Note that the Also sometimes referred to as shares, the portion of ownership a rights holder has or the portion of income they are entitled to. described here are specific to The act of creating music or lyrics, or both. and not Typically, the recorded performance of a musical work. Under copyright law, it is referred to and protected as a phonogram, defined as a fixation of sounds exclusively.. You can find more information about sound recording splits in the Recording topic.
A A person who makes an original contribution to the creation of a musical composition or lyrics. split is each songwriter's share of the The ownership of rights in a song under copyright law ownership and, therefore, the Public acknowledgment of someone's contribution to the creation of a musical work, a live performance, or sound recording, for example, a songwriter's or performer's name. and Money paid for the right to use a musical work, performance, or sound recording, typically, but not always, in the form of recurring payments. of the An original musical composition with or without lyrics.. This is described in more detail on the Songwriter Splits page.
Under a typical A contract between a songwriter and a music publisher for the publishing rights. It typically specifies the details of their agreement, the royalty percentage each party will receive, which countries the publisher will represent in, and the length of the contract., depending on the terms of the deal and which country's laws apply to the deal, a songwriter engages a A company that represents songwriters, supporting their career development, monetizing musical works, and protecting copyrights. to manage the The controls creators or rights holders have over what they have created or produced and over their identity and image. in a musical work for the duration of the deal. As part of the deal, music publishers will offer services, such as promoting the songwriter, pitching the songwriter's musical work to other Anyone who contributes to creating or performing a musical work, a live performance, or a sound recording., and arranging collaborations with other songwriters. They may also negotiate splits on behalf of their songwriters.
You can learn more about this on our Music Publishers page.
In exchange for these services, songwriters typically agree that the music publisher may To receive payback of money given to creators. certain costs and receive some of the revenue generated by the use of the musical work, such as royalties. Songwriters can, therefore, share their royalties with a music publisher. That share of the royalties is referred to as the publisher's split.
This split with the publisher is subject to negotiation and agreement between the songwriter and the music publisher.
Example of a 50/50 royalty split between songwriters and their music publisher.
Note: Splits do not have to be equal, subject to negotiation.
Splits when you are self-published
Without a publishing deal, songwriters act as their own music publisher. If you are such a songwriter, you would typically take on the role a music publisher would, as if you had a music publishing deal. This could include managing the The process of managing music-related rights and royalties on behalf of rights holders. and The process of delivering sound recordings to DSPs and physical retailers. of your work and possibly even the financing.
You can learn more about this on our Self-Publishing page.
In this scenario, if you wrote the musical work without any other songwriters, you would own all the rights in the musical work and be credited with songwriter and music publisher share of the royalties.
If you wrote the musical work with another songwriter the splits need to be agreed by all songwriters and have to be documented and recorded when the musical work is registered with a An organization that acts collectively on behalf of the rights holders it represents and collects and pays remuneration to rights holders..
‘Self-published’: Example of songwriter and publisher shares when Songwriter I is self-published, and Songwriter II has a music publishing deal. Note: Splits do not have to be equal, subject to negotiation.
Splits with a co-publishing deal
Under a An agreement in which a songwriter shares the publishing rights and royalties with a music publisher., the songwriter is A creator who publishes their own music without the support of a music publisher., but also shares the publishing rights and royalties with a music publisher. The music publisher administers the rights for the musical works and collects the royalties based on an agreement with the songwriter.
The split with the publisher is subject to negotiation and agreement between the self-published songwriter and the music publisher.
Explore our section on Music Publishers to learn more about publishing deals.
Splits with a co-publishing deal
Example when a songwriter is self-published but also shares the publishing rights and royalties with a music publisher. Note: Splits do not have to be equal, subject to negotiation.
Related Reading: Resolving Disputes
If splits aren't agreed on early, or someone changes their mind later, this can lead to songwriters or music publishers raising a dispute over rights and royalty shares. Read our topic on Resolving Disputes to learn more.
Image credit: Martin Fabricius Rasmussen