what your company would look like, and if it’s just you and lots of research materials, that’s okay too. You can make that work. in terms of, of the music and how you wanna set up your company, if you think your music is going to be globally, released and, and you want international partners, that is something at, at a certain point you can do, as well, whether you align with, you know, an administrator internationally, whether you do individual deals in different territories and regions, or one sub-publisher that might handle all the regions where your music might be commercially successful.
so, you know, just lots of considerations, to, to think about when you’re starting up the, the basis of your, of your company.
so on the, on the real functionality side of things, and I mentioned before the, the different types of income, for the purposes of, of really starting your, your company yourself. the, the most important sort of aspect of, of, of this as a songwriter is choosing, choosing A PRO, which is, a, Â a performing rights organization.
they’re also in some regions called collective management organization. So they’re either referred to as a, as a PRO, or a, A CMO, and, and that you can look individually, at, at your, at your, and, and, or even ask friends asking the community, you know, who is the PRO in, in your region? in the United States, we’re, we’re kind of the only country that has choice there. We have a number of different pros. We have ascap, we have BMI, and those are global.
They, they have global relationships, and they’re also two other companies called GMR and csac, which are, more by invitation only as kept in BMI in the United States. You can go online, you can do, they, they have wonderful websites, and you can find out all about how they work and, and, and what they do and, and how best they would interact with you. and you can join an affiliate online. in the uk there’s PRS for music. so  one, when you’re setting up a publishing company name for your business, that’s the name that would run through.
and there’s, there’s basically when you start to, submit songs for collection, to your PRO, they’re like basically digital fingerprints based on the metadata that you send into, to the pros. And that is how they track and collect your income, for perform, performance income. it’s, it’s a very important income source.
It’s a very important part of setting up your own publishing company because you, they, they also, they can perform a lot of other different functions as well, depending on the specific, organization, whether they help you with royalties, licensing, other income, other income collections. some i, I think PRS collects, both on the performance and the mechanical income as well, where they can. so again, each region has sort of a, a different composition. but when you are setting up your own publishing company as a starting point, when you go in, you, you think of a name and, you know, think about a name that that works for you, A name that represents who you are.
what is your unique skillset? What is your unique talent as a songwriter, as an artist? And, and when you’re coming up with a name, you wanna be able to, you know, start building your brand as a publisher, in a way that, that comfortably and accurately represents yourself. once you’ve come up with a name, you, you do have to get that name cleared. and generally the pros can help with that.
So, make it as unique as possible. Sometimes they give you, you have to come up with a couple of different options, names as well. If the name isn’t available like John Smith, you know, for example, probably does not, Â is not something you can easily, easily clear. but make it unique and, and have fun with that. You know, start thinking about yourself as a brand, not just as, as a, as a songwriter, trying to navigate this complicated business. Think of yourself as a brand, you’re an entity, and, and, and you’re creating a company that’s gonna reflect that.
