Gotta love Shirley Kennedy. She has been one of Elliott Yamin’s most outspoken supporters, so when she starts having doubts and concerns, you’d better listen. I’m trying not to push the panic button, but Shirley has, as usual, done her research and has come up with a lot of support for her theory that “Elliott’s fans should be disappointed in this news, not overjoyed.”
The news she is referring to is the recently announced publishing deal with Sony/ATV publishing. In great detail, Ms. Kennedy takes a look at publishing deals, how they differ and can affect recording deals, and how much money can be made from them. Elliott is a rookie writer - unless Elliott has some heretofore unseen God-given talent for songwriting, the question remains for many: “Why not a recording contract?”
“A friend of mine, who works with Atlantic Records, believes a publishing deal to be a precursor to a label deal. On the other hand, when I posed that question to Rob Hassett, his response was: “My experience is that when a record company signs a recording artist who writes their own songs, the publishing affiliate will want to sign the artist to a publishing contract because they know that some of the songs are going to be recorded and released and will typically take less than the 50%.” In other words, the label deal typically comes first.”
Shirley’s article makes a certain amount of sense, but I have no doubt whatsoever that Elliott will make his living in the music industry - he is too talented not to. The question becomes will he have a Justin Guarini career - small, but successful and joyous; a Constantine career - big fish, small pond; or Carrie Underwood’s huge success in a specialized market?