Publishing Administration for Independent Songwriters

If you're an independent songwriter, you eventually run into the question: do I need a publishing administrator, and if so, who?

Short answer: probably yes if you have any meaningful streaming activity, sync potential, or international audience. The publishing system is fragmented across dozens of organizations and a few hundred international rights bodies; running it yourself is a part-time job. A good administrator does that work for a percentage of what they recover.

Long answer: there are real differences between providers, the deals are not all the same, and the wrong choice can lock up your rights or leak income for years. Here's what to actually evaluate. (If you need the plain-English primer first, start with what publishing administration is.)

What a publishing administrator does

A publishing admin handles the administrative side of publishing rights:

• Registration with PROs — ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, plus their international equivalents (PRS in the UK, GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, JASRAC in Japan, and roughly 60 others coordinated through CISAC)
• MLC registration for US streaming mechanicals
• HFA / direct mechanical licensing for physical and download mechanicals
• SoundExchange for digital performance on the master side (when applicable)
• International collection — through reciprocal agreements or sub-publisher relationships
• Sync licensing — varies by admin; some handle it actively, some only collect after a deal closes
• Royalty audit and recovery — chasing unmatched money sitting in collection society pools

What an admin does NOT do (usually):

• Sign you to a publishing deal (different from admin — a deal involves an advance, often exclusive ownership stake, longer term)
• Develop your career as a writer (no A&R, no co-writes, no song pitching beyond sync)
• Negotiate record deals or master ownership

If a "publishing admin" tries to sell you on artist development, they're selling you a publishing deal in admin clothing. Different product, different math.

What it costs

Two main pricing models:

Commission only (what we use)

The admin takes a percentage of the royalties they actually collect for you, and nothing else. Davincii's rates are 15% on performance royalties and 20% on mechanicals. If we don't collect anything, we don't earn anything.

This model:

• Has zero upfront cost
• Aligns the admin's incentives with yours (they earn when you earn)
• Has no minimum catalog size
• Works for indie writers at every revenue level

Commission plus fixed fees

The same commission structure, with setup or recurring fees added on top. Per their published terms as of mid-2026: Songtrust charges the same 15% performance / 20% mechanical commission but adds a one-time $100 registration fee per songwriter, and CD Baby Pro and DistroKid Publishing charge annual per-release or add-on fees alongside their commission.

This model:

• Costs money before anything is collected
• Per-release fees stack as the catalog grows, and are owed whether or not a release earns
• Often comes bundled with distribution, which ties your publishing admin to your distributor

Both are legitimate. Compare the total cost on your actual catalog, not the headline rate — on a large tail catalog, fixed fees can exceed the commission.

Other costs to watch

• Setup fees. Some admins charge $50-$300 to onboard. Davincii doesn't.
• Per-registration fees. Rare but exists. Avoid.
• Sync commission. When a sync deal closes, the admin often takes 15-25% on top of the back-end performance royalties. This is on the gross of the sync fee, separate from the admin percentage.
• Audit fees. Some admins charge for unmatched-royalty recovery work. We don't.

Exclusivity and term

Read the contract carefully. The two terms that matter most:

Exclusivity

Is the admin the only entity that can administer your songs during the term?

• Exclusive admin is the norm — most admins want exclusivity on the songs you submit. Songs you don't submit stay yours to deal with however you want.
• Carve-outs matter. Songs already at another publisher should be carved out so you don't accidentally double-administer.
• Sync rights specifically — some admins take exclusive sync rights even if they don't run a sync agency. That's a problem if you have a sync agent already. Negotiate this out.

Term

How long are you locked in, and what happens after?

• Initial term. 1-3 years is typical. 1-year auto-renewing is most common.
• Termination notice. 30-90 days. Davincii is 30.
• Post-termination collection window. This is the big one. After you leave, the admin keeps collecting royalties earned during your term for some period after — typically 6-24 months. Their fee continues to apply during that window.
  • 6 months is short and writer-friendly.
  • 12 months is industry-standard. Davincii's window is 12 months.
  • 24+ months locks income up post-departure. Avoid.

After the post-termination window, the admin's rights end completely. Any royalties earned after that point flow directly to you (or to whoever you appoint next).

What to look for

The questions worth asking before you sign:

1. What's your fee? Is it on recovered royalties or on all royalties flowing through?
2. Do you take exclusivity on sync, or only on registration?
3. What's the term length? What's the termination notice? What's the post-termination collection window?
4. Do you administer the publisher side, or do I need my own publisher account?
5. Do you actively work the unmatched pools — MLC and international CMOs — or only collect what flows in passively?
6. What's your statement cadence and detail level?
7. Do you pay through Stripe / ACH / PayPal, or only paper checks?
8. What happens to my registrations after I leave? Do you de-register, or do they sit with you?

Honest admins will answer all of those clearly. The ones that hand-wave or change the subject are the ones to be careful about.

What Davincii is built for

We're an admin specifically for independent songwriters with active catalogs — not the major label / major publisher pipeline. Our model:

• 15% on performance royalties, 20% on mechanicals — commission only, nothing upfront
• 12-month post-termination collection window
• 30-day termination notice
• 100% copyright retained by the writer at all times
• No sync exclusivity — keep your sync agent if you have one
• We register every society we work with (ASCAP, BMI, MLC, IMRO, SOCAN, more being added)
• We handle the publisher side through our own publisher entities at each society

If you want to compare us directly to Songtrust, see /vs/songtrust. If you want the registration mechanics for ASCAP, BMI, or the MLC specifically, each has its own guide linked above.

If you want to talk about whether we're a fit for your catalog: apply for an artist account. We respond within 48 hours.