MUMBAI:  Does music publishing business exists in India? Who is a music publisher? Are record labels and music publishing two different entities? Why do we need a publisher in a country like India where record labels shoulder all the major functions and responsibilities of a publisher? What is the importance of a cue sheet and metadata to rake in the moolah? These were few questions raised and debated at one of the sessions in â€?Nokia Music Connects- the Indian Music Forum 2011'.

The session MUSIC PUBLISHING-SOON A REALITY IN INDIA?... moderated by IMI / PPL president Vijay Lazarus included panelists Deep Emotions managing director Achille Forler; Pink Floyd- discoverer, subsequent manager of many, WIPO advisor Peter Jenner; BMI executive director - Europe & Asia Brandon Bakshi; PRS for Music membership development director Myles Keller; IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam and The Indian Record Mfg. Co. Ltd. managing director SL Saha.

Jenner commenced the session providing an overview on the role and functions of a music publisher. He noted that music publishing is a very big responsibility and especially in the west the publishing structure is extremely complicated. A music publisher is the investor in the creation of songs. Essentially, the publisher is responsible to give his clients a lot of pockets and passes a chunk of that to the artistes and writers. So far recorded revenues were dominant and brought in good revenues but it is not so now.

Bakshi further added that a publisher brings a lot of value to the music business. He said, It is very important for a publisher to believe in the song and it is not only a money making business. Besides the record company, a publisher exploits and spreads the work of an artiste to the entire sphere....

Gliding towards an Indian perspective and throwing light on the fact that in India record labels have been extremely dominant in the music business Saha questioned, I am confused, what is the role of a publisher when there is a record label? Whatever functions the music publisher does, is being done by record labels in India for a very long time and so I don't need a publisher as there is no specific structure in the music business.

Forler contradicted and expressed that pure publishing company is not a sidekick to the record label. To carry a song to the public, a whole chain of participants and performers come into place like composers, recorders, film makers, radio, print, telecos, broadcasters. So we are a very inter-depended industry which involves huge money and so the publisher has come in to handle this business. �A publisher is the corporate face of the individuals.' In India, the highly awaited new copyright act will give authors and composers their rights and royalties which will help the publishers to exercise their duties well.

Taking the session further from India where publishing is still emerging as a business, Keller provided how does PRS function in the music publishing environment that exists in UK. Keller shared that the creation of the song, its composition starts the entire business of music publishing and other collective societies. PRS is one of the 78 distinguished organizations around the world undertaking collective rights management for musical works and manages the works on behalf of its songwriter, composer and publisher members. He also expressed that it is very important for all the publishing organizations world-wide to come together and work very closely on licencing, copyright and other such issues.

In India, the requirement of a song is majorly by a film producer and the song is made according to the directors and screenwriters. Nigam further pointed out that a lot of revenue comes from background music in films and TV apart from the record labels.

The discussion further took an interesting turn when concepts of cue sheet and metadata were debated which brought about different opinions and fireworks on the panel. The concept of cue sheets is regretfully unknown in India because of which a hefty amount of money is lost. If your music is used in a film or television program, filing a cue sheet is an important step in getting paid for your work and getting royalties. The detailed metadata of who owns the songs, what is the share, when it was recorded is absolutely important. The panel also added that in future if the composers want to protect their rights and get the moolah in their pocket they need to provide with the correct metadata and cue sheets. Non-availability of clean meta data is one of the biggest challenge. The documentation should be right and supplying information should be accurate only then will all the parties get their dues.

After a lot of discussions and debate, the panel finally concluded that music publishing exist in India but it is a very complicated process and we need to add more value to it. Record business and publishers are two different entities and to get money from publishing and recorded business is completely different. Cue Sheets have to be accurate, records have to be kept as data base is very important to generate more money. With the new copyright act, there is an enormous amount of fundamental changes that will come in and lead a change in the future.