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Songtrust and Publishing Royalties: Collect What You're Owed

💰 Music Business ⏱️ 14 min read 📅 January 2026

The Missing Money

Many independent artists believe that once they've uploaded their music to DistroKid or another distributor, they're collecting all their earnings. This is a common misconception. While distributors collect your recording royalties (master royalties), they do not collect your publishing royalties. If you haven't set up a publishing administrator like Songtrust, you are likely leaving up to 50% of your earnings on the table.

Recording vs. Publishing

Every song has two copyrights:

  1. The Master: The specific recording of the song. (Collected by your distributor).
  2. The Composition: The underlying melody, lyrics, and structure. (This is what "publishing" is all about).
Even if you're a one-person band who writes and records everything, you are both the performer and the songwriter. You deserve to be paid for both.

What Does Songtrust Do?

Songtrust is a global publishing administrator. They don't own your rights; they just do the paperwork to collect your money from societies all over the world.

  • Performance Royalties: Generated when your song is played on the radio, in a venue, or streamed on Spotify. (Partially collected by PROs like BMI or ASCAP).
  • Mechanical Royalties: Generated whenever a song is "reproduced"—every time someone hits play on a streaming service. PROs do not collect these.
Songtrust registers your songs with over 50 collection societies globally to make sure every cent finds its way back to you.

PROs (BMI/ASCAP) vs. Songtrust

A Performance Rights Organization (PRO) only collects performance royalties. In the US, they don't collect mechanical royalties. This means if your song is streamed in Europe, a US PRO might struggle to get the mechanical portion of that revenue back to you. Songtrust bridge this gap by acting as your global publishing representative.

How to Set Up Properly

To ensure you're collecting 100% of your music monetization potential, follow this checklist:

  1. Sign up with a distributor (like DistroKid) for your master royalties.
  2. Sign up with a PRO (BMI, ASCAP, PRS, etc.) as a songwriter.
  3. Sign up with Songtrust and link your PRO account.
  4. Register every song on both your distributor and Songtrust.

Is It Worth the Cost?

Songtrust usually charges a one-time registration fee and takes a small percentage (around 15%) of the royalties they collect. If you only have a few hundred streams, it might take a while to earn back the fee. However, if your music is getting global traction, the "black box" royalties (money that is sitting unclaimed) can add up to thousands of dollars very quickly.

Final Thoughts

Treat your music like a business. If you're serious about your career, you need to understand where your money is coming from. Don't let your publishing royalties vanish into the "black box" of unclaimed revenue. Set up your publishing administration early, and focus on what you do best: making great music. You've earned it!

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