Submission Standards
Submission Standards & Engraving Parameters
please read carefully!
We offer highly competitive, top-tier royalty rates for a very practical business reason: to keep our operating margins focused, we don’t employ in-house engravers. Maintaining multiple software experts to translate and format charts across various notation programs would create massive overhead and force us to lower your payout. Instead, by having you handle your own engraving and audio production, we pass those earnings straight back to you. We don’t mandate a specific software package; we simply expect a clean, professional visual appearance and a stellar audio representation.
Important: If you need help or have questions before you upload, reach out to us at admin@newsouthmusic.com. Submissions that need correcting will be returned with suggestions. For us to maintain focus and time on product curation, we set a strict maximum of two (2) resubmissions per piece.
Elementary Teachers/Composers click here for help/instructions directly related to your area of expertise.
To maintain a professional, unified standard across the New South Music catalog, all external submissions must strictly adhere to the following formatting rules before being accepted for publication:
Document & Margin Specifications – All full scores must be in the correct page orientation and adhere to the following dimensions:
- Concert Band, Symphony Band & Wind Ensemble: 8.5″ x 11″ (Letter) primary. 8.5″ x 14″ (Legal) accepted if required for instrumentation. (Portrait Layout)
- Jazz Ensemble: 8.5″ x 11″ (Letter) primary. 8.5″ x 14″ (Legal) permitted by prior approval only. (Portrait Layout)
- String & Full Orchestra: 8.5″ x 11″ (Letter) or 8.5″ x 14″ (Legal). 11″ x 17″ (Tabloid) accepted for full orchestra if necessary. (Portrait Layout)
- Choral, Solo & Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble & Battery : 8.5″ x 11″ (Letter) (Portrait – or – landscape as appropriate.)
- Individual Parts (All Ensembles): Must be formatted as 8.5″ x 11″ (Letter), Portrait orientation.
- Margins: Scores and parts require a 0.75 to 1.25-inch margin on all sides (bottom, left, and right), with a 0.75 to 1.25-inch top margin for standard pages, expanding up to a 1.5-inch top margin on the first (title) page of a score. Staff names can fall within the margin.
Software Setup Guide, Navigation, Musical Playability, & Branding
Software Setup Guide
- Finale: Go to Document > Page Format > Score (and repeat for Parts). Set Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins to a value between 0.75″ and 1.0″. Select the Page Layout Tool, go to Page Layout > Redefine Pages > All Pages to apply the changes. Set staff height to roughly 0.28 inches (7.1mm) in the Page Format for Parts menu.
- Sibelius: Go to Layout tab > Margins > Custom Margins and enter a consistent value between 0.75 and 1.0 for all sides. Set staff size to 7mm in Document Setup.
- Dorico: Open Layout Options > Page Setup > Margins. Set all values to a consistent measurement between 0.75″ and 1.0″, then click “Apply to All Layouts.” Set the Raster Size to Size 3 (7mm) in Layout Options.
- MuseScore: Go to Format > Page Settings. Under the Page Margins section, set the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins to a value between 0.75 in and 1.0 in. Set the Staff Space (sp) scaling so the full 5-line staff equals 7mm.
Score & Performance Standards
- Idiomatic Playability: Works must be practically orchestrated for live human performance. Unplayable MIDI programming (impossible ranges, physical impossibilities, or lack of indicated breathing rests) will be instantly rejected.
- Measure Numbers: Requested on all measures, 10 to 12 pt. font, positioned beneath the staff at the beginning of each bar. On full scores, place them on the bottom staff only.
- Structural Markers: Use double bar lines at all major structural points, rehearsal marks, key changes, and tempo changes. Use numbers only for rehearsal markings (no letters), boxed and placed above the staff at the beginning of the measure.
- Repeats & Beaming: No nested repeats. Repeats must never cross a page turn. Traditional beaming rules apply to clearly expose the primary beats of the time signature.
- Educational Necessities: Submissions for Grade 4 and below must include a minimum of written composer notes regarding educational standards. Technical warm-ups (one or two simple exercises that correlate to the educational material) are requested as it improves the sellability of your music. These are waived for advanced/professional-level compositions (Grade 5 and above).
- Logo Embedding: The official New South Music logo (.png) must be embedded on the first page of the full score and the first page of every individual part (.png provided upon submission approval).
PROVIDED PROMPT FOR TEMPLATE FORMAT ASSISTANCE
- [Download This Prompt Document for Assistance]
(Links directly to the “Template format assistance prompt page” PDF)
Composer Warranty, Indemnification, & AI Policy
By submitting your work to New South Music Publishing, LLC, you expressly warrant and certify that this submission is 100% your original composition. It is not a derivative work, nor is it an arrangement or transcription of a piece currently protected or in the public domain.
Our AI Philosophy: The Line Between Tool and Author
We embrace—including elite virtual instruments and state-of-the-art vocal/instrumental synthesis tools like ACE Studio as vehicles for performance expression and low-overhead production mockups.
Curious about how we balance AI technical production assistants with original human intellectual property?
