Split sheets per co-write
Every co-writing session needs a written split agreed that day, because publishers and societies cannot pay anyone until the percentages are documented.
For songwriters
The paperwork behind every song a songwriter writes
A songwriter's income depends on splits signed, works registered and statements queried on time, and none of that work happens at the piano.
No account needed to see the proposed desk.
The recurring work
What songwriters have to keep on top of
Every one of these has a date attached, a document behind it, and somebody who notices when it slips. This is what goes on the desk.
Work registration with the society
Each finished song is registered with PRS, ASCAP, BMI or the local society, with correct writer and publisher shares, before it is placed or released.
Catalogue updates after placements
When a song is cut, synced or released, the registration has to be amended so the recording, the publisher and the society all point at the same work.
Royalty statements from publishers and societies
Statements arrive on different cycles from each society and publisher, and each one has to be reconciled against the catalogue before queries are raised.
Mechanical and sync licensing
Mechanical royalties from streams and physical sales and sync fees from film, television and advertising are licensed separately, with their own paperwork per use.
Withholding tax forms for overseas income
Foreign societies withhold tax unless treaty relief forms are filed, which are dated, country-specific and lapse if not renewed.
Publishing administration dates
Administration and sub-publishing deals carry term end dates and reversion windows, and rights move back to the writer only if notice is given in time.
Cover song licensing
Releasing a cover or using someone else's song requires a licence from the publisher, and the terms affect what can be sold and streamed.
What it costs to carry it
A songwriter's catalogue is its own business, and the work that sustains it is clerical. Splits agreed verbally in a co-write session are worthless to a publisher; a song registered under the wrong title sits unpaid; a statement query raised after the society's deadline is simply refused. The habit of waiting until a payment looks wrong costs income that never appears, and the paperwork only works if someone is on it each month.
What the desk takes over
The desk works this list to its own schedule and reports what it did.
Split records kept current
Splits agreed after each session are captured and held against the song, with a follow-up to the co-writers when a signature is still missing.
Registration and amendment
New songs are filed with the correct society with writer and publisher shares, and existing registrations are amended when a placement or release changes the details.
Statement reconciliation
Statements from publishers and societies are gathered on their own cycles, matched against the catalogue, and the gaps listed with the evidence needed to query them.
Treaty forms and renewals
Withholding relief forms are tracked per country and per society, with renewals raised before expiry so foreign income is not taxed at the higher rate.
What stays with the songwriter
The writing stays with the writer: which sessions to take, which offers to accept, and how a song should be developed. The desk keeps the registrations, splits and statements aligned around that. The division is right because a catalogue is only worth what the paperwork says it is.
Questions
Does a split sheet signed at the session matter if the song is never released?
Yes: an unreleased song can still be cut by another artist or used in a sync, and the split has to be documented before a publisher or society can pay anyone. A late split is a dispute; an immediate one is a form.
How are catalogue-wide statement queries handled?
Statements are matched line by line against the registered catalogue, and only the lines that do not reconcile are raised. The desk prepares the query and the supporting detail, and the writer decides whether to send it.
What is missed most often on a writer's calendar?
Reversion and term end dates in publishing deals, and withholding relief forms for foreign income. Both are dated, both are easy to forget, and both change what the writer is paid.
Put the songwriter's recurring work on the desk
Start with a name, a website and one sentence about what the business does. The desk proposes the list; the songwriter corrects it.