The platform
Destinations
The six registration targets, and what each one needs before a work qualifies.
Record builds the submission file each society accepts. Six destinations ship today. Turn the ones you use on in Settings, then Destinations. A destination you switch off stops appearing in readiness and in exports.
| Destination | Collects | Format |
|---|---|---|
| The MLC | US mechanical royalties | Spreadsheet |
| PROs via MusicMark | Performance royalties from ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN | EBR spreadsheet |
| CWR / AMRA | Global registration | CWR 2.2 file |
| YouTube | YouTube publishing assets | Spreadsheet |
| SoundExchange Direct | Digital performance royalties on the recording | Spreadsheet |
| AllTrack | AllTrack PRO registration | Spreadsheet |
What they all need#
The MLC, MusicMark, CWR, YouTube and AllTrack all register the work. They share a floor:
- A title.
- At least one identifiable writer.
- Writer names, role codes and ownership shares.
- A controlled writer, and a controlled publisher.
- Writer shares that total correctly, and publisher shares that reconcile against them.
- Every controlled writer verified, meaning corroborated by a source or confirmed by a person.
SoundExchange is the exception. It claims the recording, not the work, so it needs none of the writer data above.
What each one adds#
The MLC#
Mechanical royalties in the United States.
Beyond the floor it needs three things. A publisher IPI. A publisher collection share that is positive and totals correctly. A link from each publisher to the writer it collects for.
That link is the one people miss. A publisher with no linked writer weakens the registration, and with two or more writers on the work we cannot guess it. See Send works.
PROs via MusicMark#
One file registers with ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN.
It needs every writer's PRO affiliation, each publisher's PRO, and a publisher-to-writer link. The format caps a work at 10 writers and 10 publisher blocks. A work above either limit is held back rather than truncated.
CWR / AMRA#
Global registration in the industry's standard interchange format, CWR 2.2.
It needs a duration, a valid IPI check digit on every party, and a recognised territory. CWR is the strictest destination we support. A society validates the file mechanically before a person ever sees it, so it refuses a file most readily.
Our CWR validator runs before you download. It refuses a file a society would turn away, and it names the reason.
YouTube#
Publishing assets for YouTube's Content ID and publishing systems. Needs the composition floor, with no extra identifiers.
SoundExchange Direct#
Digital performance royalties on the sound recording, not on the work. Different data entirely:
- An ISRC, which identifies the recording.
- A master share, which is ownership of the recording.
- A claim basis, which must be
Copyright OwnerorAuthorized Collection Designee.
Writer data is not required and not used. A work can be ready for SoundExchange and not ready for the MLC, or the reverse.
AllTrack#
AllTrack PRO registration. One row per song, so it registers at most 5 writers and 5 publishers inline. A work with more parties than that needs another route.
Why a work is held back#
A work appears in an export only when it passes that destination's checks. The usual reasons it does not:
| Reason | Fix |
|---|---|
| A controlled writer is unverified | Confirm the writer, or let enrichment corroborate them. |
| No publisher-to-writer link | Set the link. With one writer we infer it; with two or more we cannot. |
| Missing IPI | Resolve the writer against the registries. |
| Shares do not reconcile | Check writer ownership against publisher collection shares. |
| Missing duration | Required by CWR only. |
| Too many parties | EBR caps at 10, AllTrack at 5. |
Readiness is per destination. A catalogue is rarely ready for everything at once, and that is normal: each society asks for different data.