Answers/Glossary/Self-publishing
Glossary · Publishing
Self-publishing
Self-publishing in music means owning and administering your own compositions rather than signing them to a publisher. In practice it means registering your own publisher entity with ASCAP or BMI and registering your works directly with The MLC.
Self-publishing is the default state for an independent songwriter, whether or not they realise it. If you have never signed a publishing agreement, you own 100% of your compositions. What varies is whether you are actually collecting on them.
Doing it properly in the United States is a short list of registrations, and the whole thing costs less than most people assume.
- Join a PRO as a writer. BMI songwriter affiliation is free. ASCAP charges a $50 one-time processing fee. Both figures are from ASCAP's and BMI's own pages, retrieved August 2026.
- Register a publisher entity with the same PRO. ASCAP charges $50 for the publisher account. BMI charges $175 for an individual publisher, $250 for a corporation or LLC, $500 for a partnership. This is what makes the publisher share payable to you.
- Register with The MLC. Free, no commission, and it pays digital mechanicals about 75 days after each monthly usage period, with a $5 US ACH minimum.
- Register recordings with SoundExchange. Free, and it covers the recording side rather than publishing, but it belongs on the same afternoon's to-do list.
What self-publishing does not get you is foreign collection, sync pitching, or anyone chasing money on your behalf. That is what a publishing administrator or a publisher sells.
The misunderstanding: that a publisher account requires an incorporated business. At BMI you affiliate an individual publisher for $175 without forming a company, and BMI states directly that a new songwriter will not need to set up a publishing company at all.
This is the route I took with my own catalogue — not legal advice, just what worked.
Related terms
- Publisher shareThe publisher share is the half of a composition's performance and mechanical royalties that belongs to the publisher of the…
- Music publisherA music publisher is a company that owns or controls copyright shares in musical compositions and exploits them — registering…
- Publishing administratorA publishing administrator collects a songwriter's publishing royalties worldwide for a commission without taking ownership of…
- The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective)The MLC is the non-profit organisation designated under the Music Modernization Act to administer the United States blanket…
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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