Topic
Every recorded song carries two copyrights: one in the composition (music and lyrics) and one in the sound recording (the master). Here is who owns each by default under US law, how work-made-for-hire and transfers change that, and the registration basics that decide what you can do if someone copies you.
Workflows
Four of the best-known DIY distributors charge in three different ways: a yearly subscription, a one-off fee plus a commission, or a subscription with a cut on the side income. They also set three different AI rules. Here is what DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby and Ditto say on their own pricing and help pages as we read them on 24 Oct 2026, and how to work out which model costs you least.
Workflows
There is no per-stream rate. Streaming services pool their net revenue each month and split it by share of streams, and two newer rules change who gets into that split: Spotify ignores tracks under 1,000 streams a year, and Deezer weights streams from established artists and active fans. Here is the whole chain, step by step, as the services describe it on 24 Oct 2026.
Workflows
Every stream of your song in the US earns a mechanical royalty, and your distributor and your PRO do not collect it. Here is what a mechanical is, how a self-administered writer joins the MLC and registers or claims works in its portal, what MCPS and CMRRA do outside the US, and the order we would do it in.
Workflows
Two codes and one document hold your royalties together. An ISRC names the recording and comes from the recording owner, a national agency or a manager such as your distributor. An ISWC names the song and only a registration agency, usually your collecting society, can assign it. A split sheet has no issuer at all: you and your co-writers make it. Here is who issues what, what it costs where we could check, and why the split sheet has to come first.
Workflows
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