The advance in the context of music publishing refers to the amount of money that a music publishing company gives to a songwriter or a music producer so that they can write or produce songs which can then be recorded to earn royalty payments.
In layman terms, you can think of an advance as a non-recourse loan in which the music publishing company will recoup its cost when the work you have written as a songwriter or music producer is released to the market.
NOTE: The advance money is also known “the amount of draw” and it can either be paid in the form of a lump sum or the contract can state that the money will be reimbursed periodically to the songwriter or the music producer.
What Does a Music Publishing Company Recoup?
As you may know already recoup simply means to recover, and because music publishing companies are involved in the business of music they also have to recuperate the costs that they incur.
In general before the music publishing company starts to pay the songwriter or music producer the money owed to them in the form of publishing royalties. The music publishing company will recoup the advance money they paid to the songwriter or music producer.
Furthermore, the music publishing company will also recover all the expenses they incurred when they were marketing the song written by the songwriter or the music producer including any legal fees they paid in the due process.
Further Reading:
- What is a Record Label?
- Music Publishing Co-Publishing Agreements Explained
- How Music Publishing Works in South Africa
