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THE BEAT GOES ON

BRILL BUILDING—What important role do Naked Snake, Psuedo Songs, Big Pig and Tinkle Tunes play in the music industry? They're the respective publishers of Little Feat, the Tubes, Elton John, and Fanny, that's what. Any slick dicked accountant will tell you that when you sign a recording contract, it's wise to grab the rights on your own publishing, because there's as much money in that as there is in vinyl.

April 1, 1976
Steven Davey

THE BEAT GOES ON

Painless Biz Lesson #23

BRILL BUILDING—What important role do Naked Snake, Psuedo Songs, Big Pig and Tinkle Tunes play in the music industry? They're the respective publishers of Little Feat, the Tubes, Elton John, and Fanny, that's what. Any slick dicked accountant will tell you that when you sign a recording contract, it's wise to grab the rights on your own publishing, because there's as much money in that as there is in vinyl.

Naturally, rock 'n' rollers try to out-weird each other in naming their companies just like they do in everything else from t-shirts to reptile sexual preferences. Just dig through any stack of records and you'll find brain gum like these: Far Fetched Music (Black Oak Arkansas), Hot Shot (Count Five), Juke Joint (J. Geils), Deep Fruit (Capitol City Rockets), Interesting Old Void (George Gerdes), Art In Space (Head), Alkatraz Comer (Country Joe), Green Bump (Capt. Beefheart), or Police Music (Dick Wagner).

None of which approach the honesty and forthrightness of John Cale's Tin Pan Punk Music.

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