On the Couch - #123 - Understand Publishing with John Fishlock

Having started from rung #1 of the ladder of the entertainment industry, a courier biker for a music company in London, John slowly climbed upwards, from trainee engineer at Air Edel to engineer, then trainee Producer at Air Studios London to Producer. 

Shifting focus out of the studio and into the world of Music Publishing, he began his publishing life at Chrysalis Music, moving to MCA Music, to his own company CFM and then back to the corporate world of PolyGram Music.  Within the PolyGram Group, John transferred to Germany and eventually South Africa, building PolyGram Music from scratch, shifting to Universal Music and taking the company to being #1 Publisher.

John was also the chief negotiator o.b.o. NORM (during his role as Chairman), securing the first Digital Agreement in Africa, paving the way for a precedent to be set for all Digital agreements with DSPs thereafter.  He was also the pioneer and founding driving force behind the first unified mechanical society in South Africa, CAPASSO.

Now joint owner of independent music publishing company, Active Music Publishing, he continues to strive to develop and support composers in this highly competitive area of the industry, adding value in whatever means possible to further their careers.

A Board Member of the Independent Music Publishers Forum (IMPF), a body of over 175 Intl. Independent Publishers, vying to ensure the interests of composers and publishers is heard globally, sitting on various committees, one of which is the current hot topic…, AI.

“Measuring your success in the world of music is not about who you have worked with, it is about who you are working with.  It is not about what you have done, it is about what you are doing”.