Glossary
Royalties come wrapped in acronyms. Here's every term used across the site, in plain English — grouped by what it relates to rather than alphabetically, so the pieces connect.
The two copyrights
Composition
Also called the song: the melody, chords and lyrics in the abstract, separate from any one recording. A cover is a new recording of the same composition. Owned by the writer(s). More on Players.
Recording
Also called the master: the specific recorded version you released. A separate copyright from the song written into it, owned by whoever made or paid for the recording.
The collection bodies
PRSPerforming Right Society
Collects performance royalties on the song — whenever your composition is broadcast, streamed, performed live or played in public. Pays songwriters, composers and publishers.
MCPSMechanical-Copyright Protection Society
Collects mechanical royalties on the song — whenever it's reproduced: pressed to disc, downloaded, or the mechanical slice of a stream. A separate membership under “PRS for Music”.
PPLPhonographic Performance Ltd
Collects on the recording — when the master is broadcast on radio or TV, or played in public. Pays performers and the recording's owner. A separate organisation from PRS for Music.
Collection society
An organisation that licenses the use of music, collects the royalties due, and distributes them to its registered members. PRS, MCPS and PPL are the three UK ones most independent artists need.
The codes
ISRCInternational Standard Recording Code
The unique ID for one specific recording. Usually issued automatically by your distributor at release; you supply it when registering a recording with PPL.
ISWCInternational Standard Musical Work Code
The permanent ID for the composition. You don't supply this — the society assigns it when you register the work. A song should end up with exactly one; duplicates split the data and stall payments.
IPI / CAEInterested-party number
Your unique ID as a writer or publisher, assigned when you join a society. It links every work you register back to you.
The money
Performance royalty
Money earned when a song is played to the public — broadcast, streamed, performed live, or played in a venue or shop. Collected for the song by PRS.
Mechanical royalty
Money earned when a song is reproduced or copied — pressed to disc, downloaded, or the mechanical portion of a stream. Collected for the song by MCPS.
Unmatched royalties (“black box”)
Money that's been collected but can't be tied to a registered owner. It sits in a holding account and, after around three years, is redistributed to other artists — lost to whoever should have claimed it. This is the gap.
Royalty splits
How ownership of a song is divided between co-writers, as percentages that must total 100%. Agreeing them in writing before you register prevents conflicting claims that freeze payments.
The people & services
Distributor
The service — DistroKid, TuneCore and the like — that puts your recording onto streaming services and stores and collects its streaming income. It is not a collection society and does not register your song. Mistaking one for the other is the most common and costly mix-up.
Performer
Anyone who plays or sings on a recording — lead, featured or session. PPL pays every credited performer, so each one has to be listed or they don't get paid.
Publisher
A company that administers the song's copyright on a writer's behalf. Independent artists often have none — which is exactly why the registration job falls to them.
Rights-holder
Whoever owns the master recording. If you self-release, that's you — on top of being its performer and, usually, its writer.
New to all this? Start at The Money Gap, or see who collects what.
Coming soon
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