Talent retains value in publishing.

Companies look to grow alternative revenue streams as the mechanical income falls

By Stuart Clarke

FINANCIAL WORRIES MAY HAVE CONTINUED TO IMPACT the music industry over the past 12 months but, while record labels have dealt with their diminishing returns through reduced A&R budgets, the big publishers have remained aggressive when it comes to securing new artists.

The year's most sought-after deals - names such as White Lies, Glasvegas and Iglu & Hartly - managed to enter the higher regions of the six-figure price tag, while some of the big songwriter deals eclipsed even this.

As revenue from mechanical royalties continues to fall, however, the publishing sector is beginning to evaluate the validity of those artists worth their signature in new ways. Areas that in the past may have merely supplemented income from record sales can today create key revenue streams for artists and publishers and an artist's potential in this area can make or break a deal.

"You can no longer say, `How many records will we sell?'," says Chrysalis CEO Jeremy Lascelles, whose company has secured some of the most sought-after signings of the past year, including Fleet Foxes, White Lies and Bon Iver.

"We are looking at performance income, we're looking at licensing and artists' attitudes toward licensing their music to TV or film. It's a different set of criteria we are using to appraise deals today."