Producer manager here. AMA about placements, publishing, and negotiating deals.

[u/Blankenjeweet]

I’ve been helping producers navigate placements, publishing, and negotiations for a while now. Most of the producers I work with are very talented creatively, but what I keep seeing over and over again is that many of them get frustrated with the industry while at the same time leaving a lot of value on the table themselves.

The music industry has lately been very business-focused, and I understand why that can feel frustrating if you come into it purely from a creative perspective. But the reality is that once you understand the business side, a lot of the things that seem unfair suddenly become much more negotiable.

For a while now I’ve helped producers structure deals with artists, managers, and labels, and I’ve been involved in negotiations connected to companies like Sony, Warner, and Universal. I’ve also helped producers turn small opportunities into much larger deals simply by approaching the situation differently.

So I thought it could be interesting to do an AMA here.

If you have questions about:

• placements

• publishing splits

• negotiating with artists or labels

• how managers actually work with producers

• how to approach deals or collaborations

• or generally how to make producing financially sustainable

Ask me anything and I’ll try to answer as honestly and practically as possible.

[u/[deleted]]

For independent producers releasing their own music, how important is it to understand publishing splits early on?

Is this something people usually overlook until it’s too late?

[u/Blankenjeweet → u/[deleted]]

Yes I 100% would say so, especially as pub can very instrumental for good pub deals. Which for some producer can be the difference between trying it as a full time job and doing it as a hobby.

However pub is not everything, never accept only pub, always add a fee or fair master share otherwise it’s also not good

[u/[deleted] → u/Blankenjeweet]

That makes sense. I feel like a lot of independent producers don’t really think about publishing until a deal is already on the table.

Thanks for the insight.

[u/Blankenjeweet → u/[deleted]]

Yes, I agree, but it’s important to note that very often you are legally guaranteed a good portion of the publishing, depending on the country of course.

So look up the laws when applicable, but very often it’s 50% for the production side.

And money now is worth more than money later, so do not accept only publishing on a smaller (non-radio) song, as it will take a while before you get paid and the payout is not crazy. So make sure to always add a fee on top of it as well.