In partnership with
So, should you start your own publishing company? If you're writing and releasing your own songs, it can absolutely be worth it. Running your own publishing setup means you collect 100% of the publisher's share.
Starting your own publishing company as an independent musician or producer is less about “starting a company” and more about taking control of your songwriting income and rights.
The tradeoff? You (or someone you hire) need to handle the admin: registering your work, tracking royalties, and managing splits. But you as the publisher get to stay in control, keep your rights and build equity in your songs over time. You also get to collect 100% of the publisher’s share instead of giving it to a third party.
How Publishing Royalties Work
You don’t have to form a legal publishing company (like an LLC) to keep your publishing royalties. But in the world of music rights, the royalty pie is split into two halves:
Writer’s share (50%) — always paid directly to the songwriter.
Publisher’s share (50%) — goes to the “publisher,” which can be you… if you set it up that way.
If you don’t have a publishing company registered with your performing rights organization (PRO), the publisher’s share of performance royalties can go uncollected even though it’s technically yours. That means you're leaving 50% of your publishing income on the table.
Owning your publishing lets you make more money from royalties and decide who can use your music under what terms.
Again, every song generates two halves of publishing income: the writer’s share and the publisher’s share. As a songwriter, you automatically earn the writer’s share. But the publisher’s share must be assigned to a publishing entity like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC to collect performance royalties when music is played publicly.
If you do not claim a publisher’s share yourself, that money may go uncollected or be controlled by someone else. Here is why many independent artists eventually start their own publishing company.
Control Your Professional Catalog
Publishing ownership is about who controls your songs as intellectual property. When you own your publishing company, your compositions become assets within a catalog you control. This matters when opportunities come up like sync placements in film or commercials, sampling requests from other artists, catalog sales, and more.
Having a registered publishing entity also signals that you understand how the business side of songwriting works. When you collaborate with other writers, producers, or studios, it becomes much easier to handle split sheets, copyright registrations, royalties and licensing agreements.
Instead of writing “no publisher” on paperwork, you can list your own publishing company.
Collect More Royalties
Publishing companies also help manage registration with organizations that track additional revenue streams.
For example: The Mechanical Licensing Collective collects mechanical royalties from streaming services in the U.S. and SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for master recordings.
While some royalties go to writers directly, having a publishing entity makes it easier to properly register songs and track income across platforms.
Build Long-Term Music Assets
Publishing is one of the most valuable parts of the music business because songs can generate revenue for decades.
Artists like Taylor Swift, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z have emphasized the importance of owning publishing; songwriting catalogs can be licensed, sold, or leveraged later.
Even at the independent level, owning your publishing means your catalog grows into a real business asset over time.
Why You Should Own Your Own Publishing
The biggest reason independent musicians start their own publishing company is simple: no one else will manage the business of your songs for you.
In today’s independent music landscape, you do not need a traditional publisher to operate professionally. What you do need are systems that track ownership, royalties, and collaborations so your work continues paying you long after the recording session ends.
Owning your publishing is one of the foundational systems that turns songwriting from a creative activity into a sustainable business for many artists.
Want to collaborate with StudioBook on Instagram? Take videos of your studio sessions, add “Inspired by @StudioBook.io” in the caption and add us as a collaborator!
Here’s how I use Attio to run my day.
Attio is the AI CRM with conversational AI built directly into your workspace. Every morning, Ask Attio handles my prep:
Surfaces insights from calls and conversations across my entire CRM
Update records and create tasks without manual entry
Answers questions about deals, accounts, and customer signals that used to take hours to find
All in seconds. No searching, no switching tabs, no manual updates.
Ready to scale faster?