Twin Cities composers built a publishing business for a new era of digital music

Married couple Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach are full-time composers, but their side hustle has grown into a major operation. This year, Graphite Publishing — the platform they founded to digitally distribute music scores — celebrates its 20th anniversary, and the business is finding its groove.

“At the beginning, the big publishers weren’t really all that scared of us or didn’t think much of us,” Hagen said. “Now, I think we’re being seen more as a partner.”

Graphite publishes the work of major vocal ensembles like VocalEssence, Cantus and Border CrosSing, alongside independent artists like B.E. Boykin and Dessa. Its creator-first model offers competitive royalty rates. Having launched just as the digital revolution hit the music industry in the mid-2000s, the company has spent two decades navigating a rapidly changing landscape.

The story began in 2006, when Hagen and Takach were young composers writing for high-level ensembles. Takach was singing with the Twin Cities low-voice a cappella group Cantus and writing music for them, while Hagen served as composer-in-residence for The Singers — Minnesota Choral Artists.

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They belonged to a thriving local community of creators making complex music but had a hard time getting published by traditional channels. “A lot of the music was challenging,” Hagen said. “It was for professional groups, and a lot of publishers are only looking for more accessible things that choirs can do.”

“We had all this music that didn’t fit the traditional bell curve of publishing,” Takach added. Industry standards favored pieces three to four minutes long, written in English, with piano accompaniment. Takach and Hagen wrote longer, complex pieces, sometimes in other languages, often featuring independent instrumental parts like a solo cello or flute. “It was harder stuff to market,” Takach said. “But we valued this music and believed it should be available to other groups.”

A firsthand frustration finally spurred them to act. After Takach published a piece through a traditional house, a director asked him for a mixed-voice arrangement. When he approached his publisher about the new version, he discovered he no longer owned the rights to his own work.

“They said, ‘Well, since we own your other version of it, you have to ask us first in order to even make this,'” Takach recalled. He checked the fine print and realized he had signed away complete ownership of his composition in exchange for a mere 10% royalty. “It opened my eyes to how that business worked, and what would happen to my creative compositions if I continued down the traditional path.”

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Determined to forge a new way forward, they realized they were in the perfect place to do it. Minnesota boasts a deeply entrenched choral tradition where local choirs frequently commission new music.

“I don’t know if we could have built our careers the way we have if we hadn’t been in Minnesota,” Hagen noted. “Because of that, our company has a collaborative, ‘we’re in it together’ feel.” For Hagen, launching Graphite was as much about celebrating their peers as it was about protecting their own catalog. “There are so many wonderful composers here who are friends of ours. We just banded together.”

Knowing their music was in demand, the couple pooled their resources to build a website dedicated to digital delivery — a rare concept in 2006. The goal was to leverage their networks and monetize their music without the overhead of physical printing and shipping.

Soon, they were signing fellow Minnesota-based composers like Abbie Betinis, Eric Barnum and Joshua Shank. “We thought there should be a company in the middle that didn’t take your copyright and most of your profit, but also saved us from having to act as independent publishers doing all the administrative work individually,” Hagen said.

While Graphite does technically hold the copyright to the music it publishes, it offers a rare buyout option. “We have a clause that says if you’re unhappy or want your copyright back, there’s a way to buy it back from us,” Takach said. “That is unique and not found in traditional publishing contracts.”

Managing that success has brought expected growing pains. “It turned into a larger part of our lives than either of us anticipated,” Takach admitted. “We both consider composing our full-time job, so Graphite is something we run on the side.” To keep up with customer service and daily operations, they have built a dedicated team of contractors.

The growth has been explosive. According to Managing Director Laura Krider, Graphite has maintained a compound annual growth rate of more than 50% since 2020. Today, it publishes 28 individual composers.

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They also began distributing works from other independent publishers about 10 years ago. “We always wanted Graphite Publishing to be an online destination for people to find a lot of different things,” Takach said. “By getting the rights to distribute the music of other small publishers, we were able to expand our offerings to the folks who were buying the music.”

Even as a digital-first business, Graphite still adapts to traditional systems. Many schools, universities and churches rely on institutional billing structures that require physical, printed sheet music. “We’ve had to pivot along the way to accommodate that because those traditional systems are still solidly in place,” Takach said.

Now, Graphite is looking toward the future. The team is planning a major presence at the National American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Conference in Minneapolis next March.

In the meantime, Graphite continues to be focused on people. “I’m really proud of our community of artists, and we do support each other,” Hagen said.

The post Twin Cities composers built a publishing business for a new era of digital music appeared first on MinnPost.

Originally reported by MinnPost by Sheila Regan. Read the full story at the source.