What is a good publishing company in or around Florida?

Can a record label also be a music publishing company or do they need to form a separate entity?

• I often see record labels that do not control the publishing of their artist.  Many times Atlantic Records artists are published by Warner Chappell.  I know Warner Music Group owns Atlantic so it's the same people i think.  Ultra Music has Ultra Music Publishing and Sony has Sony/ATV.  EMI was sold as two different companies when it got bought.  Is there perhaps a legal reason that Atlantic records, or Ultra Music can't also control the publishing of it's artists? If I start a label for my own music, do I need a separate LLC to control the publishing?  If so, can both of these be owned by the same holding company?  Are there any resources where I could learn more about this?

• Answer:

  Most record labels usually have a music publishing division for several reasons.  First, when they are making a recording deal with an artist who writes, they can use their leverage to acquire music publishing rights from the artist.  It's a short step. Second, holding music publishing rights provides the record company with a seat at the table when publishers are setting the economic basis under which their works will be exploited. For example when putting a sound recording in a television program, the show producer will also need a license from the music publisher. It's an excellent opportunity for the record label to make additional dollars by also licensing the musical composition. It also ensures against the owner of the publishing frustrating the label's desire to issue a license.