What Are Writer Performance Royalties?

The difference between writer and publisher share of royalties explained.

Performance royalties are paid to songwriters by the Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) they are affiliated with (ASCAP, BMI, etc.). They have traditionally been split between the songwriters themselves (writer share) and their publisher or publishing entity (publisher share).

For example, performance income might be sent from Spotify (a digital service provider) to ASCAP (a PRO). ASCAP would then send half the money directly to you (the writer) and the other half to Songtrust (your publishing administrator), who would pass it onto you as per our publishing agreement.

This diagram helps to break down how Songtrust distributes your royalties.

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