Music Business
Get Your Publishing Money
PRO registration, the MLC, and collecting every royalty you're owed.
9 lessons · 1h 49m · lifetime access
🎬
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Free preview — The Two Halves of Every Song
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What this covers
Most independent artists are only collecting half their money. Your distributor pays you for the recording — but the song itself earns separately, and nobody sends it to you automatically. You have to go get it. This course walks through the exact registrations that turn your catalog into money you actually receive.
- Understand the difference between master and publishing money — and why your distributor only pays one of them
- Choose between BMI and ASCAP and register as a writer
- Set up your own publishing entity so you collect the publisher share too
- Register with the MLC and claim mechanical royalties on your existing catalog
- Register every song correctly — splits, IPI numbers, and co-writers
- Recover back royalties that have been accruing unclaimed
Who it's for: Any independent artist, producer, or songwriter with music already released — especially if you've never registered anything.
Lessons
- 19m
The Two Halves of Every SongFree
Master vs. composition. Why your distributor only pays one side, and where the other half has been sitting.
- 2🔒
What a PRO Actually Does
Performance royalties explained without the jargon — what triggers them, who pays them, and what a PRO can't do for you.
- 3🔒
BMI vs ASCAP — Picking One
The real differences, the actual costs, and how to choose without overthinking it. Plus what to do if you're outside the US.
- 4🔒
Registering as a Writer
Screen-by-screen walkthrough of the writer application, and finding your IPI number once you're in.
- 5🔒
Setting Up Your Publishing Entity
The publisher share is the half most artists never claim. How to register your own publishing company and collect both sides.
- 6🔒
The MLC and Your Mechanicals
Streaming mechanicals are separate from performance royalties and separate from your distributor. How to register and claim.
- 7🔒
Registering Songs the Right Way
Titles, ISWCs, splits, co-writers, and the mistakes that cause a song to pay nobody for years.
- 8🔒
Recovering Back Royalties
Unclaimed money accrues and waits. How to find what's sitting there on your existing catalog and file to get it.
- 9🔒
Your Ongoing Checklist
What to do for every future release so you never leave money uncollected again.