Alan Walker's "Sing me to sleep" is just one of eight songs that the small Norwegian music publisher Obel Publishing has rights to among the 50 most streamed songs on Spotify in Norway right now.
/ 28/06/2016 / codexText: Willy Martinsen/TONO, Photo above: Marcus Ronne
– I wanted to start a small publishing house, which would work a lot with each individual composer, and to provide support beyond the traditional publishing areas: Sales of songs, syncs, co-writes and so on, says Steinar Fjeld, the man who owns and runs Obel Publishing together with lawyer Knut Arne Holthe. – It's about spending more time on each individual songwriter. Being a resource also when it comes to business operations, tax returns, tax law, contracts and so on. Songwriters often receive income in chunks, often also advances. This must be managed in a good way, says Fjeld.
Fjeld has been a music publisher for almost twenty years, first with his own publishing house, then as head of Warner Chappell's Norwegian department and now most recently with Obel Publishing. In recent years he has "signed" people like Mats Lie Skåre, Jesper Borgen, Morgan Sulele, Erik Fjeld and Magnus Bertelsen, some of them to Warner/Chappell and some to Obel. Fjeld thus has his flair intact after 40 years in the industry. This may be due to the fact that he himself is a songwriter and former artist. In the 70s and 80s, Fjeld had a large audience in Thailand with the band Septimus. It opened his eyes to the Asian market. Perhaps not such a bad thing since Japan is the world's second largest music economy after the USA. At by:Larm earlier this year he gave a lecture entitled "Why is everyone going to the USA?":
– There are 50 million people living in South Korea. In Japan, 127,3 million. American songwriters don't succeed there, but Norwegian songwriters have a good melodic vein, and hear what's most commercial. You have to understand what kind of pop music they like there, and if you do that, and at the same time make a demo that sounds like the record, then the possibilities are good, he says. But if the songwriter doesn't have much talent and market understanding, that's not enough. Fjeld believes, perhaps not surprisingly, that the songwriter also needs a good publisher.
Fjeld started working towards Asia as a publisher about 10 years ago. It started off with a bang:
– You always get asked if you have had any success there before. It’s the same in the US, for example, you should have something to show for it. But then I got a song by Ingrid Skretting in South Korea. Then they took five more by the same composer and couldn’t get enough, so they invited her to Seoul. I used the same method for Mats Lie Skåre in Japan. I got them to take Mats down for a period, and he then delivered to the max! The Japanese love to tell about the time Mats came down with 12 backing tracks to Tokyo, the topliners there finished the songs together with Mats, and before the plane landed in Norway again they had sold all 12 songs. That’s hard to beat, he states with great enthusiasm.
– Since then it has become more and more, both Erik Fjeld and Magnus Bertelsen have had top songs in Japan and South Korea, but I am looking for more people who want to work towards that market, so get in touch!
Songwriter Magnus Bertelsen, who co-wrote Alan Walker's "Sing me to sleep", supports Fjeld in that it can be useful for a songwriter to work with a publisher:
– For me it is important. A publisher helps you generate revenue, supports you with administrative matters and helps you navigate an industry that is not easy. You deal with managers and record labels, and then a publisher is good to have. But also to take it all to the next level. We are now working towards bigger acts. The next few years will be exciting. Hopefully it won't stop now, Bertelsen concludes.
"Sing me to sleep" - Alan Walker (Magnus Bertelsen, TONO member since 2014)
"Girls" – Marcus and Martinus/Madcon (Bertelsen/Erik Fjeld, TONO member since 2008)
"The Song You Hate" – Catastrophe (Erik Fjeld)
"High" – Jesper Jensett (Erik Fjeld)
"Your Song" – Morgan Sulele (Fjeld/Bertelsen)
"Nobody is like you" – Innertier (Erik Fjeld)
"Heartbeat" – Marcus and Martinus (Bertelsen/Fjeld)
"Go Ahead" – Paperboys (Bertelsen)
Do you have any questions about music publishing? If so, please contact TONO's group association. The music publishers.