Rights & Services
Distribution vs. Publishing
Distribution gets your recording onto platforms and collects recording royalties; publishing covers the song itself and collects performance and mechanical royalties. You need both to get paid in full.
Distribution and publishing are two different jobs for the two different copyrights in every song — and confusing them is how artists end up collecting only half of what they earn.
What each one does
Distribution handles the recording (the master): it delivers your track to Spotify, Apple Music, and 50+ stores and collects the recording royalties those plays generate. Publishing administration handles the composition (the song itself): it registers your work and collects performance and mechanical royalties through PROs and The MLC.
You need both
A distributor on its own collects only the recording side. The composition royalties a stream also generates sit uncollected unless someone registers and administers the song — which is why many distributors sell publishing as a separate paid add-on. Notes pairs distribution and publishing collection together, so every royalty a single stream earns is accounted for in one place.
Why a bolted-on add-on leaks money
Bolting publishing on after the fact isn't the same as building it in. A separate add-on often never sees your release data — the credits, splits, and identifiers entered when you distribute — so the registration gaps that strand money never close, and royalties pile up unclaimed. The same credits and splits feeding both delivery and registration is what actually gets every dollar matched to you.
Good to know
Distribution vs. Publishing: common questions
- Do I need both distribution and publishing?
- Yes. Distribution collects the recording side; publishing administration collects the composition side (performance and mechanical). With only distribution, the publishing royalties your music earns go uncollected.
- Does my distributor collect publishing royalties?
- Usually only if you add a separate publishing-admin service. Distribution on its own covers the recording. Notes handles both sides together.
- What's the difference between a distributor and a publisher?
- A distributor delivers and monetizes your recording; a publisher (or publishing administrator) registers and collects royalties for the underlying song. They cover different copyrights.
- Isn't a publishing add-on enough?
- Not reliably. A bolted-on add-on usually registers your songs separately from where your release, credits, and splits live, so the same data gaps that strand royalties remain — which is a big reason so much money sits unclaimed. An integrated system carries the same data into registration and collection, so far less leaks.