About Us

Superior Music Publishing is a full service boutique music publishing company and joint venture with Modern Works Music Publishing.

Superior Music Publishing offers both co-publishing and administration deals with worldwide collection, as well as a specialization in film and TV music placement. We work with Modern Works’ team of administrators and extensive international network of worldwide sub-publishers (click here for full list) to provide the best service in collecting songwriter royalties from all sources, including mechanicals, performing rights societies and international live performance royalties.

We also specialize in pitching music to all media, including advertising, film, television, trailers, video games and online media, as well as negotiating synch licensing fees, administering the paperwork and collecting monies due. We also set up collaborations with top songwriters as well as pitching songs to major and independent labels to be covered by their artists.

Superior Music Publishing offers all the services of a major music publisher, while providing a much higher level of personalized attention.

Superior was founded in 2013 by Mara Schwartz Kuge, who formerly ran the Film and TV Music departments at Bug Music (now BMG Chrysalis) and 10th Street Entertainment. She was directly responsible for successful music placements like the “Twilight” series, the opening theme songs to “Shameless” (the High Strung’s “The Luck You Got”) and A&E’s “Nightwatch” (Highway Child’s “Shades of Blue”), and commercial campaigns for E*Trade, Progressive Insurance, Sears, TGIFridays, Jeep and many others.

While at Bug, Kuge also signed the National, Grizzly Bear, of Montreal, M. Ward, Peaches, the Faint, Sleater-Kinney, Okkervil River and several other very successful songwriters.

Kuge was the President of the Board of Directors of the California Copyright Conference for 2021-22. She is a member of the Guild of Music Supervisors and the Recording Academy.

Superior Music Publishing is part of the National Music Publishers’ Association’s Team 100 (the top 100 music publishers in the United States), Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and the Association for Independent Music Publishers.

Superior Music Publishing continues the tradition of celebrating the independent spirit while providing the highest level of service, professionalism and transparency.

About Modern Works

Modern Works Music Publishing was founded in 2004 by Dan Coleman and Bob Donnelly to administer the works of John Legend and his co-writers, and has grown to become one of the top 25 publishers in the USA. Its roster has evolved to encompass every musical genre, especially those that tend to be underserved by larger music publishing companies, such as jazz, classical, and world music. Modern Works Music Publishing has also ventured with independent music companies such as Goodnight Records, Light in the Attic, and United for Opportunity to provide publishing administration and licensing services to their artists.

With offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, and Tucson— and a worldwide network of hand-picked sub-publishers (click here for full list) — Modern Works does business with all the major licensees of music, including record companies, advertising agencies, film and television companies, interactive gaming companies, and online music purveyors. Songs in the Modern Works catalog are used thousands of times each year in these categories. Modern Works artists have been honored with multiple Grammy® awards and nominations every year.