There is no single signup that collects everything. Your money travels in separate lanes — composition performance, streaming mechanicals, worldwide publishing, the master recording, and the legal record — and any lane you skip pays out to nobody. This is the full stack for a U.S. independent who writes, records, owns his masters, and licenses beats to other artists.
Compiled from the organisations' own sites, read 24 October 2026. Prices flagged ⚠️ where sources disagree — confirm in the signup flow before you pay.
The stack at a glance
Seven lanes. Miss one and that money sits unmatched — or goes nowhere at all.
Lane 1
Composition · Performance
One PRO only — ASCAP or BMI (SESAC/GMR are invite-only). Writer account plus the publisher side.
Lane 2
Composition · U.S. Mechanicals
The MLC (free) — claimed directly or through a publishing admin. Never both for the same song.
Lane 3
Composition · Worldwide
One publishing administrator (Songtrust, TuneCore Publishing, KOSIGN…) — or disciplined self-administration.
Lane 4
Recording · Digital Performance
SoundExchange (free) — register as both featured artist and master owner to capture 95% of the pot.
Lane 5
Recording · On-Demand Streams
One distributor — also your source of ISRC (per track) and UPC (per release).
Lane 6
The Legal Record
U.S. Copyright Office — Form PA for the song, Form SR for the recording.
Lane 7
Claims & Charts
Claim every platform profile, register titles with Luminate, and put your producer split in every beat licence.
0 / 0 handled
Tap the box on any card to mark it handled while you work through the list. Checks live in this session only — they reset when the page closes.
A · Essential
Sign up or lose money
These are the royalty lanes themselves. Every week a lane stays unregistered, the money it should have caught is gone or frozen.
Collects public-performance royalties for the composition — radio, TV, streaming services, live venues, businesses — in the U.S., plus foreign performance via reciprocal societies. Pays the writer share and publisher share separately, 50/50.
Who
Songwriter (any writer with at least one work available to the public) plus a publisher membership if you haven't assigned your publishing away — that's what collects the publisher's share.
Cost
Writer: free. Writer + publisher in the same application: free (both fees waived). Publisher-only: $50 one-time, non-refundable.
Watch out: ⚠️ Older articles still quote a “$50 songwriter fee” — that's outdated; ASCAP's own current pages say free. The joint waiver is described as a temporary policy, so do writer + publisher together. Join as writer only and add publishing later, and the $50 applies. One PRO at a time as a writer (see A3).
The same lane as ASCAP: composition performance royalties, U.S. plus 200+ international societies. Largest U.S. PRO by roster; now for-profit (sold 2024). You pick ASCAP or BMI — not both.
Who
Songwriter/composer affiliate. Publisher affiliate is optional at BMI (see the note).
Cost
Songwriter: free, no annual dues. Publisher: $175 individual / $250 corporation or LLC / $500 partnership, one-time.
BMI quirk that changes the math: BMI's own FAQ says you do not need a publishing entity to receive publishing shares — “we pay all royalties (writer and publisher) to the composer on any self-published works.” ASCAP will not do that. A BMI publisher account is only needed to receive the two streams separately. Writer term is typically 2 years. ⚠️ Older sources quote $150/$250 publisher fees and even a $75 writer fee — BMI's current FAQ says free writer, $175/$250/$500 publisher.
The same composition-performance lane, run as boutique rosters — SESAC (~30k affiliates, strong in film/TV) and GMR (founded 2013 by Irving Azoff, ~80–100 A-list writers). Neither operates under the ASCAP/BMI consent decrees.
Who
Songwriter + publisher — by invitation only. SESAC: “invitation-only company… have your representative(s) (lawyer, manager, agent, etc.) contact us… SESAC does not accept unsolicited submissions.” GMR has no application route at all.
Cost
No open signup price. A SESAC publisher account is free if you work with a SESAC composer and keep the publisher share.
The one-PRO rule: a songwriter can belong to only one PRO at a time for his writer share. Co-writers on the same song may be in different PROs — each pays its own writer. You can hold publisher affiliations at more than one society. Switching means resigning and waiting out the term (ASCAP ~1 yr, BMI ~2 yrs). Practical call: pick ASCAP or BMI now; don't wait on SESAC/GMR.
A modern open PRO built for independents. Unusually, it also markets integrated mechanical + neighbouring-rights collection in the same platform.
Who
Songwriter / composer / publisher, worldwide.
Cost
Free, no recurring fees, 100% of copyright retained.
The honest read: a legitimate alternative to ASCAP/BMI, but far smaller and younger — most independents still default to ASCAP/BMI for depth of licensing and reciprocal deals. Either way, AllTrack still counts as your one PRO for performance.
Collects U.S. digital audio mechanical royalties — the mechanicals from interactive streaming and downloads (Spotify, Apple…) under the Music Modernization Act (2018) blanket licence, which The MLC exclusively administers for the streaming services. Pays monthly, 100% of royalties, funded by the DSPs.
Who
Self-administered songwriter / your publishing entity — anyone entitled to U.S. digital mechanicals who has not authorised a publisher, admin, or society to collect them.
Cost
Free — “There is no cost to become a Member of The MLC.” No commission.
Conflict warning: claim each work with The MLC either directly or through your publishing admin (A7) — duplicate registrations freeze payment. MLC membership does not replace a PRO, and recording artists as artists don't join The MLC (that's SoundExchange). It covers digital audio in the U.S. only — not physical, not sync, not foreign mechanicals — and it does not issue licences (covers are B4).
Collects digital performance royalties for the sound recording from non-interactive services only: Pandora (radio mode), SiriusXM, iHeartRadio, webcasters, cable/satellite music channels. It's the sole U.S. administrator of the §114 statutory licence. The split is set by law: 50% master owner / 45% featured artist(s) / 5% non-featured performers (that 5% goes to the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund, B5).
Who
Both roles: featured artist (45%) and rights owner/label (50%) — because you own your masters. Register in only one capacity and the other half is left behind. The featured-artist share is paid direct to the artist even if someone else owns the master.
Cost
Free to register, ever. Anyone charging to register you is reselling a free task. Its international collections programme charges a 7% admin rate.
Don't assume: distributors do not register you with SoundExchange. ISRC is the matching key — claim recordings with exact ISRCs and spellings or royalties sit unmatched. And don't hand a conflicting direct mandate for the same recordings/territories to a neighbouring-rights admin or PPL (C2).
Registers your works with PROs and mechanical societies in 200+ territories and collects the foreign performance, worldwide mechanical, and publisher's-share money your home PRO + The MLC don't reach. It does not replace your PRO — you still need ASCAP/BMI, and your writer's share of performance still comes direct from the PRO.
Who
Songwriter who owns/controls his publishing (self-published). Also the route for your producer share of songs other artists release from your beats, if those works are delivered to the admin.
⚠️ One admin per work/territory — the single biggest conflict in this checklist. Songtrust's own FAQ: if you use CD Baby publishing you cannot also use Songtrust for the same songs — same rule pairwise for TuneCore/Sentric/KOSIGN/BeatStars Publishing. A second admin, or self-registering at The MLC a work the admin administers, freezes royalties.
DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Ditto — pick one. It collects your master-side on-demand streaming/download revenue (interactive Spotify/Apple/Amazon/TikTok), delivers to YouTube/Content ID, and supplies an ISRC per track + UPC per release if you don't bring your own. This is a royalty lane in itself, separate from PRO/MLC/SoundExchange.
Who
Recording artist / master owner — your own label.
Cost
⚠️ 2026 comparisons disagree in detail: DistroKid from $24.99/yr unlimited, 0% streaming commission; TuneCore $24.99–$54.99/yr unlimited, 0%; CD Baby $9.99/single one-time + permanent 9% commission, album quoted at $14.99 / $19.99 / $29 / $29.95 in different sources — verify on the pricing page at signup.
One distributor per recording. Delivering the same master through two duplicates Content ID claims, splits play counts, and can trigger takedowns. Subscription distributors take music down if you stop paying (unless a legacy/perpetuity add-on); CD Baby releases stay up. Switching distributors? Keep the original ISRC — enter it manually or you split the recording's history.
Not a royalty collector — the legal record. Form PA (now “Performing Arts” in eCO) covers the composition; Form SR covers the master. Own both? One Standard Application can claim PA + SR together. Registration filed before infringement (or within 3 months of publication) unlocks statutory damages + attorney's fees and is prima-facie evidence of ownership. Copyright exists from the moment you fix the work — registration is what makes it enforceable at full value.
Who
Songwriter (PA) and master owner (SR) — you, in both capacities. The claimant must match ownership and splits.
Cost
Current official schedule: Single Application $45 (one work, one author, same claimant); Standard Application $65 online; paper PA/SR $125; Group Registration of Unpublished Works $85 (up to 10 unpublished works, same authors); group registration of works published on an album $65 (up to 20 works or recordings first published together).
⚠️ Proposed fee rise, reported for November 2026: Single $55, Standard $85, GRUW $130, album groups $85/$130. It was a proposal and is not in the current official fee page — file before, or re-check copyright.gov. And remember: a PRO/MLC/distributor registration is not a copyright registration. Registering only the SR leaves the composition unprotected against covers and interpolations — and vice-versa.
The ISRC is the permanent fingerprint of a specific recording — DSPs, SoundExchange, Luminate, and neighbouring societies all match money by it. Every version gets its own ISRC: clean, instrumental, remix, remaster — even the beat itself if released. Never reuse one.
Who
Master owner / label. Free through your distributor (A8), or self-assigned.
Cost
Free through a distributor. Your own registrant prefix from the U.S. ISRC Agency (RIAA): $95 one-time per multiple 2026 sources (confirm at checkout), then unlimited self-assigned codes.
The classic own-goal: letting a new distributor auto-generate a fresh ISRC for an existing recording. Duplicate ISRCs split streams and royalties. Owning your own prefix is optional, but it makes switching distributors cleaner.
The accounts above pay nothing on unregistered works. For each song: exact title, legal writer names (not stage names alone), each writer's IPI/CAE number, publisher name/IPI — and splits totalling exactly 100%. Get splits in writing (a split sheet) at creation; mismatched splits are the most-cited cause of frozen royalties. Play live? Report your sets (ASCAP OnStage / BMI Live) to collect live performance royalties.
Who
Songwriter + your publishing entity. Co-writers each register through their own PRO.
Cost
Free — part of your PRO and MLC memberships.
About ISWC: you don't apply for one separately. ASCAP explains ISWCs are assigned by CISAC only after a work is registered with a PRO, and only once all writers have IPIs — you can't request one from CISAC directly. And for beat sales: if the buying artist registers the song 100% to himself, your PRO/MLC share is gone unless the licence (B3) required the split and you verify the registration.
No registrations match that filter in this section.
A7 · Publishing Administration
Pick ONE per song
An admin registers your works with societies in 200+ territories and collects the foreign performance, worldwide mechanical, and publisher's-share money your PRO + The MLC don't reach. It does not replace your PRO — your writer's share of performance is still paid directly by ASCAP/BMI. Signing two admins for the same songs — or self-claiming at The MLC a work your admin already handles — creates conflicting claims and frozen royalties. This is the single biggest conflict in the whole checklist.
$100 one-time per songwriter · 15% of performance royalties, 20% of non-performance (worldwide mechanical)
The default open-to-all worldwide admin. Registers works in 215 territories; 1-year term for songs delivered in the first 365 days plus a 1-year post-term collection window. You keep 100% of copyright. Now a Virgin Music Group company (Downtown/Virgin/UMG roll-up). Expect slow first money — its FAQ puts full global registration at ~9–12 months.
$75 one-time per writer · 20% commission · 50% on sync if opted in
Collects the publisher's share only — writer's share still comes direct from your PRO (TuneCore states this explicitly). Cancel after 1 year. Backend is powered by Sentric. Convenient if TuneCore is already your distributor, but distribution and publishing are separate contracts.
⚠️ Price disagreement: TuneCore's own pages have shown both 20% (support page + main publishing page) and 15% (a staging page and some press copy). Budget on 20% and confirm in the signup flow.
No signup fee · 20% commission (50% sync) · 28-day rolling term
The most flexible exit in the group, with direct collection from most societies. UK-based and now primarily B2B — it runs TuneCore Publishing's backend and told Ari's Take it prefers U.S. songwriters to sign up via TuneCore; direct signup was still open as of that comparison. Best if a short commitment matters more than the extra 5% versus Songtrust.
Application-based · flat 20% on all income types (80/20 to writer) · rolling term
The premium tier between DIY admins and a full Kobalt deal: Kobalt/AMRA infrastructure, direct DSP collection, quarterly payment, song-by-song delivery, non-exclusive sync, and you can move your catalog immediately after termination. Selective — expect an answer in ~2 business days. (Traditional Kobalt admin is not self-serve: it's for established writers, historically ~15% with copyright retained, terms negotiated. AMRA is Kobalt's own global digital collection society for its clients.)
⚠️ Fee disagreement: launch coverage (Music Ally, Feb 2025) reported a $100 setup fee; KOSIGN's current live site says “NO FEE TO JOIN: Yes.” Treat signup as currently $0 and confirm on application.
For the producer side · pricing not verified on an official page — check in-account
BeatStars' publishing admin (launched with Sony Music Publishing) is open to BeatStars songwriters/producers to register songs and collect publishing worldwide. Only for works delivered to it — enrolling the same songs here and in Songtrust/TuneCore is the A7 conflict.
CD Baby Pro Publishing — ⚠️ NO LONGER SOLD
Discontinued for new releases 8 Aug 2023
Legacy Pro (pre-Aug 2023 releases only) was 15% publishing admin. Its replacement, CDB Boost ($39.99 one-time per single/album), is not worldwide publishing administration: it registers the release with The MLC + SoundExchange and adds it to CD Baby's sync programme. Use Boost for a release and a real admin for the same songs and you'll get conflicting MLC claims — choose one route per release. CD Baby remains Downtown-owned; Songtrust is a sister company.
The self-admin alternative: an admin is a convenience and coverage purchase, not a legal requirement. A disciplined writer can self-administer — PRO + The MLC direct + foreign societies via PRO reciprocals — and keep the 15–20%, at the cost of far slower and less complete foreign mechanical collection. Most admin deals run 1-year initial terms plus post-term collection windows.
B · Important
Claim & set up
Mostly free, mostly quick — but several are time-sensitive. Playlist pitching dies on release day, and unclaimed profiles let wrong metadata harden into place.
B1 · Claim
Spotify for Artists
FreeClaim before release
Claim and verify your profile: analytics, bio/photos, Canvas, audience data — and the ability to pitch unreleased songs to editorial playlists (at least 7 days before release).
Who
Primary recording artist, via distributor link or direct claim.
Time-sensitive: pitching is impossible after release day for that track — claim before the first release drops.
Where the beat-licensing business runs: storefront, instant non-exclusive (lease) / unlimited / exclusive licences, collaborator splits, Beat ID. Default BeatStars templates typically give the producer 50% of the writer's share / publishing on the resulting song and require the buyer to credit and register you — customise, don't accept defaults blindly: set stream/distribution caps, term (leases often ~10 yrs), video/radio rights, and whether Content ID is allowed.
Who
Producer/seller (you); the buying artist is licensee. You keep copyright in the beat unless an exclusive contract expressly transfers it — an “exclusive” sale normally only stops further licensing; it doesn't erase your PRO royalties if the contract preserves them.
Cost
Marketplace plans from free to paid subscriptions; secondary sources report free-plan sellers keep ~70% of sales, Pro/Unlimited keep 100% — ⚠️ verify the current plan cut in-account.
Two traps: a non-exclusive beat must never be put into exclusive Content ID by any one buyer — it will claim every other licensee (and you). And every licensed beat that becomes a song must be registered with the PRO/MLC with your split and IPI — verify it yourself, don't leave it to the buyer. Samples inside a beat are your warranty problem unless the licence discloses or shifts them.
Two hats. As a publisher, HFA (owned by SESAC) can administer mechanical licensing for physical, downloads, and other uses outside The MLC's digital-audio blanket. As a licensee, Songfile is the small-batch way to get a compulsory mechanical licence for a cover song — per-song processing fee ~$14–16 in guides, plus the statutory royalty (9.1¢/unit for songs ≤5 min, physical/downloads).
Who
Publishers (usually via a publisher/admin rather than direct for a solo indie); anyone releasing a cover on physical or download.
Key distinction: The MLC does not issue cover licences. Streaming covers are usually handled by the DSP/distributor's licensing, but physical/download covers need HFA/publisher permission before release. Most self-releasing writers of original songs do not need a direct HFA account in 2026.
The AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund pays the 5% non-featured share of SoundExchange royalties — session musicians and background vocalists — plus certain foreign money.
Who
Non-featured performers. Relevant if you play or sing uncredited parts on other people's records — including your own productions for other artists. Check its unclaimed/covered-recordings lists. Featured artists don't get this share via SoundExchange directly.
You generally don't “join” proactively — the Fund finds performers from credits and contracts. Accurate liner/DSP credits for every session role are what make this money findable.
The Official Artist Channel merges your channel, the auto-generated Topic channel, and your releases into one — music note, discography, Analytics for Artists, merch/ticketing. Content ID (delivered by your distributor, or by a publishing admin for the composition) monetises other people's uploads that use your audio. There's no direct form — it comes through the distributor.
Who
Recording artist with at least one official release delivered by a distributor/label partner; channel dedicated to a single artist, no policy violations. Extra conditions vary by distributor (e.g. TuneCore requires a paid Unlimited plan + 50 subscribers).
Only ONE party should deliver a given recording to Content ID. Distributor Content ID (recording) + admin Content ID (composition) + a beat buyer's Content ID on the same audio = overlapping claims and withheld revenue. Content ID add-ons can carry a cut (~20% of that revenue for DistroKid's in 2026 comparisons). Whitelist your own channel — and never Content-ID a non-exclusively licensed beat (B3).
Artist tag, a Music Tab pinning your catalog to your profile, analytics, pre-release tools. Your music must already be in TikTok's library (via distributor), with proof like Spotify for Artists/distributor dashboard screenshots. Review takes ~30 days; no follower minimum.
Who
Recording artist.
Apply from the mobile app — TikTok Studio → Artist Hub. The flow doesn't work on desktop, and rollout is region-limited.
Claim the auto-generated profile: photo/socials, direct uploads, Creator Dashboard, playlisting notifications, Audiomack monetisation if eligible. Claims go by DM to @audiomackartist on Instagram — from an official account matching the artist name, with profile link, distributor, and email.
Who
Artist.
Verification (the orange check) is a separate process — claim requests that ask for verification are ignored.
Direct-upload community for early demos and beats, plus the SoundCloud for Artists dashboard. There's no separate profile to claim — it's the same login; distributor-delivered tracks land on an auto profile that must be merged with your own.
Cost
Basic free (upload limits); paid Artist/Artist Pro plans add distribution + monetisation (U.S. Artist plan cited at $39/yr billed yearly in a 2026 guide — verify in-account).
Don't let SoundCloud be the only home of a finished song — it doesn't substitute for a distributor release. Monetisation requires opting tracks in and clear rights; samples/remixes get blocked.
The consumption database behind the Billboard charts (formerly Nielsen SoundScan / MRC Data). Register recordings by ISRC and products (albums/singles/EPs) by ICPN (UPC/EAN) so sales and streams are tracked and grouped to the right artist and title. Luminate states songs must be registered at Recording level and albums at Product level; allow ~3 business days for manual registration. Much metadata also arrives automatically from DSPs/distributors.
Who
Artist / label / distributor — whoever controls the metadata.
No ISRC/UPC = no registration = invisible to charts, however well a release sells. (Billboard, not Luminate, makes final chart/genre eligibility decisions.) Register before release week, with titles and ISRCs identical to the distributor delivery. Paid CONNECT analytics subscriptions are a separate B2B product you don't need.
Puts your compositions and masters in front of TV/film/ad/game music supervisors — via your distributor or admin (CD Baby sync programme, TuneCore Sync opt-in, Sentric/Songtrust sync pitching, standalone libraries). A placement pays a negotiated sync fee (split per the programme — e.g. TuneCore Publishing sync 50%, CD Baby sync historically up to 40%) plus PRO backend performance royalties from the broadcast — which is why cue-sheet accuracy and PRO registration matter.
Who
Songwriter + master owner. You can offer “one-stop” — both sides cleared by one person — a real advantage as an indie.
Read the exclusivity: some libraries demand exclusive sync representation for delivered songs — that conflicts with pitching the same songs elsewhere or with an admin that also claims sync rights. Non-exclusive, one-stop, with instrumental + clean versions delivered, is the flexible default.
B14 · Secondary DSPs
TIDAL, Deezer & the Rest
Free
TIDAL for Artists, Deezer for Creators, and similar claims follow the same pattern as Spotify/Apple: profile control plus analytics on the secondary DSPs.
Who
Primary artist.
Lower priority than Spotify/Apple/Amazon/YouTube/TikTok — but the claims are quick and stop wrong-artist metadata from hardening.
No registrations match that filter in this section.
C · Optional / Situational
When the situation calls for it
No royalty depends on these. They matter when the name starts earning, foreign airplay gets real, or you're pressing physical product.
Federal registration of your stage name and/or logo — recordings (Class 9), entertainment/live services (Class 41), merch (Class 25). Gives nationwide rights, the ® symbol, presumption of ownership, and platform brand-protection leverage. Do it when the name is earning, tour/merch income is real, or a same-name artist appears. Search TESS first — a name already used by another artist in music isn't clearable just by filing.
Cost
$350 per class base electronic application (since Jan 2025 — old $250 TEAS Plus quotes are outdated), +$100/class insufficient information, +$200/class free-form ID, Statement of Use $150/class. Realistic total: $350–$1,050 in USPTO fees for 1–3 classes DIY, ~$650–$2,500 with an attorney.
Copyright does not protect names — trademark is the only route, and vice-versa (a trademark filing is not a copyright registration). Filing doesn't guarantee registration; budget for a possible office-action response.
Outside the U.S., recordings earn neighbouring-rights money for broadcast and public performance (radio, TV, shops) — a right the U.S. largely doesn't have for terrestrial radio (U.S. radio pays songwriters only, not performers). Routes, simplest first: (1) SoundExchange's international mandate — one opt-in, 100+ agreements across 77 societies, 55+ markets, 93% of the global market, monthly payment, 7% admin; (2) direct PPL membership (UK) — free to join, collects UK + worldwide via reciprocals, worth it if UK airplay is significant; (3) a neighbouring-rights admin for heavy foreign play. Your U.S. PRO's reciprocals separately handle the composition side abroad — no foreign PRO membership needed for that.
Cost
PPL: free to join (admin deducted from distributions). SoundExchange international: 7% admin. Admins: negotiated %.
⚠️ Pick ONE collector per right per territory. A worldwide SoundExchange mandate plus a worldwide PPL registration for the same recordings = duplicate claims and conflicts. Going direct with PPL? Carve that mandate out of any SoundExchange/admin instruction — and vice-versa. Eligibility rules (e.g. Rome Convention) can limit what a U.S. performer collects in some territories.
Canada's PRO, for Canadian composers and publishers. A U.S.-based writer does not join SOCAN — Canadian performances of your songs are collected by SOCAN and paid through your U.S. PRO under reciprocal agreements (Canadians, in turn, must nominate ASCAP or BMI as their U.S. representation).
Joining SOCAN as a second PRO would violate the one-PRO principle and split your writer affiliation. Relevant only if you relocate to Canada — or as the society you should expect statements via, not sign up with. Same logic for PRS (UK), APRA (AU), GEMA (DE), and the rest.
The situational upgrade from A10: your own registrant prefix from the U.S. ISRC Agency. Fits high-volume releasers and anyone acting as a label for other artists — including selling beats with delivery.
The trade-off: you become responsible for your own numbering log — a duplicated code is worse than a distributor-assigned one.
Nielsen's B2B music metadata/recognition database (CD identification, MusicID). Only relevant if you press CDs or vinyl and want players and cars to display correct titles — normally submitted free via the disc manufacturer, or as a small add-on (~$18–$28 via pressing plants in guides).
Do not pay third-party “Gracenote registration” upsells expecting royalties or streaming benefits — for digital-only releases it's irrelevant.
Not a royalty registration — but an LLC/publishing company name, an EIN, and a business bank account make PRO publisher affiliation, MLC membership, admin contracts, and trademark ownership cleaner, and are effectively required to use the company publisher tiers (e.g. BMI's $250 LLC tier).
Pick one publishing name and use it everywhere. The PRO publisher name must be unique in that PRO's database and should match the entity on your MLC, admin, and copyright paperwork. (Not legal or tax advice.)
No registrations match that filter in this section.
Commonly Missed
Where the money leaks
The seven failure modes the sources flag again and again — every one of them silent, every one of them preventable.
Publisher share left unclaimed. Writer-only PRO affiliation (ASCAP), no MLC claim, no admin — roughly half the composition money has nowhere to go.
SoundExchange registered in only one role. Featured or owner, not both — the other half of the §114 pot stays behind (A6).
Works registered late, or with wrong legal names and splits. PRO, MLC, and admin registrations must match each other, the split sheet, and the distributor metadata (A11).
Beat sales with no paper trail into royalties. The licence says nothing about PRO splits, the buyer registers the song 100% to himself, and the producer earns only the upfront fee (B3).
Assuming the distributor “does publishing.” Distribution ≠ publishing — and as of 2026 CD Baby doesn't even sell publishing administration anymore.
The free, time-sensitive stuff. No live-set reporting (ASCAP OnStage / BMI Live), no Luminate registration before a push (B12), and no copyright filing within 3 months of release (A9).
Verify Before You Pay
Open questions from the research
These figures could not be pinned to a single authoritative source — treat them as confirm-at-checkout items, not gospel:
Copyright fee rise timing: the November 2026 increase was reported as proposed (Single $55 / Standard $85 / GRUW $130); the official copyright.gov fee page still lists $45/$65/$85/$65. Whether the final rule took effect as proposed couldn't be confirmed — re-check before filing in or after Nov 2026.
TuneCore Publishing 15% vs 20%: its own pages conflict; the support-page figure (20%) is used here. Confirm in the live signup flow.
KOSIGN setup fee: $100 at launch (Feb 2025 press) vs “no fee to join” on its current live site — the live site is used here.
CD Baby album distribution price: $14.99 / $19.99 / $29 / $29.95 all appear in 2026 sources; the single price ($9.99) and 9% commission are consistent.
BeatStars plan cuts, BeatStars Publishing pricing, HFA direct publisher pricing, Sentric direct-signup availability: no authoritative current price page was found — all are presented as ranges or secondary-source reports. Confirm in-account.
GMR/SESAC writer fees: no public fee schedule exists (invite-only); SESAC's publisher account being free comes from SESAC's own FAQ.