![]() They or one of their dedicated staff was responsible for publicity, and even schmoozing with potential talent to sing and promote certain tunes. They arranged for distribution and copyright, sometimes on multiple continents. They often exercised control over what was or was not published. A gathering of New York Publishers in 1922. They picked their staff editors, and sometimes composers, and cover artists as well. They arranged for jobbers and printing plants or owned a facility. The publisher did much the same during the ragtime era and beyond. They arrange for financing, select directors and staff, have the ultimate approval of talent, negotiate for or handle distribution, and collect their initial investment out of the profits. The producer is not directly responsible for the content of the movie. One can think of the publisher as the equivalent of a movie producer. They also knew that distribution and marketing would interfere with their composing time, so left that to the professionals. Composers often took this deal because they knew that a piece could just as well flop as be a hit, and there was no percentage in a flop. For the majority of compositions during the 1890s to the 1920s, the composer who was not also the publisher or a partner was paid one time for the piece with a copyright waiver or transference, and that was that. The publisher or one of the high-up editors on staff could accept or reject, or even edit the piece, and it was out the door and on the street. As the formation of Tin Pan Alley was occurring, publishers started hiring staff writers to turn out one or more pieces a week on any variety of topics. In reality, the person who usually made that money was the one who owned the published property, and more often than not that was the publisher. Suddenly, one could write music to actually make money. Harris in 1892, and sales eventually went comparatively "wild" to the tune of over one million copies in its first decade or so (reported amounts do vary, so that is approximate). That paradigm underwent a change following the publication of After the Ball by Charles K. Through the late 19th century it was not usually composed or published on demand for the sake of getting something out there. Music was mostly written out of inspiration, or for the sake of the music, or perhaps for some topical event. ![]() Before that time, the music business was less of a business than a profession. I n this day of computer desktop publishing and internet digital distribution, we tend to not realize the important role of the traditional music publisher during the ragtime era and beyond. ![]()
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