Song Registration Checklist

Why This Matters

A song can be released everywhere and still be poorly registered. Distribution puts the recording on platforms. Registration tells royalty systems who wrote the composition, who publishes it, who owns the recording, who performed on it, and where money should go.

The checklist matters because different royalties need different data. A PRO registration does not automatically register the work with the MLC. A distributor upload does not automatically register performer shares with SoundExchange. A split sheet that never gets entered into royalty systems does not collect money by itself.

Before You Register

Gather the core data first:

• final song title and alternate titles
• legal names and artist names
• songwriter shares and publisher shares
• producer and featured artist terms
• master owner and label name, if any
• ISRC for each recording
• UPC for the release
• release date and distributor
• contact, tax, and payment information

If collaborators disagree about splits, resolve that before submitting registrations. Registering bad data can create conflicts and delays.

PRO Registration

Register the composition with your PRO or local society. This is for public performance royalties on the composition. Include writer shares and publisher shares. If you self-publish, make sure you understand whether you need a publisher account or publisher entity.

PRO registration is important for radio, live performance, television, many streaming uses, and other public performances.

MLC Registration

Register eligible controlled works with the MLC if you self-administer publishing in the United States, or confirm that your publisher or publishing administrator is doing it. The MLC is for U.S. digital mechanical royalties under the blanket license for eligible services.

MLC registration should use the same writer and publisher information as your other records. Inconsistent metadata makes matching harder.

SoundExchange Registration

Register eligible sound recordings with SoundExchange if you are a featured artist, rights owner, or performer with eligible U.S. statutory digital performance royalties. This is recording-side money, not composition publishing money.

You will need accurate recording information, ISRCs, rights owner details, featured artist details, and performer information where applicable.

Distributor Metadata

Your distributor should have clean release metadata: title, artist, featured artists, contributors, explicit status, genre, ISRC, UPC, artwork, and payout settings. If the distributor supports splits, those splits affect distributor payouts, not necessarily every publishing or collection society account.

Publishing Administration

If you do not want to self-administer publishing, a publishing administrator may help register works and collect publishing income across territories and income types. Read commission, term, territory, and termination terms before signing.

What To Do Next

1. Create one registration sheet for every released song.
2. Enter PRO registration information and save confirmation numbers.
3. Register controlled works with the MLC or confirm your administrator has done it.
4. Register eligible recordings with SoundExchange.
5. Confirm distributor metadata and payout settings match the registration sheet.
6. Review unmatched works and missing royalty data monthly.

Common Mistakes

• Treating distributor upload as complete royalty registration.
• Registering the writer share but forgetting publisher share setup.
• Using different names or split percentages across PRO, MLC, distributor, and SoundExchange records.
• Forgetting to register alternate titles, remixes, or new versions.
• Waiting until a song is generating income before fixing metadata.

Keep A Paper Trail

Store split sheets, registration confirmations, ISRCs, UPCs, contributor emails, and payout settings in one folder. If a royalty dispute appears two years later, clean records are worth more than memory.