If you’re a musician, songwriter or simply someone with a passion for the music industry, starting a music publishing company can be an exciting and lucrative venture. Music publishing allows you to manage and licence musical works, ensuring that songwriters and composers are compensated for their creativity. Not only does it involve the legal and business side of the music industry, but it also offers opportunities for revenue through licensing, royalties and more.
If you’re a UK entrepreneur thinking about forming your own music publishing company, this guide is for you. We’ll take you through the essential steps to get started, from setting up your company to registering your rights and managing your income streams.
Understand What a Music Publishing Company Does
Before diving into the nuts and bolts of setting up your music publishing company, it’s essential to understand the role of music publishers in the music industry.
A music publishing company typically handles the following:
- Administering music rights: Ensuring songwriters and composers are paid for the use of their works (such as through radio airplay, streaming or sync licensing).
- Collecting royalties: Publishers collect various types of royalties on behalf of songwriters and composers (performance royalties, mechanical royalties, sync royalties, etc.).
- Licensing and marketing: Helping get music placed in films, TV shows, commercials and other media, as well as negotiating deals for songs to be covered or performed by others.
- Copyright registration: Ensuring that musical compositions are properly protected under copyright law.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how to set up your music publishing company.
1: Choose Your Company Name
- Be Unique: Is your chosen name already in use by another company or trademark? You can check this through the name checking tools throughout our website.
- Finally: Your new company name must end with ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’.
Setting up a Limited Company is often the best choice for a music publishing company, as it helps establish credibility and allows you to take advantage of tax benefits.
2: Determine the Company Structure
- Shareholders: Shareholders are the most important people in a company as they own the business (not the Directors). At least one shareholder is required to form a limited company.
- Directors: You must appoint at least one director. Companies House will need their details.
- Company Secretary: This role is optional since the Companies Act 2006. If you are unsure, you should not appoint one, as a Company secretary can always be added down the line.
3: Prepare Your Company Documents
- Memorandum of Association: This document states the subscribers’ agreement to form the company and take at least one share each. The subscribers are the people who will be shareholders in your business. Using our service we prepare this electronically for you and submit this to Companies House on your behalf.
- Articles of Association: Defines how your company will run, including rules about shares, directors’ powers and meetings.
Most companies use the “model articles” described in the Companies Act. If required, we will prepare this document for you and send this to Companies House.
4: Register Your Company
- Online Registration: The most straightforward method is by using our easy company formation platform or the more complex Companies House online service.
- Documents: Submit the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
- Information: Provide details like company name, registered office address, director(s) details, PSC (Person with Significant Control) details and shareholder information.
- Fee: There’s a government fee for registration, currently £50 for an online application.
- Postal Service: Alternatively, you can send the documents by post, but this takes longer.
5: Get Your Company Number and Certificate
- Upon successful registration, Companies House will issue:
- Company Number: A personal identifier for your business.
- Certificate of Incorporation: This is your legal proof of being a limited company.
6: Registering for Corporation Tax
- HMRC: HMRC will obtain your registration details from Companies House and will send a standard letter around 2-3 weeks after your company is registered. This is actually a notice to file a CT600 corporation tax return.
When you register with us we provide full guidance on how to do this.
7: Set Up PAYE if Employing Staff
It is highly likely that you will employ staff, so you must register for PAYE (Pay As You Earn). This handles income tax and National Insurance contributions for your employees.
LaunchList® has thorough tutorials guiding you how to do this yourself, or you can request our help
8: Consider VAT Registration
- Turnover: If your expected turnover exceeds £90,000 per year, you must register for VAT. Otherwise, voluntary registration can be beneficial for reclaiming VAT on purchases.
LaunchList® has detailed tutorials to help show you how to register for VAT yourself, or you can request our help.
9: Register with Music Licensing Bodies
One of the key functions of a music publisher is collecting royalties for songwriters and composers. To do this, you’ll need to register with the relevant licensing organisations that collect and distribute royalties. In the UK, the primary organisations are:
- PRS for Music (Performing Right Society): This is the organisation that collects performance royalties when songs are played in public (on the radio, in venues, etc.) and on digital platforms. As a music publisher, you’ll need to register with PRS to collect royalties on behalf of your songwriters.
- PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited): PPL collects royalties for the use of recorded music. This is important if you plan to publish music that has been recorded or released by artists.
- MCPS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society): MCPS deals with the mechanical royalties from physical or digital copies of songs (like CDs, downloads, and streaming services).
These organisations will work on your behalf to ensure your clients (the songwriters) get paid whenever their music is used, whether on a streaming platform, TV show or in a public performance.
10: Business Insurance
- Public Liability: Essential to cover potential damage or injury.
- Employer’s Liability: If you have employees, this insurance is legally required.
11: Regular Compliance
- Annual Confirmation Statement: Make sure you file this annually to update company details with Companies House.
- Accounts: File annual accounts.
LaunchList® contains self-help tutorials to show you how to manage filing your confirmation statement.
You can reach out to us for extra support and for accountancy recommendations via the MYCW client dashboard.
12: Registering a Domain Name and Obtaining an Email Address
In today’s digital age, an online presence is crucial for any business, especially in the entertainment business companies.
- Domain Name: Choose a domain name that reflects your business identity. It’s often beneficial to align it closely with your company name for brand consistency. Use our domain registration service
Protect your Company Domain Name
Use our domain name search tool to find available names for your business.
- Email Address: Once you have your domain, set up a professional email address. We have a “no technical skills required” email setup to allow you to create email addresses like info@yourmusiccompany.co.uk. This not only looks professional but also helps in keeping business communications separate from personal emails.
This step enhances your business’s credibility, facilitates better marketing, and improves customer communication, which are all vital in the entertainment industry where trust and professionalism play significant roles.
Final Bars
Once everything is set up, it’s time to build relationships with songwriters, composers, artists and other industry professionals. As a music publisher, your job is to help your clients get their music into the right hands and ensure they are paid for their work.
Forming a music publishing company is an exciting venture, but it does require a very good understanding of the business, the legal framework, and the administrative tasks involved.
LaunchList® can help you on your way.
Related Reading
How To Form A Production Company
How to Form a Security Company in the UK: A Step-by-Step Guide