Writer's share vs publisher's share, explained in plain English

When I was first starting out, I thought a song was just one thing. You write it, it's yours, done.

It turns out a song has multiple sides. There's the composition, which is the song itself, and there's the master, which is the recording. And then the composition has two sides of its own: one for the songwriter and one for the publisher. That was so confusing to me early on.

So here's the plain version I wish I'd had.

The short answer #

Writer's share: paid directly to the songwriters. Always yours.

Publisher's share: paid to whoever handles the publishing on the song. That could be a publisher, an administrator, or you.

At PROs like BMI and ASCAP, performance royalties are split 50/50 between those two halves. If you're not set up to collect the publisher's share, you could be getting paid on only half your song.

A song has three jobs #

Here's the easiest way I know to explain it. Writing a song is only one third of where a song goes.

1. You write it. That's the songwriter's job.
2. A publisher takes it to market. Their job is to get it in front of artists and get it recorded.
3. An artist records it, so people can actually hear it.

Each of those three has its own set of rights. The first two live on the composition side, and that's where the writer's share and publisher's share come from. The recording is a separate copyright with its own money, usually going to the artist or label.

What is the writer's share? #

The writer's share is the half of performance royalties that goes straight to the people who wrote the song. Your PRO pays it to you directly, based on your percentage of the song.

If you wrote a song with two other people and everyone split it evenly, each of you gets a third of the writer's share. That percentage comes from your split sheet, and it's what each of you registers with your PRO.

What is the publisher's share? #

The publisher's share is the other half. It goes to whoever does the publisher's job, bringing the song to market, or to you if you're doing that job yourself.

Everyone is automatically their own publisher to begin with. You don't lose the publisher's share just because you don't have a deal. You just have to make sure it's being collected.

How the money actually flows #

Here's one song, three writers, all splitting evenly, none with a publishing deal:

Each writer's publishing follows their own percentage. If Writer A signs a publishing deal next year, only Writer A's slice of the publisher's share goes to that publisher. B and C aren't affected.

Do you need your own publishing company? #

It depends on your PRO, and this is where writers get tripped up.

BMI says you don't need to set one up when you're getting started. If you don't own a publishing company, BMI pays you the publisher's share as a writer. Setting up a BMI publishing company is optional and costs a one-time fee ($175 for individuals, $250 for a corporation or LLC).

ASCAP encourages writers to also join as a publisher so the publisher's half of their royalties gets collected. ASCAP says setup takes about ten minutes.

For a long time I was just self-published. Now I have a publishing company, mostly so I can keep track of the publishing on my songs, and I actually have a few different catalogs at this point. You don't need that on day one. You just need to know, for every song, where the publisher's share is going.

Self-published, admin, or a real publishing deal? #

Here's how I think about it.

Self-published. Where everybody starts. You're doing the writer's job and the publisher's job, even if you don't think of it that way.

Admin deal. An administrator registers your songs and collects your publishing royalties for a fee, and you keep ownership. Admin companies like Songtrust are fantastic when you're first starting out and just want to make sure the money is actually getting collected.

A real publishing deal. This makes sense when you want your songs brought to market. When you want them in front of artists who could cut them, and you want to get the most out of what you've written.

If you're thinking about signing a deal and giving up some of your publisher's share, look hard at what that publisher is actually able to do for you. Ultimately, a publisher brings your songs to market. If you're writing songs and they're not going anywhere, a publisher can be really good for you. But if you already know how to do all of that yourself, sometimes a publishing deal isn't worth it. It comes down to what they can give you versus what you can already do on your own.

In every one of these setups, your writer's share is still paid to you by your PRO. Deals are about the publisher's side.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you're looking at a real deal, get a music attorney.

What about mechanical royalties? #

Mechanicals are a different stream. They come from the song being reproduced, like streams and downloads, and in the US, streaming mechanicals are collected by The MLC, which is completely separate from BMI and ASCAP.

So even with your PRO set up perfectly, you may still have mechanical money waiting. More on that in how to register your songs.

Keep your publishing info on every song #

The hardest part isn't understanding the split. It's having the right information on hand, song by song, when you need it.

Songstage keeps all of your publishing information on every song you write, whether you're self-published, have a publisher, or you're in a co-pub situation. So you always know what you need to register the song, and your song is ready when the opportunity comes.