Publishing Royalties

The two types under the umbrella

• Performance royalties: when the song is performed publicly (radio, TV, venues, streaming), collected by PROs like ASCAP and BMI.
• Mechanical royalties: when the song is reproduced (every stream and download), collected in the US by The MLC.

Writer's share vs. publisher's share

Each publishing royalty also splits another way: into a writer's share (the songwriters') and a publisher's share, roughly half each. If you have no publisher, you keep both halves; if you do, the publisher collects its share. The two splits stack: a stream's performance royalty and its mechanical royalty are each divided into writer and publisher shares. Because each is tracked as a 100% writer's share plus a 100% publisher's share, composition income is often described as adding up to 200%.

Why it's the most-missed money

Collecting publishing globally means registering with PROs, mechanical-rights organizations, and collection societies in every territory, far more moving parts than the recording side. That fragmentation is why publishing is the half most often left unclaimed.

How Notes handles it

Notes acts as your publishing administrator, registering and collecting both halves worldwide, without taking ownership of your songs and without a percentage cut. Run a free royalty review to see what your compositions are owed.