Publishing & Royalty Administration
Your lawyer makes sure every stream of money your songs generate is registered, collected, and actually paid to you in full.
What This Covers
Putting your song on Spotify is not the same as collecting every dollar it earns. One track can pay out through several separate pipes — performance royalties from your PRO, mechanicals through the MLC, digital-radio master royalties from SoundExchange, streaming through your distributor, and sync fees — and each one only reaches you if your works are registered correctly and your splits match across every system. Publishing and royalty administration is the work of making sure the money your songs generate is actually claimed and paid, instead of sitting in an unmatched pool with your name nowhere on it.
Your lawyer steps in where ownership is on the line. Your lawyer reviews any co-publishing, admin, or publishing deal before you sign — reading the term, the split, and whether you keep your copyrights — so an advance never quietly signs away your catalog. Your lawyer directs a contractual royalty audit when a statement looks off, resolves split disputes when collaborators or a sample muddy who owns what, and presses a company that acknowledges money it owes you but won't release it.
Why It Matters to You
Hip-hop records are collaboration-heavy — a co-produced beat, a hook writer, three features — and any single mismatched split can freeze payment on a song that's actively streaming. Register only as a writer and you may leave roughly half your publishing uncollected, because nobody claimed the publisher's share.
The upside is real. Much of this you can set up yourself for free, and your older catalog may already have earned money waiting in unclaimed pools. When the stakes turn to ownership or a dispute, having a music lawyer in your corner is how you protect a catalog you spent years building.
The Services We Offer
The Publishing & Royalty Administration services Done Deal Digital offers, performed by a licensed attorney you engage directly.
PRO Registration (BMI/ASCAP/SESAC)
Your lawyer sets you up as a writer and publisher so you collect performance royalties when your music is played.
Publishing Entity & Admin Setup
Your lawyer establishes your own publishing company and registers works so you keep the publisher's share.
Mechanical Royalties & The MLC
Your lawyer registers your songs with the Mechanical Licensing Collective so you collect streaming mechanicals that often go unclaimed.
Split Registration & Conflict Resolution
Your lawyer files your ownership splits with the PROs and The MLC and resolves disputes when collaborators' numbers don't match.
Royalty Audits
Your lawyer hires or directs an audit of a label or distributor's books to find money they should have paid you.
Unpaid Royalty Recovery
Your lawyer chases down and recovers royalties from PROs, SoundExchange, distributors, and platforms that you're owed but haven't been paid.
SoundExchange & Neighboring Rights
Your lawyer registers you with SoundExchange and neighboring-rights collectives to collect digital-radio and foreign master royalties.
Co-Publishing & Admin Deal Review
Your lawyer reviews the publishing, co-pub, and admin deals you're offered so you understand the term, the split, and what happens to your copyrights.
Prefer to learn it yourself first? Get the Publishing & Royalty Administration guide — $39 →
Start With a Free, No-Pressure Intro
Tell us what you're dealing with - a contract, a copyright, a name dispute, a bad deal - and we'll connect you with the right music lawyer. You'll engage and pay the attorney directly under their own agreement. Done Deal Digital is not a law firm and never collects or shares in any legal fee.
Request a Music Lawyer →Important Legal Notice
DONE DEAL DIGITAL IS NOT A LAW FIRM and does not provide legal advice or legal services. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
The legal services described here are provided solely by an independent attorney licensed in California, whom Done Deal Digital connects clients with. Done Deal Digital does not employ, supervise, or control that attorney and is not responsible for the legal services provided.
No attorney-client relationship is formed by this website or by contacting Done Deal Digital. An attorney-client relationship is created only by a separate written engagement agreement signed directly between you and the attorney.
You engage and pay the attorney directly. Done Deal Digital does not collect, hold, share in, or receive any portion of any legal fee. Any referral is non-exclusive, and you are free to choose any attorney you wish.
Communications you send through this page are not confidential or privileged. Do not send confidential or time-sensitive information here. Results depend on the facts of each matter; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.