Songtrust Alternative: Davincii vs Songtrust

Songtrust is one of the best-known publishing administrators for independent writers. It started in 2011, belongs to Downtown Music Holdings, represents hundreds of thousands of songwriters, and tops nearly every obvious search.

Its ownership changed recently. After a long EU regulatory process that required Virgin to agree to sell Curve, Downtown's royalty and rights-management business, Virgin Music Group finished buying Downtown for $775 million on February 20, 2026. Virgin runs Universal Music Group's independent distribution and artist-services arm, so Songtrust, and CD Baby with it, now sits inside the largest major music company in the world.

This is Davincii's case. We're the younger, smaller company. Anyone can sign up, while Davincii Blueprint, our service that registers a full catalog for you, is invitation-only. The commission is the same at both, so the reason to switch is the agreement around it.

We compared the terms each business publishes: Songtrust's Terms of Service of July 10, 2026, re-checked with its published pricing on October 19, 2026 ($100 per writer upfront, 15% on performance, 20% on non-performance). If either moves, we'll revise this page.

Is Songtrust a publisher, or an administrator

An administrator. Its help center calls it a publishing administrator that registers songs and collects royalties, with no creative services, unlike a traditional publisher that licenses your songs and arranges co-writes. Neither Songtrust nor Davincii takes ownership of a composition.

The same page adds: "If you have never registered a publishing entity before, don't worry; Songtrust will act as your publisher and appear on your registrations." That is the publisher of record on a filing, which the publisher's share needs in order to be released at all, not a claim on the song. Davincii's entity fills the same role. If you run your own publishing company, both keep it on the registrations instead; ask either one before you sign.

The main distinction at a glance

Matching rates, unlike terms

Songtrust's help-center pricing lists 15% for performance and 20% for non-performance royalties, effective January 1, 2025, the same as ours, and both charge only against money recovered. A claim that either has a vastly lower core rate is sales talk.

That page also says: "We only collect your publisher's share. Your writer's share comes directly from your Performing Rights Organization." We work the same way. So 15% is 15% of the publisher half actually collected, not of everything the song earns. Publisher and writer shares explains the split.

Where the contracts differ:

• An upfront $100. Songtrust charges each songwriter a one-time $100 before recovering anything. Davincii earns nothing until you do. See our pricing page.
• The service behind the rate. At Davincii, a named person assembles your catalog, checks older works for unpaid income, and answers you directly. Songtrust serves a very large customer base through self-service software.
• Changing the terms. Songtrust can amend its agreement by notifying users, with continued use treated as acceptance. Davincii needs your written approval to change your rights or rates.
• Exclusivity and the exit, covered below.

The numbers that are not on the pricing page

These sit in Songtrust's Terms of Service and decide when money actually reaches you.

• A $25 payout floor. "If the total Net Sums payable to you for any period do not exceed Twenty-Five U.S. Dollars ($25), then we may carry payment forward to the next accounting period." Small quarters can stack up instead of paying out. We carry balances under $25 forward too.
• Quarterly statements, rendered up to three months after the period closes. On or before April 1 for the period ending December 31, July 1 for March 31, October 1 for June 30, and January 1 for September 30. A January stream is not accounted until July 1. We credit quarterly as well: we close on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 and credit within 30 days. Once money is in your balance and it reaches $25, you can withdraw anytime.
• One year to dispute a statement. Statements are "binding upon you and not subject to any objection for any reason" unless you object in writing within one year of the date rendered, and "generalized" objections are ruled out.
• Silence counts as approval. "Wherever your approval or consent is required pursuant to this agreement, the relevant use shall be deemed to have been approved in the event you fail to respond to a request within ten (10) business days." At Davincii, no sync license issues without your written consent, and an unanswered email is never a yes.
• Arbitration, with a 30-day escape hatch. A binding-arbitration clause and class-action waiver, which you can opt out of only by written notice within 30 days of first registering your account.

None of this is hidden or unusual for the sector, but these clauses shape the year after signing more than the $100 does.

A candid look at Songtrust competitors

• Sentric is the nearest match: no signup charge, an 80/20 writer-favored split, a rolling 28-day agreement. That's a flat 20%, so you skip the $100 and the commitment but pay more on performance. Believe has owned it since 2023.
• CD Baby stopped accepting new releases into Pro Publishing in August 2023. Its successor, CDB Boost, handles sync, a recording-side royalty and US mechanicals, but doesn't register songs with PROs or collect performance money. Since February 2026 it shares Songtrust's owner.
• DistroKid Publishing and Symphonic Publishing tie publishing to distribution. DistroKid's publishing page lists a $75 one-time setup fee per songwriter and a flat 20% commission, so you keep 80%, checked on October 19, 2026: cheaper than Songtrust to start, dearer on performance, and sensible only if DistroKid already distributes you.
• Audiam charges a flat 25% for specialized YouTube and UGC matching. Reservoir Media owns it.
• Davincii: $0 upfront, non-exclusive, a 30-day exit, and the same 15/20.

Headline commission barely varies across open-enrollment providers. What matters more is the upfront cost, an exclusive grant, YouTube and micro-sync claims that start without your asking, and how hard the deal is to end.

Exclusivity and sync rights

We think this is the bigger gap. Under Songtrust's terms, you keep "traditional" sync rights for individual film, game, TV, and advertising licenses. But its exclusive grant automatically includes micro-sync and blanket licenses on TikTok, YouTube, and other UGC or social services, where it may monetize and claim uses of your songs unless you turn the service off in your account. It has no duty to pitch your songs; it passes inbound opportunities to you and documents a deal for its 20% only when you ask and it agrees.

At Davincii, the grant is entirely non-exclusive, with no blanket UGC enforcement by default, and no sync license without your written approval. We'll approach sync supervisors if you ask. A placement we bring carries 35%, one you or your representative bring 20%, as our Terms set out. You can keep a sync agent, license on your own, or hire us one opportunity at a time.

Who keeps the catalog

Both let you keep 100% of the copyright. The difference is the authority granted:

• Davincii gets a non-exclusive grant covering only your share of the songs you submit. You choose which works to include, can remove one or stop adding songs whenever you like, and keep full freedom over everything else.
• Songtrust's grant is exclusive, apart from the traditional-sync carveout, and its discretion is wider: it may offset amounts against any revenue, hold funds during active disputes or claims, and license within industry-standard limits on terms it chooses.

Cases where Songtrust fits better

We genuinely mean this list:

• You prefer automatic YouTube and social claiming at scale, switched on from day one, rather than approving licenses individually
• Your catalog contains fewer than 20 songs and self-service suits you better than a conversation with a person. You can register and enter songs the day you join, while Davincii Blueprint is by invitation
• For outside review or accounting, you want a widely recognized administrator on your statements. Davincii is new and still looks unfamiliar on paper
• You live outside the US and prioritize Songtrust's mature worldwide network: far more clients, a longer history, and a decade of society partnerships probably reach further than we do in smaller territories
• Your current song records need significant cleanup, and you want to fix them at scale through self-service tools

If one of those describes you, Songtrust is a reasonable choice.

Cases where Davincii fits better

• Your streaming catalog is active, has 50+ songs or is expanding quickly, and you want personal administration without paying first
• You already use or plan to hire a sync representative, or simply object to default-exclusive YouTube and micro-sync claims, and want each license approved in writing
• A definite termination schedule matters to you: notice of 30 days, collections for 12 months, then a full stop with no charge on anything received after it
• You want a person who can identify your catalog by name. We keep the roster small on purpose and built it for working independent writers, not major-label operations
• You'd like an invitation to Davincii Blueprint, which finds and registers your whole back catalog for you

If that sounds like you, get started. Signing up is free.

Our recommendation

Already with Songtrust? With the rates equal, moving comes down to service, exclusivity and the exit, weighed against the switch itself: termination takes effect after the calendar quarter ends, collection runs 12 more months, and fees on residual earnings continue until someone else registers the works. If the gain doesn't outweigh that, staying is perfectly reasonable. Choosing fresh? Choose on contract design, and see our comparison with Sentric Music for another open-registration option.

Whichever you choose, register the catalog, because this now has a date on it. US streaming mechanicals that The MLC cannot match sit in its unclaimed pool, and The MLC's own market share page sets out what happens next: the Music Modernization Act requires it to hold those royalties, and keep trying to match them, for a minimum of three years, after which they go out by market share to the copyright owners already in its records. It has made no market share distribution yet. It intends to begin in April 2027, starting with royalties reported for 2021 usage and working forward one usage month at a time. That money reaches other publishers in proportion to their share, not you, and a registration filed afterwards does not bring it back. For the day-to-day work behind the service, read our explanation of publishing administration and the independent songwriter publishing-administration guide.