How much are you
leaving uncollected?

When you write a song, you own two things: the master recording (the actual audio file) and the underlying composition (the melody and lyrics). Publishing royalties are payments made to the owner of the composition - that is you, if you wrote it.

Every time your composition is streamed, broadcast, or performed publicly, it generates publishing income. This income is split into two distinct royalty types: performance royalties and mechanical royalties. Both are legally owed to you. Both require separate registration to collect.

Performance royalties are generated when your song is publicly performed - this includes radio play, live performances, and streaming. These are collected by Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC in the US. To collect them, you need to register as a songwriter member and register each of your songs.

Mechanical royalties are generated when your composition is reproduced - including every single stream on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. In the US, these are collected by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and require a completely separate registration from your PRO. In the UK they are administered by MCPS, and in Canada by CMRRA - each requiring their own registration or an admin deal that covers them.

The most common mistake independent artists make: registering with a PRO and assuming they are covered. PRO registration does not collect your mechanical royalties. These are two entirely separate income streams.

Publishing royalties are calculated on a per-stream basis. The industry average rates are approximately $0.00049 per stream for performance royalties and $0.00059 per stream for mechanical royalties - meaning every stream generates roughly $0.00108 in total publishing income.

While that may sound small, it adds up quickly at scale. An artist with 5 million total streams has generated approximately $5,400 in publishing royalties. If they only registered with a PRO, roughly half of that - around $2,950 in mechanical royalties - is sitting uncollected. Our music publishing royalty calculator above shows you exactly what your stream count translates to.

A publishing administration deal (or pub admin deal) is an agreement where a publishing administrator registers your songs, collects royalties on your behalf worldwide, and passes the income to you - typically in exchange for a small commission, usually 10–20%.

Unlike a traditional publishing deal, an admin deal does not require you to sign over any ownership of your copyrights. You retain 100% of your publishing rights. The administrator simply handles the administrative work of registration, licensing, and global collection that would otherwise require you to maintain memberships and registrations across dozens of organizations worldwide.

For independent artists generating royalties across multiple territories, a publishing admin deal is often the most efficient way to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

When your music streams in the UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, or any other territory, local collection societies generate publishing royalties on your behalf. But those societies can only pay you if they know who you are and where to send the money.

Without a sub-publishing agreement or an admin deal that covers international collection, those royalties sit in the system for a holding period - and if unclaimed, are redistributed to other rights holders. International royalties represent a significant portion of total publishing income, particularly for artists whose music travels beyond their home market.