Catalog

What Is a Shareholder in Velveteen

Updated June 11, 2026

The short answer

A shareholder in Velveteen holds a named percentage of the master royalties earned by a specific track. Each shareholder record stores an email address, a share percentage between 0 and 100 (exclusive of 0), and optionally a link to a Velveteen user account. Shareholders are per-track: the same person needs a separate shareholder record on every track they co-own.

In Velveteen, a shareholder is the entity that owns a slice of a track's master royalties. It is a record in the track_shareholders table, not a type of user account and not a credits role. You can add anyone with an email address as a shareholder. They do not need a Velveteen account at the time you add them.

What a shareholder record contains

email

The identifier for this shareholder. Used to notify them when added and to link to their Velveteen account if one exists.

share

The percentage of master royalties this shareholder receives. Must be greater than 0 and at most 100. All shares on a track must sum to 100% or less.

user_id

The linked Velveteen account, if one exists with this email. Populated automatically by Velveteen at insert time. Null until the shareholder signs up.

Shareholders are per track

Each shareholder record belongs to a single track. There is no concept of a global shareholder profile or a per-release split that cascades to all tracks. If an EP has four tracks and each is split 50/50 with a co-producer, you add four shareholder records per track: eight records total.

Tip

Set up shareholder splits before submitting a release. Once the release moves past the DRAFT state, the shareholder list locks and changes require a multi-shareholder approval process.

Shareholders are not credits

Adding someone as a shareholder does not add them to the track's credits, and crediting someone as a contributor or performer does not make them a shareholder. If a co-producer should both appear in the credits and receive royalties, you add them in two separate places: once as a contributor in the track's credits tab, and once as a shareholder in the shareholders tab.

Frequently asked questions

How is a shareholder linked to a Velveteen account?+

When you add a shareholder by email, Velveteen looks up a profile with that email and links them via their user_id. If no profile exists yet, user_id stays null until the person signs up with that email address. Once linked, royalties are routed to their account.

Can a track have only one shareholder?+

Yes. A single-shareholder track has one record with whatever percentage you assign. There is no requirement for the shares to reach 100%.

Can an email appear twice on the same track?+

No. The track_shareholders table enforces a unique constraint on (track_id, email). Each email can only appear once per track. To change a shareholder's percentage, update their existing record rather than creating a new one.

Does a shareholder record work across all my tracks?+

No. Shareholders are per-track. If you co-produce three tracks with the same person, you add three shareholder records: one per track. Each record tracks its own percentage and approval status independently.

Is a shareholder the same as a co-writer?+

Not necessarily. A shareholder holds master royalties (revenue from streams and sales). A co-writer holds publishing rights (mechanical and performance royalties collected by PROs). The same person can be both, but they are configured separately in Velveteen.

Related articles

Overview

Per-track royalty splits: what shareholders are, how percentages are assigned, when editing locks, and how multi-shareholder change requests work.

How splits work

Percentages that must sum to 100% or less, distributed to each shareholder when royalty reports are processed.

How royalties work

Master vs. publishing royalties, shareholder splits, DSP reporting lag, and how payouts reach your account.