Publishing splits
Publishing belongs to the people who wrote the song. Pick a starting point, then change the names.
Everyone in the room shares the song evenly.
Equal shares. Someone who did not write can come off this list and get paid from the recording instead.
The beat is half the song. Everyone else splits the other half.
Only the beat makers wrote this song. A performance stays off the split.
No beat maker is listed, so the writers share the song evenly.
A common beat license is 50/50, and each side keeps its own publisher’s share. Read the actual license.
The producer also takes the publisher’s share, so they receive about 75% of performance royalties.
The other song comes off the top. The license applies to what is left.
Each percentage is that person’s share of the song.
These percentages need to total 100%.
Give the original writers their share first, then split what remains.
These shares total %. They need to total 100%.
This license uses different writer and publisher shares, so the percentages stay locked. Switch to 50/50 to edit them.
Pay them from the recording. Performing a part someone else wrote is not publishing.
Pay a fee or points on the recording. That is separate from this split.
Pay a fee. Mixing and engineering are not publishing.
Pay a fee. Playing on the recording is not publishing.
Who gets a share
Lyrics, melody, and a beat that is the music of the song. A singer, engineer, or a producer who only shaped the recording gets paid from the master, not from publishing.
Write it down
Put names, emails, PROs, and these percentages on a split sheet before the song is online. Register that same split with each writer’s PRO. If the registrations do not match, the money waits. A handshake does not get paid.
Where these starting points come from
- 17 U.S.C. § 101 and § 201: joint authors co-own the song.
- ASCAP and BMI: the writers choose the split. The forms use different scales for the same deal.
- BMI writer agreement: co-writers are paid equally unless you send a written split.
- BeatStars and TuneCore: common beat-license splits, including 50/50 and a producer who keeps the publisher’s share.
Rightstune collects the publisher’s share for writers who sign up. Your PRO still pays your writer’s share.
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