Notes · Composition side
Publishing Royalties
Publishing royalties are the songwriting pool: performance royalties through your PRO and mechanical royalties through The MLC in the US. Notes administers that side with a flat subscription and no royalty cut.
Publishing royalties are everything the composition earns — the song side of the money, paid to songwriters and publishers. They combine performance royalties (public performance, collected by performing rights organizations) and mechanical royalties (reproduction, including interactive streams, administered in the US by The MLC).
Best for Notes. Songwriters and publishers who want the composition side collected alongside distribution, without assigning copyright.
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How Notes collects this
Notes publishing administration registers compositions with PROs, The MLC, and societies worldwide, then reconciles publishing royalties into the same account as recording royalties. It does not acquire copyright and does not take a percentage. Notes does not recommend one PRO over another.
The two pools
Where this sits on the royalty ring
- Distribution
- Broadcast
- Publishing
- Performance
Each arc is a /learn royalty type. The ring is the same chart as the glossary hub.
By platform type
Which royalties a play can earn
| Platform type | Recording | Mechanical | Performance | Neighboring | Sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive streaming (Spotify, Apple Music) | ● | ● | ● | — | — |
| Non-interactive radio (Pandora, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio) | ● | — | ● | ● | — |
| Download / DJ stores (Bandcamp, Beatport) | ● | ● | — | — | — |
| Short-form & social (TikTok, Meta, Snap) | ● | ● | ● | — | ● |
| Fitness, sync & background (Peloton) | ● | — | ● | — | ● |
| Karaoke & sing-along (Singa, WeSing) | — | ● | ● | — | ● |
Interactive streaming (Spotify, Apple Music) pays recording, mechanical, and performance royalties, not neighboring rights, which come from non-interactive radio via SoundExchange. Karaoke also generates a print (lyric) royalty not shown above. ROXi-style on-demand music-video and karaoke TV is audiovisual, so it leans on sync and master-use licensing rather than the statutory mechanical.
Questions
FAQ
- What are publishing royalties?
- Publishing royalties are the composition's earnings: performance royalties collected by performing rights organizations, plus mechanical royalties collected in the US by The MLC.
- Are publishing royalties the same as recording royalties?
- No. They are separate 100% pools. Recording royalties pay the master. Publishing royalties pay the song. One play can earn both.
- Does Notes take a cut of publishing royalties?
- No. Notes is a flat subscription. It does not take a percentage of songwriting or recording royalties.
Built on the record
Sources
Notes is an independent music distribution and publishing administration service. Named platforms and collection societies are independent organizations. This page is not affiliated with, authorized by, or sponsored by them. Apple and Apple Music are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Spotify, YouTube, The MLC, Harry Fox Agency, SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI, and other named platforms and societies are trademarks of their respective owners. Notes is not affiliated with, authorized by, or sponsored by them.