Answers/Glossary/Publisher share
Glossary · Publishing
Publisher share
The publisher share is the half of a composition's performance and mechanical royalties that belongs to the publisher of the song. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR pay it only to a registered publisher entity, never to a songwriter account.
Every composition's royalties are conventionally divided into two halves: the writer share and the publisher share, 50% each. This is not a rule of copyright law — it is how performing rights organizations structure their accounting, and it has become the industry default everywhere.
The critical mechanical fact is who each half can be paid to. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR pay the writer share to a songwriter member and the publisher share to a publisher member. Those are two different account types. If you have registered with BMI as a songwriter and never affiliated a publisher, the publisher share of your own performance royalties has nowhere to go.
Setting up a publisher entity costs money at some PROs and nothing at others. ASCAP charges a $50 one-time processing fee for a publisher account, the same fee as the writer account. BMI charges $175 to affiliate an individual publisher, $250 for a corporation or LLC, and $500 for a partnership, while BMI songwriter affiliation itself is free. Those figures are BMI's and ASCAP's own, retrieved August 2026.
Worth reading carefully before you spend: BMI states plainly that a new songwriter "will not need to set up a publishing company" and that "Creating a publishing company will not mean that you receive more royalties." What a publisher account does is let the publisher half of what you are already owed be routed to you rather than held.
If you sign to a publisher or a co-publishing deal, you are giving away some or all of this share in exchange for services or an advance.
I collect both halves on my own songs; still, I am an artist, not an attorney.
Related terms
- Writer shareThe writer share is the half of a composition's performance royalties that belongs to the songwriters.
- Music publisherA music publisher is a company that owns or controls copyright shares in musical compositions and exploits them — registering…
- Self-publishingSelf-publishing in music means owning and administering your own compositions rather than signing them to a publisher.
- Performance royaltyA performance royalty is the money owed when a musical composition is performed publicly — on radio, on television, in a bar, at…
Answers that use this term
- Why Am I Only Getting Half My Performance Royalties?Because performance royalties are split into a songwriter share and a publisher share, roughly half each, and ASCAP and BMI pay…
- What Is a Performance Royalty, and Who Collects It?A performance royalty is money owed when a musical composition is performed publicly — on streaming, radio, television, in a bar…
- Do You Need a Music Publisher, or Just a Publisher Account?"Publisher" means three different things and beginners are usually sold the wrong one.
Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.
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