Publishing

[mjbphotos]

So what exactly is it, and is it needed if I'm not concerned about residual pennies coming my way from commercial plays?
I see 'published by ...' on virtually all commercial CDs, sometimes BMI, ASCAP, sometimes a private company that the artist/band set up.

 

[guitarplayr82]

This would probably be a good place to start: Broadcast Music Incorporated - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[arcadeko]

I thin CDBaby does that and does it pretty cheap. I think they get your music on Amazon and Itunes.

 

[mjbphotos]

This would probably be a good place to start: Broadcast Music Incorporated - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know what they do - but how do you get listed with them? And is it needed to be 'published' at all?

arcadeko - I am not talking about DISTRIBUTING the music, I mean publishing.

 

[sjjohnston]

I know what they do - but how do you get listed with them?

Not too hard to find out:
Join BMI | BMI.com

And, while you're at it:
Join ASCAP

And, though less likely to be useful:
How to Affiliate :: SESAC

Plus, in a slightly different vein:
http://www.harryfox.com/public/HFAAffiliationhfa.jsp

But ... if you're not interested in collecting royalties (or likely to earn any), there's not really any purpose to any of this.
BMI, ASCAP and SESAC are the intermediaries that collect what the songwriter earns when someone public performs his song (e.g. a DJ playing a record, or a band playing the song in a show);
Harry Fox is the biggest intermediary that collects what the songwriter earns when someone distributes a recording of his song (e.g. someone releasing a cover version of a Chuck Berry song).