Managing Publishers

Publishers handle the business side of your songs—collecting royalties, licensing compositions, and protecting your works. Setting up publishers correctly ensures royalties flow to the right places.

Why Publishers Matter

Royalty collection - Publishers collect mechanical and performance royalties
Licensing - Handle sync requests for TV, film, and advertising
Rights protection - Monitor and enforce copyright
Platform credits - Appear in detailed credits on streaming platforms

Creating a Publisher

To create a new publisher in LabelGrid:

Navigate to Catalogue → Publishers
Click Add Publisher
Fill in the publisher information
Click Finish to save the publisher profile

Publisher Fields

Field	Required	Description
Name	Yes	Official publisher name
PRO	Recommended	Performance Rights Organization affiliation
IPI	Required if PRO is specified	9-11 digit Interested Parties Information number
ISNI	Optional	16-character International Standard Name Identifier
Controlled	Optional	Whether this is your own controlled publisher (boolean)

IPI Number Format

Specification	Value
Length	9-11 digits
Format	Numeric only (spaces and hyphens are automatically removed)
Example	`00123456789` or `001-2345-6789`

ISNI Format

Specification	Value
Length	Exactly 16 characters
Format	Alphanumeric
Example	`0000000121212121`

Publisher Types

Self-Publishing

If you haven’t signed with a publisher, you can self-publish:

Create a publisher with your own name or a business name
Register as a publisher with your PRO (ASCAP, BMI, etc.)
Collect both the writer’s share AND publisher’s share

Third-Party Publishers

If you’ve signed a publishing deal:

Add your publisher’s information
Use their official name and IPI
Set the correct ownership percentage

Administration Deals

Some publishers offer “admin” deals where they collect royalties but you retain ownership:

Add them as a publisher on your tracks
Specify the admin percentage
Your PRO registration may need updating

Adding Publishers to Tracks

Publishers are linked to tracks through the composition splits:

Open your release
Navigate to a track’s Splits tab
Under Publishing Splits, click Add Publisher
Select or create the publisher
Set the ownership percentage
Save your changes

Ownership Percentages

Publishing splits should reflect your actual agreements:

Standard publishing deal (50/50):

Writer: 50% (writer’s share)
Publisher: 50% (publisher’s share)

Self-published:

Writer/Self-Publisher: 100%

Co-publishing deal:

Writer: 50%
Writer’s Publisher: 25%
Label Publisher: 25%

PRO Affiliations

What is a PRO?

A Performance Rights Organization (PRO) collects royalties when your music is publicly performed (radio, TV, venues, streaming).

Major PROs

Region	Organizations
USA	ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR
UK	PRS for Music
Canada	SOCAN
Australia	APRA AMCOS
Germany	GEMA
France	SACEM

Publisher PRO Requirements

Your publisher should be registered with a PRO. When adding a publisher:

Include their PRO affiliation
Use their registered name exactly
Add their IPI number

Controlled Publishers

The “Controlled” flag indicates publishers you own or control:

When to Mark as Controlled

✅ Your own self-publishing company
✅ A publishing entity you created
✅ Publishers where you’re the sole owner

When NOT to Mark as Controlled

❌ Third-party publishers you’ve signed with
❌ Major label publishing divisions
❌ Co-publishers you don’t control

Publishers on Cover Songs

On a faithful cover, the original composition’s publisher(s) and songwriters keep 100% of the publishing. Your own label or company must not be listed as the publisher on a cover track.

If you list a publisher name on a cover track that matches your own label name or your company name, the release is flagged as “Cover Publisher is Customer Entity” and sent back for changes. The check is a name match against your label or company name — a close or partial match can trigger it too — so swap in the original publisher rather than your own entity.

To fix it: open the cover track’s Splits → Publishers and replace your entity with the original composition’s publisher.

A few related cover-song checks you may see, so you recognize them:

Cover Artist Claiming Publishing — the performing/cover artist should hold 0% publishing.
Original Publishers Missing on Cover — add the original composition’s publisher(s).
Cover License vs Derivative Indicators — a mechanical (cover) licence only covers a faithful reproduction, not a derivative work.

For the full process, see Cover Song Licensing.

Troubleshooting

Publisher not appearing in credits

Verify the publisher was added to the track
Check that the release has been delivered
Allow time for platform updates (can take days)
Ensure the publisher name is spelled correctly

Don’t know publisher’s IPI

Ask your publisher directly
Search PRO databases:
Leave blank if unavailable (not recommended)

Multiple publishers for one song

This is common in co-publishing situations:

Add each publisher separately
Set the correct percentage for each
Ensure percentages total 100%

Best Practices

Get IPI numbers - Always include IPI numbers when possible
Match PRO registration - Use names exactly as registered
Keep records - Document all publishing agreements
Update when changes occur - Keep publisher info current
Verify percentages - Ensure splits match your contracts

Writers & Contributors - Adding songwriter credits
Cover Song Licensing - Crediting publishers and songwriters on covers
Splits and Royalties - How royalties are calculated
Creating a Release - Adding publishers during release creation

Need Help?

If you have questions about publishers or publishing royalties, contact our support team.

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