Do I need a business license as I am my own publisher….

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  • #5558 Reply
    jimandroz
    Member

    Do I need to register  my name as a business as I am my own publisher?

    R.Z

     

    #5567 Reply
    Art Munson
    Keymaster

    Not necessarily but if you get checks made out to your publishing company you will need a checking account in the publishing company’s name and that requires a DBA (doing business as).

    #5576 Reply
    J3h43f4
    Participant

    Do you have a publishing company Art? Is it difficult? It seems it would be easy to register your own tracks when they are used. Then you get the publishing half as well.
    I let Audiosparx and everyone else do it when there is a space to put your own publishing company but I do want to do it myself to get the other half…is it difficult?

    #5578 Reply
    Advice
    Participant

    You really don’t need a biz license, special bank account, etc. You can direct ASCAP or BMI to direct deposit your publisher’s share into a bank account you specify. My publishing royalties (the few scraps that come in) are direct deposited by ASCAP to a checking account in my name.

    😉

    #5581 Reply
    dan p
    Guest

    Starting your own publishing is easy.
    Find an original name,pay the money,done.
    BMI,Ascap,Sesac,look up rules and research
    for more good info.

    #5582 Reply
    Art Munson
    Keymaster

    J3h43f4:
    Do you have a publishing company Art?Is it difficult?It seems it would be easy to register your own tracks when they are used.Then you get the publishing half as well.
    I let Audiosparx and everyone else do it when there is a space to put your own publishing company but I do want to do it myself to get the other half…is it difficult?


    Yes I do have a publishing company. Not hard at all. I didn’t know that about direct deposit not needing a DBA but I would check with your bank to make sure.

    #5584 Reply
    Advice
    Participant

    I don’t even think, with ASCAP, it’s a matter of direct deposit or not. A publisher can designate how he/she wants the payments made out. Don’t know for sure about BMI.

    I know that when I set up direct deposit with ASCAP, the on-line system made it very easy to input my bank account and routing numbers to get it rolling.

    I would check with your PRO before asking the bank. Of course, laws might vary depending on what state you live in (talking US residents)… So YMMV…
    🙂

    #5585 Reply
    Art Munson
    Keymaster

    The below was posted by Gael MacGregor but a glitch prevented it from showing in the forum.
    —————————–
    If you’re a BMI writer, you don’t necessarily need a publishing entity — on cue sheets, into the writer area, you just put in your writer name as usual [exactly as noted in your BMI registration], then in the publisher area, put in your writer name, and in parentheses after that, make the note: (author published). You will then receive a check (or possibly two — or even a direct deposit to your checking account — depending on the amount[s] and how you’ve set up your account) for the writer’s side and the publishing side.

    Cue Sheet Example:

    Writer: Faboo Writer [BMI/100%]
    Publisher: Faboo Writer [BMI/100%] (author published)

    With ASCAP, however, you need to create a publishing entity to receive money from both sides. They do not allow for the (author published) notation, and will withhold publisher payment until you have a publishing entity.

    Cue Sheet Example for ASCAP:

    Writer: Faboo Writer (ASCAP/100%)
    Publisher: Faboo Publisher (ASCAP/100%)

    I think it currently costs about $35 to register a publishing entity with ASCAP. When I registered my publishing entity with BMI it was free, but it is considerably more now (around $300) — from what some reps there told me, mostly because they were flooded with so many garage band type writer/publishers who never even registered ONE song (!), and the admin costs for maintaining such a huge number of virtually inactive entities was becoming ridiculous. I suppose their reasoning was that if you were willing to fork out a few hundred bucks, you were serious about what you were doing. 😉

    #5594 Reply
    Advice
    Participant

    Yes, the above is correct. I happened to start an ASCAP publishing entity years ago when it cost little or nothing.

    You DO need to have a publishing entity with ASCAP to collect the publisher’s share. However, this is a separate issue from whether you need to have an official “business” established with your state or bank to collect the publisher’s royalties paid to your publishing entity. My experience with ASCAP is I could simply direct deposit to my personal bank acccount.

    🙂

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