Useful Information

Music Publishing

When you record and release a musical composition, there are two types of copyright contained within it; the actual composition and the sound recording. It’s the role of the publisher to deal with the copyright within your composition.  

The copyright in each composition generates royalties. These royalties are made up of two types; Performance and Mechanical. Performance royalties are earned when a composition is broadcast or performed publicly.
Mechanical royalties are earned on a ‘per-unit’ basis when a composition is sold on a physical medium (i.e. vinyl or physical CD) or as a digital download and on internet streaming.

Performance royalties from collection societies are divided into two categories; a ‘writer’s share’ and ‘publisher’s share’. These are normally split equally as writer’s share (50%) and publisher’s share (50%). They are two separate revenue streams that collection societies keep separate and account for separately..

The process of royalty collection is managed by a series of collection societies – based all around the world. Writers would normally be affiliated to one of the major collection societies. To become affiliated, certain qualifying criteria needs to be met. In a similar way, Publishing companies have direct affiliations with multiple societies.