What is Music Publishing and How Does It Work?
Foundational Guide
Feb 4, 2026
Publishing is the business of your songs. Not your recordings. Your songs. The melodies, lyrics, and compositions you write. Every time one of your compositions is streamed, played on radio, performed live, covered by another artist, or placed in a TV show, film, or advertisement, it generates publishing income. That income belongs to whoever owns the publishing rights.
If you wrote your songs and have not signed a publishing deal, you own 100% of your publishing. You may not be collecting all of it (see Music Royalties Explained for how to fix that), but you own it. A publishing deal means giving a publisher some or all of those rights in exchange for services: royalty collection, sync pitching, creative development, and usually an advance.
The decision of whether to sign a publishing deal is one of the most consequential business decisions you will make as a songwriter. The right deal with the right publisher can accelerate your career significantly. The wrong deal can cost you ownership of your songs for years or decades. This guide covers what you need to know to make that decision.
What a Publisher Actually Does
A publisher's job is to generate income from your compositions. This sounds simple, but the scope of work is broad.
Royalty Collection and Administration
Your compositions generate royalties through multiple channels: performance royalties (collected by PROs), mechanical royalties (collected by The MLC domestically, by sub-publishers internationally), sync fees, print royalties, and more. A publisher makes sure every royalty source is registered, tracked, and collected.
This matters most internationally. If your song is streamed in Germany, a German collection society holds those royalties. If you are self-publishing, you need to either register with foreign societies directly (complicated) or use an admin service. A publisher with a global network of sub-publishers handles this automatically. For artists with meaningful international streaming, the collection gap between self-publishing and having a publisher can be significant.
Sync Pitching
Publishers pitch your songs to music supervisors for placement in TV, film, advertising, video games, and other media. A well-connected publisher has relationships with supervisors and receives briefs (requests for specific types of music) that independent songwriters do not see.
This is often the most valuable service a publisher provides, particularly for songwriters whose music fits sync-friendly genres. A single major sync placement can generate more income than years of streaming royalties. See How to Get Your Music in TV, Film, and Ads for the full sync strategy.
Creative Development and Co-Writing
Larger publishers facilitate co-writing sessions between their signed writers. If a publisher has a roster of 50 songwriters, they can connect writers across genres, styles, and markets. For songwriters who want to write for other artists, a publisher's network is how most of those opportunities happen.
Some publishers also provide creative feedback on demos, help shape albums, and connect writers with producers. The depth of creative involvement varies significantly between publishers.
Song Pitching
Beyond sync, publishers pitch songs to recording artists who need material. If you write songs that fit artists in country, pop, or R&B (genres where artists frequently record songs they did not write), a publisher's relationships with A&R teams, managers, and artists are how your song reaches the right ears. Getting a song cut by a major artist is one of the highest-value outcomes in publishing.
Catalog Management
Publishers track registrations, metadata, and splits across every collection society and platform globally. As your catalog grows, the administrative complexity grows with it. A publisher ensures that every song is registered correctly everywhere, that co-writer splits are filed properly, and that incoming royalties are matched to the right songs.
Types of Publishing Deals
Publishing deals exist on a spectrum from light administration to full ownership transfer. Understanding the structures helps you evaluate what you are being offered.
Administration Deal
What it is. The publisher handles collection and administration of your publishing royalties. They do not own your songs. They manage them on your behalf.
What you give up. 10-20% of publishing income as an admin fee. You retain ownership of your compositions.
Term. Typically 1-3 years, sometimes renewable.
Advances. Rarely. Admin deals are service agreements, not investment deals.
Best for: Artists who want professional collection (especially internationally) without giving up ownership. If your main need is making sure royalties are collected from every source globally, an admin deal handles that.
Notable admin services: Songtrust, TuneCore Publishing, CD Baby Publishing. These are scaled admin platforms that handle registration and collection for a percentage, typically 10-15%.
Co-Publishing Deal
What it is. The most common deal structure in the industry. You and the publisher share ownership of the compositions, typically 50/50 on the publishing share.
How the math works. Publishing income is traditionally split into two halves: the "writer's share" (50%) and the "publisher's share" (50%). In a co-pub deal, you keep 100% of the writer's share and split the publisher's share 50/50. Net result: you receive 75% of total publishing income, the publisher receives 25%.
What you give up. 25% of publishing income and partial ownership of the compositions for the deal term. After the term expires, rights may revert to you or the publisher may retain their share depending on the contract.
Term. Typically 3-5 years with a specified number of songs or albums to be delivered.
Advances. Common. The advance is recoupable, meaning the publisher keeps their share of your publishing income until the advance is paid back. After recoupment, you receive your 75% share.
Best for: Songwriters who want active pitching (sync, co-writes, song placements) and are willing to share ownership in exchange for the publisher's creative and commercial services plus an upfront advance.
Full Publishing Deal
What it is. You assign ownership of your compositions to the publisher. They own and control the songs.
What you give up. Ownership. You retain the writer's share (50%) but the publisher owns the compositions and controls the publisher's share (50%). Net result: you receive 50% of total publishing income.
Term. Varies, but ownership transfer is often permanent or very long-term (life of copyright).
Advances. Typical, often larger than co-pub advances because the publisher is acquiring ownership.
Best for: Rare situations where the advance is large enough to justify transferring ownership, or where the publisher's services (major label publishing arm, global reach, premium sync access) cannot be obtained through a lighter deal.
The caution. Full publishing deals are less common than they once were, and many songwriters avoid them because the ownership transfer is significant. Once you sign your compositions to a publisher, you cannot license those songs, approve sync placements, or control how they are used without the publisher's approval. Negotiate carefully.
Work-for-Hire
What it is. You write a song specifically for a project (a film score, a jingle, a commissioned piece) and the commissioning party owns the composition from creation. You are paid a fee. You do not own the song.
When it applies. Specific commissions, not ongoing songwriter careers. You are being hired to create, not signing your catalog.
The Advance
Most co-pub and full publishing deals include an advance: an upfront payment against your future publishing earnings. The advance is not free money. It is a loan that is repaid from your royalties before you see any additional income.
How Recoupment Works
If you receive a $50,000 advance and your deal gives you 75% of publishing income:
Your publishing generates $100,000 in year one. Your 75% share is $75,000. The publisher applies $50,000 of that to recoup the advance. You receive the remaining $25,000.
If your publishing only generates $40,000 in year one, your 75% share is $30,000. All of it goes toward recoupment. You have not yet recouped, and the remaining $20,000 carries over. You receive nothing from publishing until the advance is fully recouped.
Evaluating an Advance
The advance should reflect the publisher's realistic projection of your publishing income over the deal term, discounted for the publisher's risk. If a publisher offers a $100,000 advance on a 3-year co-pub deal, they are betting that your publishing will generate significantly more than $100,000 in publisher's share over those 3 years.
A larger advance is not always better. A $200,000 advance that takes 5 years to recoup means 5 years of generating publishing income without seeing any of it. A smaller advance with faster recoupment may put more money in your pocket over the full term.
The question to ask: How long does the publisher expect recoupment to take based on my current earnings? If the answer is longer than the deal term, the advance may be too large relative to your catalog's earning power.
When to Sign a Publishing Deal
Signs You Might Need a Publisher
Your catalog is generating meaningful royalties and you are not collecting all of them. If you have significant international streams and are not registered with foreign collection societies, a publisher (or admin service) can close that gap.
You want active sync pitching. If getting your music placed in TV, film, and ads is a priority and you do not have the relationships to pitch directly, a publisher with sync connections provides access you cannot replicate independently.
You write songs for other artists. If your career includes writing for other performers, a publisher's A&R relationships and co-writing network are how most of those placements happen.
You need capital. An advance provides upfront income that can be invested in your career: recording, touring, marketing. If the advance lets you make moves you could not otherwise afford, and the deal terms are fair, it can be a smart trade.
Signs You Should Wait
Your catalog is small. A publisher's services are most valuable when applied to a substantial catalog. If you have released five songs, you have limited leverage in negotiation and limited catalog for the publisher to work with.
You are not collecting what you are already owed. Before signing a deal, make sure you are registered with your PRO, The MLC, and your distributor's publishing admin (if available). Many artists think they need a publisher when they actually need to complete their registrations. See Music Royalties Explained.
You do not understand the deal. Never sign a publishing deal you do not fully understand. If you cannot explain the deal structure, recoupment terms, reversion clauses, and your net income share to someone else, you are not ready to sign.
You have not consulted a lawyer. Publishing deals are complex contracts that affect your income for years. An entertainment attorney reviewing the deal ($500-$2,000 for a contract review) is not optional. It is the minimum due diligence before signing away ownership of your songs.
Self-Publishing
You do not need a publisher to collect your publishing royalties. Self-publishing means handling the administration yourself or using lightweight services.
The minimum setup for self-publishing:
Register with a PRO (ASCAP or BMI). Free.
Register with The MLC. Free.
Register each song as a work with both organizations.
If you have international streams, use an admin service (Songtrust, TuneCore Publishing) to handle foreign collection for 10-15%.
This setup collects the majority of your publishing income without giving up ownership. For most artists in the early and middle stages of their career, self-publishing with an admin service is the right approach.
The trade-off is that self-publishing does not provide sync pitching, co-writing facilitation, or song placement services. If those are important to your career, you either pursue them independently (see How to Get Your Music in TV, Film, and Ads) or consider a deal with a publisher who offers them.
Evaluating a Publishing Offer
If a publisher offers you a deal, evaluate it against these criteria.
Deal structure. Admin, co-pub, or full? What percentage of publishing income do you retain? What ownership, if any, are you transferring?
Term and reversion. How long is the deal? What happens to the songs when the term expires? Do your rights revert fully, partially, or not at all? A deal where the publisher retains ownership of songs written during the term, even after the term expires, is significantly different from one where rights revert.
Advance and recoupment. How large is the advance? What is the recoupment rate? How long does the publisher expect recoupment to take? What happens to unrecouped balances at the end of the term?
Scope. Does the deal cover your entire catalog (past and future songs) or only songs written during the term? A deal that includes your existing catalog gives up more than one that only covers future works.
Services. What specifically will the publisher do? Sync pitching, co-write facilitation, creative support, international collection? Get specifics, not promises.
The publisher's track record. What placements have they secured for similar writers? What is their roster? Do they have the relationships they claim? Talk to other writers on their roster if possible.
Your leverage. If multiple publishers are interested, you have negotiation leverage. If only one is interested, understand that your options are this deal or no deal, and evaluate accordingly.
Common Mistakes
Signing too early. Artists sign publishing deals before their catalog is large enough or their income is high enough to justify the trade-offs. A publisher who offers a deal on a small catalog is often getting a bargain.
Not reading the reversion clause. The reversion clause determines who owns your songs after the deal ends. Some deals revert fully. Some never revert. This is the single most important clause in the contract.
Confusing the advance with income. The advance is a loan. It feels like a payday, but it is money you will earn back from your own royalties over time. Budget accordingly.
Skipping the lawyer. Publishing contracts are written by the publisher's legal team to protect the publisher's interests. Without your own attorney reviewing the terms, you are negotiating blind.
Not registering before signing. Complete your PRO and MLC registrations before entering any publishing negotiation. Understanding your current earnings gives you a baseline to evaluate whether a publisher's offer makes sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a publisher and a PRO?
A PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) collects performance royalties on behalf of songwriters. A publisher is a business partner who may handle broader administration, sync pitching, creative services, and other exploitation of your compositions. Every songwriter should be registered with a PRO. Not every songwriter needs a publisher.
Can I have a publisher and still be registered with my PRO?
Yes. You remain registered with your PRO as the songwriter. The publisher registers as the publisher of those compositions. Your writer's share still flows to you through the PRO. The publisher's share flows to the publisher.
How long do publishing deals last?
Admin deals: 1-3 years. Co-pub deals: 3-5 years typically. Full publishing deals: varies, but ownership transfer can be permanent. Always check the reversion clause for what happens after the term.
Do I need a publisher to get sync placements?
No. You can pitch directly, use sync platforms (Musicbed, Artlist, Songtradr), or work with a sync agent without signing a full publishing deal. A publisher is one path to sync, not the only path.
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