You (or your publisher) must register the shares of the new composition with a Publishing Rights Organization (PRO), such as ASCAP, BMI or PRS, including the original publishers' and writers' shares. This registration should be similar to the registration you've entered on the previous page, but how you practically register this data varies due to differences between different PROs.
To help you as much as possible we have calculated examples on how to register your new song based on the information you have already provided. Please note that these are just examples and you should verify that the numbers here are correct before you register.
To make things even more complicated, when registering with some of these organizations it's not always possible to register correctly. PRS for Music in the UK, for example, doesn't allow you to register any publishers for your song if you are registered with them as a songwriter. For reference, here's a list of global publishing rights organizations.
Registration guide: BMI (USA) or similar
When you register at BMI (USA) or a similar PRO the total shares add up to 200% and writers can use more than half the total amount. The numbers shown if you choose this reflect that and you should be able to register your new song correctly by using them.
Registration guide: ASCAP (USA) or similar
When you register at ASCAP (USA) or a similar PRO only 50% can be given to writers and 50% to publishers. That means you only have a writers share for your new writers that is 50% minus the original writers, and only a publishers share for your new publishers that is 50% minus the original publishers and Tracklib – to make sure original rightsholders and Tracklib get their shares.
If you are unsure about registering at ASCAP, we suggest that you go back to the previous step to make sure the split is divided evenly between publishers and writers or contact ASCAP directly for more information.
The suggestion shown here is based on the same proportions that you specified in the previous step. So, for example, if you had two new writers with 60% and 30% respectively, our suggestion is that the remaining writers share (again, 50% minus all original writers) is split using the same proportions – two thirds to the first writer, and one third to the second.
Registration guide: With the help of a publisher
If you have a publisher they should have access to register your song exactly as specified in the previous step. Give your publisher the same shares as specified here and ask them to register your song using the specified shares.
Registration guide: PRS (UK), STIM (Sweden) or similar
When you register at PRS (UK), STIM (Sweden) or a similar PRO as a writer you can only register new writers, you cannot register any publishers. Since your new song needs to have both the publisher and writer shares, make sure to connect all the writers to their relevant publishers in Step 2 so we can calculate the splits correctly and then you can register the splits provided.
Registration guide: Other PROs
This will help you by showing you the shares to register at PROs that are not ASCAP, BMI, PRS, or STIM where the total shares add up to 100%.
ISWC
ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code) is a unique, permanent and internationally recognized ISO reference number for the identification of musical works. All registered songs will receive an ISWC. However, since this usually arrives at a later stage, the ISWC field is optional.
When you receive your ISWC code, please email it to support@tracklib.com together with your ISRC code so we can identify your song.