Made It In Music: Interviews With Artists, Songwriters, And Music Industry Pros · Full Circle Music: A Nashville Recording Studio & Online Music Education Academy

How To Be Your Own Best Music Publisher with Seth Mosley

July 23, 2025·44 min·2 clips

Seth Mosley says the answer is to work like it's up to you and pray like it's up to God.

Seth Mosley opens with a simple goal: help writers understand music publishing from the inside out. He starts with the question that comes up a lot in Song Chasers, which is how to get a publishing deal. His point is that, for most writers, that deal is not the first or most realistic step. Instead, he pushes the idea of acting like your own best publisher first. That means getting organized. It also means treating writing like something you do on purpose, not something you wait around for. He keeps coming back to consistency because, in his view, that is what separates a stalled career from one that keeps moving. Good demos matter too. A strong recording helps a song travel farther and makes the pitch easier for someone else to hear fast. He also talks about volume. Songs often need to be written often and pitched often. One pass is rarely enough. A song may need a lot of introductions before it lands in the right place. Sometimes that means 10, 15, 20, or 30 pitches to different people. The point is not to treat rejection like failure. The right fit can show up later. He also stresses relationships. Direct pitching to an artist is often the best shot when that connection exists. A co-writer’s relationship can open a door that a colder route cannot. Even then, there is no guarantee. Seth shares a story about a song that was eventually recorded by a pretty big artist after being pitched directly. Around the same time, the song had also been moved through publishing channels and passed on by an A&R contact who did not realize it had already been recorded. The story lands with a little humor because timing can make the whole system look absurd after the fact. That anecdote reinforces one of the episode’s main ideas: songs move through a lot of hands, and not everyone sees the full picture at the same moment. Seth does not make the process sound magical. He makes it sound workable. Stay organized. Keep writing. Keep making the demos better. Keep pitching. Keep going back to the people who actually hear songs. He also brings in the faith language that has always been part of the show’s tone, with hustle and faith working together rather than hustle replacing purpose. The episode feels like a working conversation, not a lecture. It is direct, practical, and built for people who want to move their songs forward without waiting for permission.

As heard by us

A grounded publishing primer for writers still trying to get songs heard.

Seth Mosley focuses on the writer's side of music publishing, and the advice stays grounded in what can be done before a deal shows up. The message is simple enough: stay organized, keep writing, make demos that hold up, and keep pitching, because songs often need a few tries…

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Why you'd press play

You want a clearer path to getting songs placed without pretending the publishing-deal lane is simple.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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