Music Publishing Deals Explained: Choose the Right Agreement

Publishing deals determine how your songwriting income is collected and shared. Choosing the right deal can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars over your career.

What is Music Publishing?

When you write a song, you create a composition (the underlying music and lyrics). This is separate from the master recording (the actual audio file).

Publishing royalties come from:

Types of Publishing Deals

Full Publishing Deal (Traditional)

Co-Publishing Deal (Co-Pub)

Administration Deal (Admin)

Use our [Streaming Royalty Calculator](/calculators/streaming-royalty) to understand how publishing percentages affect your earnings.