MPP5: Erin Rogers on Publishing and Licensing

Music Publishing Podcast

Erin Rogers is a super-talented composer and saxophonist who I’ve known for a couple of years. We met for the first time over lunch many years ago while I was in the early stages of writing the Composer’s Guide, where we had a wonderful conversation about publishing and composer career issues that has always stuck with me. Our paths haven’t crossed much in the intervening years, so I was glad to have a reason to reconnect with Erin by inviting her on the show. And boy was I glad I did!

This is the first show that I’ve done not just live, but in-person, as well! We attempted to broadcast as per usual, but I discovered after the fact that Google Hangouts stopped actually broadcasting after the first 20 minutes…leaving another 70 that never went out to YouTube! Fortunately, as I’ve learned about doing this whole podcasting thing, I’ve started recording the audio on my own end (and asking my guests to record theirs, as well), so the entire conversation was captured on my laptop, and wasn’t lost due to the screw-ups of our Google Overlords.

After we stopped our broadcast, Erin and I hung out for several more hours, still talking along the same lines as on the show. We poured ourselves another drink and kept talking at my apartment, then went out for dinner, and kept the conversation going there. A part of me wishes we’d “kept the cameras rolling” as it were, because we covered lots of fertile ground.

During our recorded conversation, however, we managed to talk about:

• Social media
• How a score isn’t always finished until it’s performed, or until the composer dies
• Proofreading your own scores
• The importance of a second pair of eyes on your scores
• Allowing time for proofreading and part extraction
• Having the resources of a publisher behind you vs. taking full control yourself
• Engraving/formatting standards
• Setting up your scores and front matter
• Handling perusal scores
• Licensing performances
• Being a performing composer
• Starting an ensemble for the love of the music
• Following established models, keeping low overhead, and working with the right people
• Licensing works for performances
• Some potential pitfalls of working with traditional publishers
• Some of the new models for working with publishers

Links: Erin Rogers thingNY New Thread Quartet HYPERCUBE