Songwriter royalties are paid to whoever the paperwork says wrote the song. The chain starts with a split sheet signed in the session, runs through registration with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC) for performance royalties and The MLC for US streaming mechanicals, and ends with a publisher or admin partner collecting worldwide. A song that is not registered earns nothing, no matter how it performs.
The Two Copyrights, Quickly
Every released song has two copyrights: the composition (the song itself: melody, lyrics, structure) and the master (the specific recording). Songwriters earn from the composition. If you also produced the record, your points on the master are separate money covered in producer royalties.
Step 1: The Split Sheet
Ownership is set the day the song is written. A split sheet, signed by everyone in the session, records each writer's percentage. Skip it, and every later document (registrations, publishing deals, sync licenses) sits on a disputed foundation. It is one page. Sign it in the room.
Step 2: The Registrations
- PRO (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC). Collects performance royalties whenever the song is streamed, broadcast, or performed publicly. You register once as a writer, then register each song with its splits.
- The MLC. Collects mechanical royalties from US interactive streaming. This is separate money from your PRO, from the same streams. Unclaimed mechanicals sit in The MLC's system waiting for a matching registration.
- Publisher or admin. Foreign societies, sync licensing, and the long tail of collection are what a publishing partner handles. See what kind of publishing deal to sign.
The Royalty Streams
- Performance royalties: streaming, radio, TV, venues. Paid through your PRO, split into a writer's share (always paid to you) and a publisher's share (paid to whoever controls your publishing).
- Mechanical royalties: reproductions, which today mostly means interactive streams and downloads. US rates are set by law; The MLC pays them out.
- Sync fees: negotiated per placement for film, TV, ads, and games. See how sync licensing works.
Why Checks Go Missing
In our experience the cause is almost never the platform and almost always the paperwork: no split sheet, a song registered by one writer with the wrong splits, a writer with no MLC registration at all, or a name mismatch between societies. The fix is an audit of the chain, oldest songs first. It is unglamorous work that routinely finds real money.