Note that the described here are specific to and not . You can find more information about sound recording splits in the Recording topic.
A split is each songwriter's share of the ownership and, therefore, the and of the . This is described in more detail on the Songwriter Splits page.
Under a typical , depending on the terms of the deal and which country's laws apply to the deal, a songwriter engages a to manage the 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 , 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 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 and 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 .
‘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 , the songwriter is , 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