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The most common split is 50/50: 50% of the total royalty to the songwriter(s) and 50% of the total royalty to the publisher(s).

If there is more than one songwriter, they split the songwriter royalty between (or among) themselves.

For example, if you and I co-wrote a song that our publisher then got covered, you and I would each get 25% of the total royalty and the pub would get 50%.

But, what if you are signed to one publisher and I to another, and we co-write a song? My publisher gets it cut. In this case, you and I split the writer royalty (50%--25%each), and the two publishers split the publisher royalty (also 50%--25% each).

The performer does not share in songwriter royalties, unless he happens to BE the songwriter.

It is customary for songwiters to do equal splits among all writers who work on a song, but that is certainly subject to negotiation and agreement of the parties. If I wrote a song, but was stuck on the bridge, and I called you and told you I would give you 10% of future royalties if you would help me, you could say yes, or no, or try to negotiate a different deal. Whatever the parties agree upon is the basis for the split. Trouble occurs when people co-write but fail to get this stuff cleared up beforehand.

It's important to note that what is customary is not what is mandatory. Co-writing shares are automatically 50/50 split unless something in writing agrees otherwise. It's not uncommon for a successful writer (or more commonly an successful artist who is writing their own material) to get a larger cut. The key is that you should rarely or never settle for less than a 50/50 split with a publisher. That's the norm, but it's also the expected max. When negotiating (if you're in a position to do so) you'd typically take 50% or look for more.. you would NOT give the publisher more than 50% in a negotiation. (There are many scam companies that try to pull that crap).

It sounds like what you REALLY need to do GP is get a copy of John Braheny's The Craft and Business of Songwriting. There's a new version coming out at the end of this month. And he just happens to be on his way to my house right now so I can vouch for not only his amazing book, but him as well! = )

Brian

I agree with Brian - I must recommend John's book on a daily basis. I have it here and I often look up info in it before replying to posts asking these kinds of info.

cheers
Hummin'bird

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Vikki Flawith, Canadian Singer/Songwriter & Voice Teacher
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"The Craft and the Business of Songwriting" by John Braheny - www.johnbraheny.com

I hate to say this but that book and nearly all the others are dated and obsolete. Now anyone can be their own publisher with a worldwide audience of 6 billion and all the old rules have gone down the toilet.

Currently, no one gets a 50/50 split. That's because the original split was 50 percednt to the writer and 50 percent to the publisher "on all revenue." It hasn't been that way since the movie industry started and radio and tv thereafter. Then, the so-called "publishers" changed all the rules. These were really record companies. The history go so screwed up and so confused that people began accepting 2 cents for their pay while the record company/aka the publisher, kept the other 98 cents and then charged the writer for the manufacturing costs, all of them.

That's all ended now though. Now, you don't need a publisher, you don't need a record company, all you need is you, your instrument, a computer, and an Internet connection. That all takes you to publishing; publishing on Microsoft's sites, Yahoo's sites, Apple's sites, CDBaby's sites, and many, many, many more all over the world.

So now, as writers, we have worked out a deal with Bill Gates to get 70% of all revenues from our songs. Get it? Or are you that thick to keep thinking in terms of Bill Paley's Columbia Records deals?

iTunes and Steve Jobs returns 60 cents on the dollar, but he may have to up that to keep up with Bill Gates. Gates and Microsoft are right now dominating all music sales. Believe it!

And Bill Gates is paying a hefty 70% royalty to the writers! 70% of all revenues from the writer's music.

The book is worthless and needs to be rewritten, which a lot of us are doing while working these deals with Gates, Jobs, and others. The professor there needs to get out on the road and catch up.

Derek Sivers pays really well, sometimes even better than Bill Gates, and Derek rules the independent music world. Believe that too. You need to check out CDBaby.com

And for the final cincher, the closer of the deals for Internet Music and the music that is now Internet Music, the 21st century music business, you need to check out how the Performer Recording Artist Songwriter Exclusive intends to get you 100% of your music income from all music users. PRASE is poised to take on Ascap and BMI and exclude all non-creatives from the money accounting and decision making of songwriters.

Find out more; this is the new music business: http://www.musics.com/SMF/index.php?topic=26.0

Terry,
Surely you jest, my friend. Every Publishing Contract I have ever signed has been a 50/50 split on mechanical royalities. Sheet music has been a smaller precentage of differing amounts from 5 cents to 10 percent or so. Since there is no such thing as a standard publishing contract you have to read any you receive carefully. A lot of publishers "borrow" someone elses contract and adopt it as there own. Only once have I ever seen an original,(or I so assume) contract.

Any publisher that offers a less than 50/50 split on mechanical royalities would be found out very quickly and may lose his PRO Affiliation or worse. And a songwriter should never sign a contract that shows a lesser amount than 50 percent on mechanicals and perhaps sync licenses as well.

As stated earlier PRO royalities are sent directly to the songwriter and directly to the publisher, if there is one as long as the song is registered with the PRO.

If no clause exists in a publishing contract a publisher can license a song for less than the current statutory rate but you would still receive 50 percent of what the license was sold for.

Some publishing contracts allow the publisher to assign the song to another publisher. If you receive one of those you should not allow the writers royalities to be split beyond the original contract. Otherwise if the contract is split a few times the small pittance of a mechanical royality may disappear into nothing.

Right, because everyone knows that songwriters are all natural born accountants.



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Scott Andrew
Lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!
http://www.scottandrew.com/music

Seems like Terry's just trying to sell something.... but since the link didn't work for me, I couldn't even tell what it was...lol

Songwriters are, though, natural born rebels. I remember being an angry young man...glad I'm not an angry old one

Now what are really worthless are barbers. I've been cutting my own hair for over 30 years and have saved thousands of dollars. Barbers are obsolete! Hmmm, maybe I'm on to somehting! Who needs mechanics? We can fix our own cars can't we?

Meanwhile, back on earth there are, as Brian said, many paths to money. John's book will give folks a fine understaning of the way the business is practiced. Terry's example of Derek as a different than fifty fifty split is based on assuming that Truman's model is of the gross...it's a split of the net in one agreement: the publishing agreement.

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You have to practice improvisation. -Art Tatum

Mike Dunbar Music

Nice sum up nightshift! That paragraph says it all....lol