Music publishing deals explained: types, splits and what to check
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What a music publisher does, how full, co-publishing and admin deals split your income, and the clauses to check before you sign. Based on ASCAP, BMI and MLC rules.
A music publishing deal is a contract in which you, the songwriter, transfer or license rights in your compositions (the words and music, not the recording) to a publisher. In return, the publisher registers your songs, collects their royalties around the world, pitches them for covers and sync, and may pay you an advance. There are three main types. In a full publishing deal, the publisher owns the publishing side. In a co-publishing deal, you keep part of it. In an administration deal, you keep ownership and pay a commission for registration and collection. Before you sign, check the term, the retention period, the territory, which songs are included, how the advance is recouped and when the songs come back to you. This guide follows official sources checked on September 28, 2026. It isn’t legal advice: have a music lawyer read any contract before you sign it.
| Deal | Who owns the copyright | What the publisher does | A good fit when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full publishing | The publisher, for the deal’s term and retention period or longer | Registers, collects, pitches, licenses, often pays an advance | You want an active partner and an advance, and accept giving up the publisher’s share |
| Co-publishing | You and the publisher, in the shares the contract sets | The same, while you keep part of the publisher’s share | You have some leverage: cuts, placements, an audience |
| Administration | You | Registers and collects for a commission; little or no pitching | You already place your songs and need the paperwork done worldwide |
What a music publisher actually does
Every recorded song has two copyrights. The recording (the master) belongs to whoever paid for it, and your distributor pays you for its streams. The publisher works with the other one, the composition:
- Registration. Each song and its splits go to the performing rights organizations (PROs), The MLC and, through sub-publishers, societies abroad.
- Collection. It collects the publisher’s share of performance royalties plus mechanical, sync and print income, and pays you your part.
- Pitching. A creative team offers your songs to artists, producers and music supervisors, and sets up co-writes.
- Licensing. It negotiates sync licenses and approves covers, translations and samples as the contract allows.
- Advances. Money up front, recouped later from your royalties.
A publisher isn’t a label, a distributor or a PRO. The guide to writing songs for other artists covers the pitch itself, and music sync licensing covers film, TV and ads.
Writer’s share and publisher’s share: what you never sign away
In the US, performance royalties come in two halves. ASCAP says that when it distributes royalties for a performance, 50% goes to the writers and 50% to the publishers. BMI counts a song as a single 200% unit: 100% for writers, 100% for publishers.
Your PRO pays the writer’s share to you, whatever deal you sign. BMI’s Royalty Policy Manual shows it with two co-writers: the one who signed with a publisher still registers a 50% writer share, and the publisher registers the publisher share it got from that writer. So a publishing deal moves the publisher’s share and, under most contracts, the mechanical, sync and print money that the publisher collects before paying your part.
Mechanicals work differently. In the US, The MLC collects streaming and download mechanicals and pays them to self-administered songwriters, to music publishers and administrators, and to collective management organizations. Once you sign a full or co-publishing deal, that money goes to your publisher, and your part reaches you on its royalty statement at the rates in your contract. For the complete map of who pays what, read songwriting royalties explained.
The main types of publishing deals
Full publishing deal. Also called a traditional deal. You assign the copyright in your share of the songs to the publisher, usually for the term plus a retention period, sometimes for the life of the copyright. The publisher keeps the publisher’s share and pays you a royalty on the rest. It usually comes with the biggest advance and the most pitching.
Co-publishing deal. You and the publisher co-own the publishing in the shares the contract sets, and the publisher administers all of it. Your own publishing company keeps part of the publisher’s share on top of your writer’s share. Writers with some track record usually get offered this kind of deal.
Administration deal. You keep ownership. The administrator registers your songs with societies worldwide, collects and pays you, and keeps the commission set in the contract. It does the paperwork side of a publisher’s job without owning your songs. Admin deals tend to be shorter and bring little or no creative pitching.
Exclusive term deal or single-song deal. An exclusive songwriter agreement covers everything you write during the term, often with a minimum delivery commitment: a number of songs that must be written, recorded or released before the next contract period starts. A single-song agreement covers only the songs it lists and nothing you write later.
One phrase deserves a pause wherever it appears: “work made for hire.” When a contract treats your song that way, the company that commissioned it can be treated as its author, and the US termination right explained below doesn’t apply. Ask your lawyer about that wording before anything else.
Worked example: two offers for the same catalog
Robin writes in Minneapolis, belongs to ASCAP and has 22 finished songs. One of them, “Paper Lanterns,” was recorded by another artist last spring. Two offers arrive in the same month:
- Offer A, co-publishing. A three-year exclusive term with a minimum delivery commitment, an advance, and a retention period after the term. The publisher’s share is split evenly between Robin’s publishing company and the publisher.
- Offer B, administration. No advance, Robin keeps ownership, the administrator registers and collects worldwide for a commission, and the deal is shorter.
The figures below apply to this fictional pair of offers; they aren’t market standards. Here is what happens to every $1,000 of US performance royalties from “Paper Lanterns,” with Robin as its only writer:
| No deal (Robin self-publishes) | Offer A: co-publishing | Offer B: administration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writer’s share, paid by ASCAP | $500 to Robin | $500 to Robin | $500 to Robin |
| Publisher’s share | $500 to Robin’s own publishing company | $500 to the publisher, which credits $250 to Robin | $500 to the administrator, which pays Robin $500 minus its commission |
| Robin receives | $1,000 | $750, but the $250 first pays back the advance | $1,000 minus the commission |
The line to read twice is the last one. Until the advance is recouped, Robin’s $250 from Offer A goes to paying it back, not to Robin’s bank account; the $500 writer’s share still arrives straight from ASCAP. Offer B pays more per dollar from the start, but nobody is paid to pitch “Paper Lanterns” to other artists or to a TV show.
The real question isn’t which percentage is higher, but whether the advance and the pitching are worth three years of exclusive songs plus the retention period. Robin takes both drafts to a music lawyer with three questions: what counts toward the minimum delivery, when each song comes back, and whether the advance can ever be claimed back in cash.
What to check before you sign
The money in a publishing deal is decided in its definitions, not its headline percentage. Go through these clauses with your lawyer:
| Clause | What to look for | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Term and options | How long you deliver songs, and whether the publisher can extend it | Who decides on each option, and by what date? |
| Minimum delivery | How many songs, and what counts: written, recorded, released; whole songs or your share of co-writes | Does a 50% co-write count as one song or as half? |
| Retention | How long the publisher keeps the songs after the term ends | On what date does each song come back? |
| Territory | The world, or specific countries | Who collects where you have no sub-publisher? |
| Songs included | Only new songs, or your existing catalog too | Is there a schedule listing every song? |
| Advance and recoupment | What it’s recouped from, and whether it’s cross-collateralized with other deals | Is it recoupable only from royalties, never repayable in cash? |
| Your royalty rates | Your share of mechanical, sync, print and foreign income | Is foreign income counted at source or after sub-publishers take their cut? |
| Reversion | Songs that return if they aren’t recorded or released within a set time | Can unused songs come back before the retention period ends? |
| Approvals | Lyric changes, translations, samples, sync in ads or political uses | Which uses need my written approval? |
| Accounting and audit | How often you’re paid, how long you have to object, audit rights | How long after a statement can I audit it? |
| Assignment | Whether the publisher can sell your contract | What happens to my songs if the company is sold? |
Contracts also include warranties: you promise the songs are original and yours to assign. If AI tools generated part of a song, read whether you can copyright AI music before you sign that promise.
US law adds a safety net that no contract can remove. Under section 203 of the Copyright Act, an author can terminate a grant made on or after January 1, 1978 during a five-year window that begins 35 years after signing (with a variant when the grant covers publication), serving notice two to ten years ahead. It works “notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary,” but not for works made for hire, which is why that phrase matters.
Do you need a publisher at all?
Not to start collecting. ASCAP says a writer who hasn’t assigned their publishing rights to anyone is eligible for a publisher membership, which collects the publisher’s share. If you join as a writer and a publisher at the same time, ASCAP waives both application fees; joining only as a publisher costs a one-time $50 fee. At BMI, where no publisher holds the performing rights, the writers receive the entire 200%. Connecting with The MLC is free, and it pays self-administered songwriters directly.
An admin deal is the middle ground when the paperwork across many countries gets too big. A full or co-publishing deal makes sense when the publisher will do what you can’t do alone: pitch, place songs in sync, open co-writing rooms or fund your writing time.
Be careful with any “publisher” that:
- asks you to pay a fee to be signed;
- wants every song you write, for the life of the copyright, with no advance and no obligation to work them;
- has no reversion clause and won’t discuss one.
Get your catalog ready before the first meeting
A publisher can only register what’s documented. Before any meeting:
- Splits for every co-write. One split sheet per song, even old ones. The split sheet guide explains the percentages, and the free split sheet template prints a clean page.
- Registrations. Know your PRO, your IPI number and which songs are already registered. See how to copyright and register a song.
- A lyric and chord sheet per song. The free chord sheet maker turns a lyric with chords into a page a producer can read.
- Your best demo and, if you have it, an instrumental.
- A list of what’s released. Mark which songs are out through a distributor (see the music distribution guide), which are unreleased and which are co-written.
Where Zoundroom fits: the paper trail for every song you might sign
A publisher asks the same things about every song: the final lyric, the best demo, who wrote what and what’s already registered. In Zoundroom, each song is a project that holds its recordings, lyrics, notes and files, with the same account on iOS, Android and the web. For “Paper Lanterns,” Robin keeps the demo versions in order, the final lyric, the signed split sheet as a file and a note with the deal’s key dates: the end of the term, the end of the retention period and the date an unreleased song can revert. Robin shares the project with a co-writer (up to 2 artists on Free, up to 5 on Pro), and on Pro or Band they can leave comments at exact moments of the demo. Zoundroom doesn’t register works, act as a publisher, license music, collect royalties or review contracts; that stays with your PRO, your publisher and your lawyer. A good first step today: create a project for each song you’d put on a publisher’s schedule and attach its split sheet.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage does a music publisher take?
There’s no fixed rate. The US PRO split is fixed (ASCAP pays 50% to writers and 50% to publishers) and your writer’s share stays yours. In a full publishing deal, the publisher keeps the publisher’s share; in a co-publishing deal, you keep part of it; in an admin deal, you keep ownership and pay the commission written in the contract. Compare offers by what you receive per dollar collected, after the advance is recouped.
How long does a music publishing deal last?
Look for two clocks: the term, while you deliver songs (often with options the publisher can exercise), and the retention period, how long the publisher keeps those songs afterwards. Admin deals are usually shorter.
What is an admin deal in music?
A company registers and collects for your songs worldwide while you keep the copyright, in exchange for a commission. It usually does little pitching, so it suits writers who already place their own songs.
Can I get my songs back from a publisher?
Through the contract, when the retention period ends or under a reversion clause for songs that weren’t recorded or released in time. In the US, section 203 also lets authors terminate grants 35 years after signing, whatever the contract says, except for works made for hire.
Do I need a lawyer to sign a publishing deal?
Yes. Hire a music lawyer who works with songwriters before you sign anything, including a short deal memo. The definitions of a delivered song, shared income and reversion decide what you earn for years.
Sources
All pages were checked on September 28, 2026.
- ASCAP: My ASCAP membership (50% to writers, 50% to publishers) and Joining ASCAP as a writer? Join as a publisher too (publisher membership eligibility, waived fees, $50 publisher-only fee).
- BMI: Royalty Policy Manual (the 200% unit, the co-writer example, writers without a publisher).
- The MLC: home page (who it pays; connecting is free).
- U.S. Copyright Office: termination of transfers (notice and works made for hire) and Copyright Act, chapter 2 (section 203).