Resources
Printable templates you can download, print, and fill in. Plus a curated directory of the publishing administrators, performing rights organisations, and collection societies every working songwriter should know about.
Printable templates
Blank PDFs designed to be printed and signed by hand. Keep them in a folder, a Dropbox, or tape them to your studio wall.
Industry directory
A non-exhaustive list of the organisations that handle the money side of songwriting. Not affiliate links. Not endorsements. Just who does what, so you can find the right door to knock on.
UK & Ireland
US & Global
Which of these do I actually need?
If you're a songwriter — not a performing artist — the short answer is: one PRO (ASCAP, BMI, PRS, SOCAN, APRA etc. — whichever covers your country), and one publishing administrator (Songtrust, Sentric, CD Baby, etc.). That gets you the majority of the money your songs earn globally.
If you're also the performer on the recording, add PPL (UK) or SoundExchange (US) to collect your neighbouring-rights income, which is a separate pot of money with your name on it.
If you self-publish in the US, register with The MLC so you get the mechanical royalties from US streams. Everyone else's admin covers this automatically.
A note on choosing between them
Most of these services won't move the needle massively for a writer earning under a few hundred pounds a year. But they will stop you missing out on money that's already been collected with your name on it — money that gets written off as "unmatched" if nobody claims it. The difference between signing up and not is the difference between "I don't earn much from songwriting" and "I earn the same amount, but actually receive it."