Every time your song plays on Spotify, Apple Music, or any major streaming platform, it actually generates two completely separate royalties on the publishing side. One is a performance royalty. The other is a mechanical royalty. And here is the part that surprises most independent songwriters: these two royalties are collected by two entirely different organizations, through two entirely different registration processes.

If you are only registered in one place, you are only collecting half of what you are owed. For many independent artists who write their own music, that uncollected half sits in a pool, accumulates for months, and eventually ends up in the hands of someone else. This is not a small amount of money we are talking about. It is a structural reality of the music industry that every songwriter needs to understand and act on.

This guide breaks down exactly how publishing royalties work for independent songwriters, which organizations collect what, how to register in both places, and the critical mistake that costs self-published artists thousands of dollars every year.

The Two Types of Publishing Royalties Generated by Streaming

Before diving into registrations, you need to understand the fundamental split in publishing royalties. Every recorded song involves two separate copyrights: the composition (the underlying song, its melody and lyrics) and the sound recording (the specific recorded version of that song). These generate separate royalty streams, collected by different organizations.

On the composition side, streaming generates two distinct royalty types simultaneously. Performance royalties are generated by the public performance or broadcast of a musical work, including streams on interactive platforms like Spotify. Mechanical royalties are generated by the digital reproduction of that composition each time someone streams or downloads it.

The key thing to understand is that both happen at the same time with every single stream. As Spotify has explained directly, the performance royalty relates to the digital performance of the musical work, while the mechanical royalty relates to the digital reproduction of that composition. These two royalties then flow back out through completely different channels to completely different organizations.

This is precisely where the confusion starts for most independent songwriters. Many assume that joining ASCAP or BMI is enough to collect all their streaming income as a songwriter. It is not. Joining a PRO only covers performance royalties. The mechanical side requires a completely separate registration with The Mechanical Licensing Collective, or The MLC.

Performance Royalties: How PROs Like ASCAP and BMI Work

A Performing Rights Organization, or PRO, is the organization responsible for licensing the public performance of musical works and distributing the resulting royalties to songwriters and publishers. In the United States, the main PROs are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. For most independent artists, the practical choice is between ASCAP and BMI, since SESAC is invitation-only.

Performance royalties are earned every time your composition is performed publicly. This covers a wide range of scenarios: radio broadcasts, streams on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, television placements, live venues that use background music, restaurants, gyms, and more. Every time your music plays in one of these contexts, you are generating performance royalties that your PRO is authorized to collect on your behalf.

'Performance royalties are one of the most consistently uncollected revenue streams in the independent artist world.'

Chartlex
Music Industry Resource, 2026

The Critical Writer vs. Publisher Split

Here is the detail that catches the vast majority of independent songwriters off guard: performance royalties are split 50/50 between the songwriter (writer share) and the publisher (publisher share). When you register only as a songwriter with a PRO, you are only eligible to collect the writer's share, which represents 50% of the total performance royalty your song generates.

The publisher's share does not disappear if no publisher claims it. It simply sits uncollected. If you are a fully independent songwriter with no publishing deal or administration agreement, you are the publisher of your own work. That means you need to register a publishing entity separately with your PRO to claim that other 50%.

The process of setting up your own publishing entity is straightforward. You simply create a publishing company name (often something like "[Your Name] Music" or "[Your Name] Publishing") and affiliate it with your PRO as a separate publisher account. Once you do this and register your songs under both your writer and publisher accounts, you become eligible to collect the full 100% of your performance royalty. Skipping this step means leaving half of your performance royalties on the table indefinitely.

It is important to note that you can only be affiliated with one PRO at a time in the United States. Once you choose, all songs registered under your agreement with that PRO remain with them. Take some time to review each organization's payment schedules, member benefits, and publisher account options before committing. The choice matters less than actually making the choice and completing both registrations correctly.

Mechanical Royalties: What The MLC Collects and Why It Matters

The Mechanical Licensing Collective, known as The MLC, is the only organization in the United States authorized to administer the blanket compulsory digital audio mechanical license. It was established by the Music Modernization Act of 2018 and officially began operations in 2021. Its entire mandate is to collect digital mechanical royalties from streaming platforms and pay them to the rightful copyright owners.

Every month, digital service providers like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal send usage data and royalty payments to The MLC for all the music streamed and downloaded on their services. The MLC then matches that data to songs registered by its members and calculates what each rights holder is owed. Payments are distributed monthly. The entire system was designed to fix a long-standing problem in the music industry where mechanical royalties were nearly impossible to collect without a major publisher.

For independent songwriters, this is a significant shift. Before The MLC existed, streaming services had to try to find and license individual songwriters song by song, and they frequently failed. Now, the money flows to The MLC, and it is The MLC's job to match it back to you. But that matching can only happen if you are a registered member and your songs are properly entered into their database.

The Unmatched Royalties Problem

The single most urgent reason to register with The MLC is what happens to your money if you do not. When The MLC receives royalties for songs it cannot match to a registered rights holder, those royalties go into a pool of "unmatched" funds. The MLC holds this money and attempts to identify the owners. But this holding period does not last forever.

After a defined period, unmatched royalties are distributed to other registered publishers based on market share. In practical terms, this means your unclaimed mechanical royalties eventually get redistributed to major publishers who are registered. Your streams generated that money. But without your registration, you have no legal claim to it.

The scale of this problem is substantial. According to reporting from Spotify for Artists, The MLC received over $424 million in historical unmatched and unclaimed royalties from the period before it launched. A significant portion of that money is widely believed to have come from independent songwriters who simply never registered their works anywhere.

What The MLC Does and Does Not Collect

It is important to understand the precise scope of The MLC's mandate so you can identify any gaps in your royalty collection strategy.

Scope based on The MLC's official mandate under the Music Modernization Act of 2018.

How to Register: A Step-by-Step Overview for Independent Songwriters

The good news is that both registration processes are relatively straightforward and free or low-cost to complete. The financial upside of doing them correctly far outweighs any time investment. Here is a practical breakdown of what each registration involves.

Registering With Your PRO (ASCAP or BMI)

1. Choose your PRO. For most independent artists in the US, the choice is between ASCAP and BMI. Review their membership agreements, payment schedules, and publisher account fees before committing. Remember, this is an exclusive agreement.
2. Create your songwriter (writer) account. Go to the official website of your chosen PRO and sign up as a songwriter. BMI is free for writers; ASCAP charges a one-time $50 fee.
3. Set up a publishing entity. This is the step most artists skip. Create a separate publishing company account under a unique name. This is how you claim the publisher's share of your performance royalties.
4. Register each song individually. For every song you release, log in and register the work with your PRO. Include accurate song titles, all co-writers and their PRO affiliations, and correct ownership splits. Make sure the writer splits and publisher splits each add up to 100%.
5. Register live performances. BMI, for example, has a "BMI Live" tool that allows you to report your live setlists. Do not ignore this. Live performance royalties can add up significantly over time.

Registering With The MLC

1. Go to portal.themlc.com and create a free member account. Membership is completely free. The MLC's operational costs are covered by the digital service providers, not by songwriters or publishers.
2. Select the right membership type. If you write your own songs and manage your own rights without a publisher, you are an "Independent Songwriter (Self-Administered)." This means you register your songs yourself and collect your own royalties directly.
3. Provide required information. You will need your legal name, contact information, tax information (SSN or EIN), and banking details for royalty payments.
4. Register your songs as "works." For each song, provide the title, ISWC code (if available), ISRC codes from your distributor, songwriter names and ownership splits, and publisher information. As an independent self-published artist, you register as both songwriter and publisher for your own works.
5. Use the Matching Tool regularly. The MLC connects sound recordings (ISRCs) to your registered compositions. Check the Matching Tool in your Member Hub regularly, as new recording data from DSPs is added continuously.
6. Check the Claiming Tool. Search The MLC's public database to see if your songs have already been partially registered or if there are unclaimed shares waiting for you.

The Financial Impact: What Are These Royalties Actually Worth?

A common question from independent artists is whether these registrations are worth the administrative effort. The short answer is: yes, unambiguously. The royalties you are leaving uncollected are real money generated by streams you have already earned. The only variable is whether they find their way back to you.

On the mechanical side, independent artists with over 100,000 annual streams can realistically expect several hundred dollars per year in MLC mechanical royalties, on top of what they already receive from their distributor. Artists with millions of streams can see thousands of dollars annually from this source alone. For context, an artist earning around $1,000 per month from their distributor might receive an additional $150 to $250 per month from The MLC for mechanical royalties on those same streams.

On the performance royalty side, the uncollected publisher share is even more direct: if you are not registered as both writer and publisher with your PRO, you are collecting only 50% of your performance royalties from day one. Every stream, every radio play, every public performance of your song since you released it has been generating a publisher share that no one is claiming on your behalf.

Figures are approximate illustrative estimates based on industry averages. Actual amounts vary by platform, region, and listening patterns.

The broader picture is this: the music royalty system is built around registrations. The money does not find you. You have to claim it. Every organization in the chain, from your PRO to The MLC, can only pay you if they know your songs exist and know where to send the money. The infrastructure is there. The only missing piece is your registration.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even artists who know they need to register often make errors that delay or reduce their royalties. These are the most frequent and costly mistakes independent songwriters make in the publishing royalty process.

• Registering only as a writer with their PRO: As covered above, this means forfeiting the publisher's share permanently for songs that earn royalties before you correct the oversight. Always set up a publisher entity alongside your writer account.
• Not registering songs with The MLC after joining: Membership alone is not enough. Each song must be individually registered as a "work" in The MLC's database with accurate metadata, ISRC codes, and ownership splits. Songs that are not registered cannot be matched to incoming royalty payments.
• Incorrect or incomplete metadata: Ownership splits that do not add up to 100%, song titles that differ between platforms and registrations, or missing co-writer information are among the top reasons royalties go unmatched. Clean, consistent metadata across your distributor, your PRO, and The MLC is essential.
• Assuming your distributor handles publishing royalties: Music distributors collect master recording royalties (what you hear called "streaming revenue"). They do not collect performance royalties or mechanical royalties on the composition side. These are entirely separate systems.
• Ignoring international royalties: The MLC only collects US digital mechanical royalties. If your music generates significant streams outside the US, you may need to connect with your local Collective Management Organization (CMO) or work with a global publishing administrator to collect international mechanicals.

Industry Tip

If you have already released music and have never registered with The MLC, use the Missing Member Lookup on The MLC's website before you even create an account. You may find that royalties tied to your name are already in the system, waiting to be claimed once you register. The same is true for the Claiming Tool available to MLC members: search your catalog to find songs where your share may already be partially registered by a collaborator, allowing you to claim your portion directly.

Your Publishing Royalty Action Checklist

If you write your own music and distribute it to streaming platforms, work through this checklist to make sure you are collecting every royalty stream you have earned. Each item that is not yet complete represents money that is either sitting uncollected or at risk of being redistributed to someone else.

• Choose a PRO: ASCAP or BMI (or your local PRO if outside the US)
• Create your songwriter (writer) account with your chosen PRO
• Set up a separate publishing entity account with your PRO to collect the publisher share
• Register every released song individually as a "work" with your PRO, including all co-writers and correct ownership splits
• Create a free member account at portal.themlc.com
• Register each song as a "work" in The MLC portal with ISRC codes and accurate metadata
• Use The MLC's Matching Tool to connect your ISRCs to your registered compositions
• Use the Missing Member Lookup and Claiming Tool to find any royalties already waiting for you
• Keep banking information, tax forms, and contact details updated in both your PRO account and MLC portal
• Revisit your registrations whenever you release new music

The publishing royalty system can feel complex, but the core action it requires of you is simple: register in both places, register as both writer and publisher, and register every song. You do not need a record label, a manager, or a traditional publishing deal to collect these royalties. The systems exist to pay independent songwriters directly. You just need to show up.

Whether you use a digital distributor like Music Cast, a publishing administrator, or handle your own registrations manually, the fundamental step remains the same. The composition you wrote has value every time someone streams it. Make sure you are in the right place to receive it.