REGISTER
A SONG

This is written for independent artists in the US: you own your songs and your recordings, or you release through a distributor instead of a label. If you're signed, your label or publisher handles much of this, and your contract decides who does what.

Every song has two copyrights, and each one gets paid through different places:

• The composition (the song: melody and lyrics). Owned by the writers and their publishers.
• The sound recording (the master: this specific recording). Owned by whoever paid for it, often the artist or a label.

Every registration below asks for the same facts: titles, writers, splits, IDs. If they don't match from one place to the next, the money gets stuck. So the first two steps are about getting those facts right once.

Figures in this guide are as of 2026. Rates and fees change, so check each site before you rely on a number.

A split sheet is a one-page agreement listing everyone who wrote the song. For each writer:

• Legal name and the name they write under
• Their percentage of the song (all writers add up to 100%)
• Their PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR or a foreign society)
• Their IPI number, the ID their PRO gives each writer
• Their publisher, if they have one, and the publisher's IPI

Everyone signs and dates it, and everyone gets a copy.

Three codes match money to the right copyright. Know which one comes from where:

ISRC   one recording (the master)      usually from your distributor
ISWC   the song (the composition)      from your PRO when you register it
UPC    the release (single, EP, album) usually from your distributor
IPI    each writer and publisher       from your PRO when you join

Distributors handle the recording side. They don't register your song with a PRO, so the ISWC is on you or your publisher. Put the ISRC on every song registration that has a field for it. That's what lets the two sides find each other.

• What it collects: your share of streams and downloads of the recording.
• What you get: ISRCs for each track and a UPC for the release.
• When: upload a few weeks before release day so you have the codes for everything below, and time for pre-saves and pitching.
• Fill in every credit field (writers, producers, featured artists). It feeds the credits on streaming apps.

Many distributors also offer YouTube Content ID and lyrics delivery as add-ons. Note which ones you turned on so you don't double-register later (step 09).

• Which one: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC (invite only) or GMR (invite only) in the US. You can only be a writer member of one at a time.
• What it collects: performance royalties when the song is played on radio, TV, in venues and on streaming services.
• Register as a writer. If you don't have a publisher, many writers also set up their own publishing entity at their PRO so the publisher share isn't left uncollected. Check your PRO's rules on this.
• Register each song with every writer, their splits and IPIs, and the ISRC. This is where the ISWC comes from.

Live shows: PROs also pay for songs performed live. BMI calls it BMI Live and ASCAP calls it OnStage. You submit your set lists after the show, so add it to your post-gig routine.

• What it collects: US mechanical royalties from streaming and downloads, the royalty for copying the song onto a stream or download.
• Cost: free for self-administered songwriters.
• Your PRO does not collect these. Neither does your distributor. This is the third door, and it's the one people miss.
• Register each song and connect the recording (ISRC) so streams match to it.

In one 2026 payout, The MLC matched a little over 83% of what services reported. The rest waits for someone to claim it. Starting in April 2027, The MLC plans to pay out remaining unclaimed royalties to rightsholders by market share, so most of that money goes to the biggest catalogs.

• Physical copies and downloads made by others: the US statutory rate is 13.1¢ per song per copy in 2026 (more for songs over five minutes).
• Mechanicals earned outside the US: collected by local societies in each country.

Both are hard to reach on your own. They're usually collected through a publisher or a publishing administrator (step 10).

• What it collects: digital performance royalties for the recording from internet and satellite radio, like Pandora and SiriusXM.
• Register as the featured artist. If you own your masters, also register as the rights owner. They're separate shares.
• Do it once. New releases follow from there, as long as your ISRCs match.
• Session players and backup singers get a share too, through a fund, so tell the musicians on your records.

• What it pays: nothing directly. But in the US you need a registration to sue for infringement.
• When: within three months of release, so statutory damages and legal fees stay available if someone copies it.
• What to register: the composition and the sound recording are separate works. If you own both, one sound recording application can cover both when the same people own them.
• Fees (as of 2026): $45 for a single application (one author, one work), $65 for a standard application. An increase was proposed in 2026, so check copyright.gov before you file.

• Content ID: earns ad money when other people's YouTube videos use your music. The recording side usually goes through your distributor, the song side through a publisher or admin. Only one party should claim each side, or claims conflict.
• Lyrics: Musixmatch and LyricFind license lyrics to streaming apps and search engines and pay publishers, who pay songwriters. Some distributors and admins submit lyrics for you.

You can do the US side yourself: a PRO account, a free MLC membership and SoundExchange cover most of it. What's hard to reach alone:

• Mechanicals and publisher money from other countries
• Physical mechanicals and sync paperwork
• Keeping hundreds of registrations correct as your catalog grows

A publishing administrator registers your songs worldwide and collects for a commission, and you keep ownership of the songs. Whether it pays for itself depends on how much your songs earn beyond what you can collect yourself. It's the route I take for my own songs.

Read the term, the commission, and what happens to money collected after you leave before you sign. If anything is unclear, pay a music lawyer for an hour.

[ ] 1  Split sheet signed        when the song is done, before mastering
[ ] 2  Distributor               upload, get ISRCs + UPC, weeks before release
[ ] 3  PRO                       register song: writers, splits, IPIs, ISRC
[ ] 4  The MLC (or your admin)   register song, connect the recording
[ ] 5  SoundExchange             once as artist + rights owner, then automatic
[ ] 6  US Copyright Office       within 3 months of release
[ ] 7  Content ID + lyrics       via distributor, admin or lyrics services
[ ] 8  Live shows                submit set lists to your PRO after each gig

Check for money already waiting

Search your name and song titles in The MLC's public search, your PRO's repertory search, and SoundExchange's unclaimed search. If a song you wrote shows up with missing writers or no ISWC, or doesn't show up at all, that's money that isn't finding you. Fix the registration, and the next payouts follow.