Our Songwriter Terms Glossary provides clear definitions of key industry terms. From royalties and licensing to important identifiers, this resource helps you understand the basics of the music industry.
Administration deal: An agreement where a service provider handles administrative tasks like licensing and royalty collection for the songwriter, but the songwriter retains ownership of the copyrights.
Co-publishing deal: A deal where the songwriter shares ownership of the copyrights with a music publisher, usually resulting in a 50/50 split of publishing income.
Copyright: Legal protection that gives the creator of original work exclusive rights with respect to the work
Digital mechanical royalties: Payments made to songwriters and publishers for the reproduction and distribution of their music through digital platforms.
Full publishing deal: A comprehensive agreement where the music publisher acquires the rights to a song and handles all aspects of licensing, royalty collection, and promotion.
Identity: Information that uniquely identifies a songwriter, such as legal name, IPI number, and other personal details.
IPI (Interested Parties Information): A unique identifier assigned to songwriters and publishers to track their rights and royalties internationally.
ISRC (International Standard Recording Code): A unique code assigned to a specific recording to identify it in digital platforms and track usage for royalty payments.
ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code): A unique code for a musical composition, used to track and manage the rights associated with that work. An underlying work must only have one ISWC but may have multiple associated ISRC’s (i.e. there may be multiple recordings of a particular song). Learn more about ISWC.
Metadata: Information that is attached to a digital music file that helps identify and organize it. Metadata may include song title, artist name, songwriter and producer names, album name, publisher(s), record labels, etc.
MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective): The organization that issues mechanical licenses and collects and distributes digital mechanical royalties from DSPs in the United States.
Music license: Legal permission granted to use a copyrighted song in various formats and media.
Music publishing: The business of managing the rights and royalties of songwriters' compositions.
Performing artist: A musician or vocalist who performs songs live or in recordings, distinct from the songwriter.
PRO (Performing Rights Organization): An organization that collects and distributes performance royalties to songwriters and publishers when their music is played publicly. PROs (e.g. AllTrack, ASCAP, BMI), also issue IPI numbers and ISWC numbers.
Songwriter: An individual who writes the lyrics and/or music for songs.
Split sheet: A document that outlines the ownership percentage each songwriter or producer has in a song.
Works: Refers to the musical compositions or songs that are created by songwriters.