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<\/strong><\/p>\nBefore moving into publishing, I\u2019d been working full time in the music industry for around a decade, predominantly working with publishing (songwriter) rights. I\u2019d worked in different areas across licensing, copyright and contracts, digital distribution, royalties and other project management. While studying for a music degree at Napier University in Edinburgh, I\u2019d also held several music-related jobs, including running the relationship between a recording studio and the whole of my year, started a promotions company, interned with a promoter in Edinburgh and later interned with the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society in Glasgow, who licensed the Scottish Parliament as part of a cross-party group on the Scottish music industry.<\/p>\n
When YouTube moved my move to London, I was part of the first team to license YouTube for music use, had the opportunity to work in South East Asia and look after digital licensing across numerous territories across Europe, administered large catalogues for a private investment fund and was lucky enough to work with many of my childhood idols.<\/p>\n
But, as anyone working in copyright will tell you, doing all of the things it\u2019s got to change and evolve, including being outsourced, centralised or altered as part of digital administration and moving to a more global-focus on rights management. I decided it was time for something new, and publishing caught my eye.<\/p>\n
How did working in another industry help you into publishing?<\/strong><\/p>\n There are many obvious differences between the two industries but also many similarities. For example, where a song contains copyright in the top line melody and lyrics, a book holds copyright in the text. Where an album cover holds illustrative copyright, so does a book cover. Both have digital download formats which are experiencing changes in their areas and both operate partly on trade and consumer deals. Working in music rights gave me a good grounding, but my knowledge and interest caught the eye of those working in publishing.<\/p>\n There are also many transferable skills like people management, Excel, understanding of finances and taxes, contractual terminology, trademark and extended reading abilities that cross over.<\/p>\n What was your first role in publishing and how did you get the job?<\/strong><\/p>\n My first role in publishing was as contracts and royalties manager for Bonnier Publishing (covering two of their UK divisions, Kings Road Publishing and Bonnier Zaffre). I got the job because my experience covered lots of different areas in rights, rather than being overly-specialised in one far-reaching area. I was (and still am) extremely passionate about the work I do and an \u2018across it all\u2019 gain my I\u2019m one of those that try to immerse myself every aspect of what they do. If I won the lottery, I wouldn\u2019t leave my job, and I think this came across strongly during the interviews.<\/p>\n What would you say are the pros and cons of coming into publishing from another industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n The pros are that it has taught me a lot of the base knowledge and given me the transferable skills I needed to build upon in book publishing. Additionally, having had ten years of experience and being able to bring that into a business which has established music links. This allows me to work closely with music managers and\/or agents about how copyright works while their experience and understanding in the music industry. I am also able to understand different copyright ownership to see if any administration needs to be done with the authors\u2019 estates.<\/p>\n The cons? There is a lot to take in! Understanding how music works to transition into book publishing background requires a lot of knowledge. However, my past allows me to find differences, but not necessarily similarities. I know about the music industry, and I can learn about publishing, yet I\u2019m not always sure of the differences. As Bonnier Publishing is open to hiring people from outside the publishing world and more from those who work within and those like me, we\u2019re able to share knowledge and expertise in order to collaborate and become stronger overall.<\/p>\n