How to Set Yourself Up as Your Own Publisher of Record

What does publisher of record actually mean?

The publisher of record is the publisher officially registered with a PRO for a given song. When you self-publish, you can either register yourself as the publisher, or, on some PROs, just collect 100% as the writer with no separate publisher entity at all. The term sounds corporate. The setup usually isn't.

Every song carries two copyrights: the sound recording (the master) and the underlying composition (melody, lyrics, structure). Publishing rights govern the composition. That distinction matters because different bodies collect on each one, and being registered with your PRO does not mean you're collecting everything. It means you're collecting performance royalties on the composition. The rest takes separate registrations, which is what the steps below cover. (Source: US Copyright Office.)

A composition generates four royalty streams: public performance (radio, streaming, live, TV), mechanical (reproductions, including streams), sync fees, and print. Your PRO collects the first one. The others need other registrations, and that's the part most artists miss.

The numbers below are the costs and minimums that decide how you set up. None of them are large.

How do I register with a US PRO as both writer and publisher?

Join a PRO and make sure you're collecting the publisher's share, not just the writer's. How you do that depends on which PRO. At ASCAP you need a publisher membership to collect the publisher's 50%. At BMI you don't, because BMI pays both shares straight to the writer on self-published works.

Here's the ASCAP path. Writer membership is currently free. ASCAP suspended its old $50 writer fee in February 2023 as a temporary policy, and as of 2025 to 2026 it's still waived. Publisher-only membership is a $50 one-time fee, but if you join as writer and publisher at the same time, both fees are waived. You don't need a corporation. A sole proprietorship works, which just means a US tax ID and a mailing address. (Source: ASCAP, Join as Publisher.)

The catch at ASCAP: if you're only a writer member and never set up the publisher side, you collect the writer's 50% share and leave the publisher's 50% on the table. That's the single most common DIY mistake at ASCAP. Set up both.

BMI works differently. Writer affiliation is free, and BMI pays both the writer and publisher shares directly to you on self-published works. You do not need a separate publisher entity to receive 100%. If you want a publisher account for business reasons, BMI charges $175 for an individual, $250 for a corporation or LLC, and $500 for a partnership, but it's optional. (Sources: BMI self-publishing FAQ, BMI publisher fee FAQ.)

How do I collect US streaming mechanicals with The MLC?

Register your works with The MLC. Membership is free, it takes no commission, and it's the only way to collect the mechanical royalties that streaming generates in the US. Your PRO does not collect these. This is the second big gap after the publisher share.

The MLC (the Mechanical Licensing Collective) was created by the Music Modernization Act of 2018 and launched its blanket license system in January 2021. It was funded by the streaming services themselves, so there's no cost to you as a rightsholder. You register works one at a time, by CWR file, or by bulk template, under the self-administered songwriter category. (Source: The MLC, Self-Administered Songwriter.)

This is worth sitting with for a second. A fully registered PRO member who never signs up with The MLC is collecting performance royalties and missing the streaming mechanical share entirely. Two registrations, both free, and you're collecting both halves of your US composition income.

What about SoundExchange and my recordings?

Register with SoundExchange too, but understand it pays a different thing. SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for the sound recording owner, not the songwriter or publisher. So this one is about your master rights, not your publishing. If you own your recordings, this is your money.

It's free to register and takes about 20 minutes. SoundExchange collects from non-interactive platforms like SiriusXM, Pandora, and iHeartRadio, and it matches recordings by ISRC. (Source: SoundExchange registration.)

Keep the categories straight: SoundExchange pays recording artists and master owners. Your PRO and The MLC pay on the composition. If you wrote and recorded your own song, you collect from all three, but for different rights.

How do I set up as my own publisher in Canada?

Canada runs on its own set of organizations, and most US guidance doesn't map cleanly. The short version: SOCAN for performance, CMRRA or SOCAN RR for mechanicals, and Re:Sound for neighboring rights on your recordings. Here's each one.

SOCAN (performance rights). SOCAN is Canada's only PRO and collects public performance royalties for both songwriters and publishers. Writer membership is free with no minimum catalog. If you have no registered publisher, SOCAN distributes 100% of the performance royalties, writer share plus publisher share, directly to you as an individual. You do not need a separate publisher entity to receive the full amount. (Source: Edwards Creative Law.)

If you want a named publishing company on SOCAN, publisher membership is also free, but it requires a minimum of 5 copyright-protected works written or co-written by a SOCAN writer member or a Canadian. It can be a sole proprietorship, no corporation needed. One Ontario-specific note: a business operating under a name other than the owner's own name has to register that business name, roughly a $60 fee. (Source: SOCAN, Sign Up for Performing Rights.)

For scale, 2024 SOCAN distributions came to $512.4 million CAD, up 17.5% from 2023, across nearly 200,000 members. (Sources: SOCAN press release, Billboard Canada.)

CMRRA or SOCAN RR (mechanicals). This is the Canadian decision point. For mechanical royalties (streams, downloads, physical, broadcast mechanicals), you register with either CMRRA or SOCAN RR. You pick one. Choosing one means the other won't also collect for the same works.

CMRRA licenses and distributes Canadian mechanicals, self-published songwriters can affiliate directly, distributions are quarterly, and the minimum payout is $15 CAD gross per quarter. (Source: CMRRA FAQ.) SOCAN RR is the other option: SOCAN acquired SODRAC in 2018 and runs it as SOCAN RR, covering Canadian and some international reproduction rights. (Source: Music Business Worldwide.)

The SODRAC acquisition is genuinely useful for self-publishers. SOCAN can now handle both performance and reproduction rights, which reduces the two-body shuffle Canadians used to deal with. It doesn't fully eliminate the choice, but it simplifies it.

Re:Sound (neighboring rights). Re:Sound is the only body authorized under Canada's Copyright Act to collect neighboring rights royalties for performers and sound recording owners when recordings are publicly broadcast. Like SoundExchange in the US, this pays on your recordings, not your compositions. The split is 50/50 between performers and the maker (the recording owner). Of the performer's 50%, featured performers get 40% and non-featured performers get 10%. (Source: Edwards Creative Law.)

Registration depends on your role. Performers register through ACTRA RACS or Artisti. (One thing to get right: MROC wound down on December 31, 2024 and moved its mandates to Artisti, so don't send anyone to MROC.) Sound recording owners register through Panorama, formerly Soproq and rebranded in 2024, or directly with Re:Sound. (Sources: ACTRA RACS, Re:Sound, Record Labels.)

What can't I collect on my own?

International mechanicals are the gap, and it's the honest reason to consider a paid admin later. Registering with The MLC covers US streaming mechanicals. It does not register you with foreign mechanical societies like PRS, STIM, GEMA, or JASRAC. Your PRO collects foreign performance royalties through reciprocal agreements, but mechanicals abroad need separate registration in each territory, or a publishing admin acting as your sub-publisher.

The scale of that gap is real. A paid admin collects from dozens of performance and mechanical organizations across well over a hundred countries, which is far more reach than any independent artist sets up alone. Without that, international mechanicals can take many months to several years to reach you, and in some territories unclaimed royalties expire. (That timeline comes from TuneCore's own guide, so treat it as directionally accurate rather than independently confirmed.)

Sync pitching is the other thing DIY doesn't get you. An admin will register your songs and issue licenses if asked, but actively pitching for placements is a separate function. A sync agent typically takes 25% to 50% of placement fees on deals they procure. (Source: Sentric.) That's a different conversation from collecting what you're already owed.

So the DIY setup is the right starting point for nearly everyone. It covers your domestic income for free. The day international streams become a meaningful share of your plays is the day a paid admin's cut starts to make sense. For the math on that decision, see the sibling guides below.

Want to understand the streaming income these registrations actually collect? Start with the Spotify royalties guide, then sign up to track it in one place. →

Where this fits

This is one spoke of the Music Publishing Administration guide, which covers the whole question of whether you need a publisher at all. For the rest of the picture, read what a music publishing administrator actually does to see exactly what a paid service handles, and when the 15% publishing admin fee actually makes financial sense for the breakeven math on DIY versus paying someone. To understand the streaming income these registrations collect, the Spotify royalties guide breaks down how the money is generated in the first place.