What You Need to Know About Compositions

‍What is a composition?

A composition is essentially the written side of a piece of music. For example, if you write lyrics to a song or make an instrumental (a beat), that is a composition and you are entitled to get paid for it. 

So, music publishing can be thought of simply: It’s the royalties (money) generated by a composition. 

‍Once a composition (a song) is created, what rights do you have?

As soon as you create a composition (a song), its rights are traditionally split in half. 

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‍What if I produced the song? ‍

You are entitled to 50% of the composition’s royalties. The artist/songwriter (the person who wrote the lyrics) owns the other 50%. 
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What if I collaborated with someone to help me produce the song?

You and the other producer would split 50% of the royalties based on your contributions. If you contributed as much as they did to the beat, then you get 25% and they get 25%. 
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What if I produced the song and wrote the lyrics?

You are entitled to 100% of the song’s royalties.

What if I collaborated with someone to help me produce the song, and the artist collaborated with someone else to write the song?

‍You and the other producer would split 50% based on your contributions. If you contributed as much as they did to the beat, then you get 25% and they get 25%. The artist and their collaborator would split the other 50% based on their contributions.