I am an independent artist who is releasing his first CD. I'm well known in my area and have hopes of becoming a well known artist with a unique style as well as getting some of songs into movie and TV. A publisher has shown interest in my music and I have been accepted into a music library. The publisher has said that you have to do one or the other, IE you can't have someone publishing your song and then have it in a library.

How do I go about deciding which to do?

The publisher also thinks that the renaming of songs to put in libraries is "a lawsuit waiting to happen" and that it's not wise to submit to them because of that. My thought is that even if different libraries sued each other over some song that it would be there fight and that a publishers opinion on this is obviously influenced by his own interests, am i right?

Also I have been contacting some supervisors directly and have gotten some interest that way. I'm read up on the right questions to ask and such, but in terms of getting the best deal would it be wise to have someone negotiate with them or simply do it myself? Since a publishers job is as I see it 1) to get deals for you in the first place, if you can get your own deals do you not need a publisher?

I paid for the production myself and my producer is "paid off" and I paid a couple of pros, but most of the album is friends of mine who played for "free" but I assume will want a piece if the album is successful. I don't have any money to pay them up front. If I get a song placed for significant income I intend to make a work per hire agreement for each song that gets placed. Does this seem like a workable way to approach the situation?

Thanks for your insight and for such a great board.