Working solo as a A person who makes an original contribution to the creation of a musical composition or lyrics. involves writing the music or The words written to be performed by singers, rappers, and other vocalists. of a An original musical composition with or without lyrics., or both, without any A creative contribution to a musical work that is sufficiently distinct from any pre-existing musical work contributions from other songwriters.
While working solo means you need to be capable in and inspired for multiple songwriting roles - also being the only songwriter means you are the sole owner of that musical work and can make Submitting information relating to musical works and sound recordings to an appropriate registration body, for example, copyright ownership information submitted to a Collective Management Organization or copyright office. your musical work with a Collective Management Organization: An organization that acts collectively on behalf of the rights holders it represents and collects and pays remuneration to rights holders. simpler.
Copyright ownership when working solo
If you are the only one who has made an original contribution to the musical work, you are the only under National laws that protect creators' and other rights holders' moral and economic rights in musical works, performances, and sound recordings., and thus the sole A person or company that has Intellectual Property Rights in a musical work, performance or sound recording. You will own all the The controls creators or rights holders have over what they have created or produced and over their identity and image. automatically. You will receive 100% of the earnings whenever the musical work is used.
However, if you eventually sign with a A company that represents songwriters, supporting their career development, monetizing musical works, and protecting copyrights. , you may contractually agree on a Also sometimes referred to as shares, the portion of ownership a rights holder has or the portion of income they are entitled to. of the rights and royalties with them.
More information can be found on the Songwriter Splits page.
Image credit: Nils Emil Nylander