Paul Rodriguez Music Ltd (Music Library & Publishing)

Paul Rodriguez Music formed in 1974, after Paul Rodriguez left Intersong Music in order to set up his own company. Paul Rodriguez was a natural musician himself, playing at various times trumpet, saxophone and bass guitar. He and long-term friend, Bob Solly, formed the backbone of the rhythm and blues band, The Manish Boys, whose lead singer was the then little known but highly talented David Jones aka David Bowie. Paul went on to work at Pye Records, Phillips/Flamingo and then Intersong Music (subsequently bought by Chappells, now Warner Chappell), before striking out on his own. Find out more.

MUSIC PUBLISHING
Music publishers control musical compositions via publishing contracts with songwriters and composers. Publishing agreements vary in terms of length, exclusivity, size of advance, rights granted, and royalty splits. Most publishers require the fullest possible exploitation rights in order to maximise the earning potential of the compositions under their control.

The term ‘music publishing’ used to mean the printing and publication of a musical score, or manuscript. The public performance was first established in France, when a composer, Ernest Bourget, heard musicians playing one of his compositions being performed in a café and demanded recompense from the owner. When the owner refused, Bourget refused to pay his bill and the matter ended up in court, whereupon the French courts ruled that the café should indeed pay royalties. Thus, the composition performance right – now generating vastly higher revenues in the UK than its mechanical counterpart - was born!

NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
The term “neighbouring rights” originates from the French droits voisins (‘near rights’) and is a fairly loose term used to refer to other music rights that are separate from but may exist alongside the musical composition copyright. In the EU, these rights fall under the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (Rome, 1961). If you are a performer on a sound recording, as a named artist or not, then you qualify for royalties arising from the public performance and broadcasting of that sound recording. These rights do not exist everywhere, most notably in the US, where only non-interactive digital/cable/satellite performances (e.g. digital radio) are licensed and paid out on.

CONSULTANCY
In addition to the complex administrative functions we perform in respect of our publishing and neighbouring rights catalogues, we are also on hand to help and assist our exclusively signed composers, labels and artists with other aspects of their music-related business. The music industry is based on agreements between people, and it is very important to make sure that all the necessary agreements are in place, especially if a song or recording is set to become successful.