Elliot has signed a publishing deal. That seems kind of odd since he has an amazing voice and should be singing, not writing songs. Of course, if he's as talented at writing songs as he is at singing then I guess he'll do ok.

Publishing deals are typically offered to songwriters. According to Rob Hassett, an Atlanta entertainment attorney, “Anyone who writes a song (not in the course of employment for someone else) owns the [copyright to] that song. They can take care of registering the copyright and pitching and negotiating rights for the song to be sung by others, used in movies, deal with ASCAP or BMI themselves, license the song to be used for ring tones, etc. or let a ‘publisher’ take care of that. A publisher will ordinarily do all of that for half the income that may come in.” The interesting aspect of Elliott signing a publishing deal also comes from the conversation we had in October: “As far as my writing, I’m kind of a rookie writer, just kind of starting out and getting used to writing.” So, what does a publishing deal—usually reserved for songwriters—mean to a “rookie” writer? The implications can be many or none. I find it interesting that a publishing company is willing to back the music of a self-described “rookie songwriter” but that a label isn’t jumping all over a singer with a fabulous voice.

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