Catalogue and metadata

Yes - in fact, you should. PRS membership is separate from publishing. As a PRS member, you can register works as self-published, ensuring you capture performance royalties immediately. If you later sign a publishing deal, your publisher will update the registrations to claim their share. Don't wait for a publisher to start protecting your rights. Early registration also helps establish creation dates and ownership, valuable evidence if disputes arise later.  

Unfortunately, there's no automatic notification system when catalogues change hands. Your songs' metadata should transfer to the new owner, but registration updates often lag or get missed entirely. Writers report finding out about catalogue sales months or years later, with royalties potentially misdirected in the interim. Protection strategies: include notification clauses in your original publishing deal, maintain your own database of works with registration numbers, regularly check your royalty statements for anomalies, and ensure your agreements specify how catalogue transfers must be handled.  

Streaming services pay both recording royalties (to artists/labels) and publishing royalties (to songwriters/publishers). Without proper metadata linking your composition to recordings, you miss all mechanical royalties from streams. Even one missing data point - a misspelled name, missing IPI, or incorrect publisher - can prevent matching. The impact compounds: a song with millions of streams could have significant royalties sitting unclaimed. PROs report billions in unmatched royalties globally, much of it from streaming.  

Essential information includes: everyone's legal name and IPI number, publishing affiliation (even if self-published), performing rights organisation membership, contact details (email and mobile), and role in the creation (lyrics, music, or both). Also document: the date and location of the session, working title of the song, and any samples or interpolations used. If you're producing a recording simultaneously, note the artist name and who's handling distribution. The Credits Due split sheet template covers all these elements.  

First, identify which publisher controlled the works when they were created. If you're self-published, you can often fix issues directly through PRS's online portal. If published, you'll need to work through your publisher - but this becomes complex with catalogue acquisitions. Create a spreadsheet documenting all unmatched works, including original registration details and any variant titles (especially translations). If your publisher is unresponsive, PRS can sometimes help mediate. The Ivors Academy can provide additional support and guidance in resolving these issues - another benefit of membership for songwriters facing metadata challenges. 

The music industry loves its acronyms, and many identifiers have evolved over time. IPI (Interested Party Information) used to be called CAE (from the French: Compositeur, Auteur, Editeur). They're the same thing - your unique songwriter/publisher number. Similarly, you might see "IPN" or "International Performer Number" for performer identifiers. When in doubt, the newer terms (IPI, ISNI) are generally preferred, but older systems might still show the legacy names. Your PRS documentation might reference either, but the actual number remains the same.  

An IPI (Interested Party Information) number is your unique international identifier as a songwriter - think of it as your creative passport. You automatically receive one when joining PRS as a writer member. You may have multiple IPIs: one for your legal name and others for professional names or pseudonyms. Keep all your IPIs handy as you'll need them for split sheets, registrations, and any time you're identifying yourself in the global music system. Your IPI stays with you throughout your career, regardless of publisher changes.  

Your song becomes subject to multiple copyright laws simultaneously. Each co-writer's home territory laws may apply to their contribution. Best practice: agree in writing which country's law governs your collaboration and register the work in each writer's home territory. Ensure all writers are members of their local CMOs and that reciprocal agreements exist between societies. Use IPI numbers rather than just names to avoid confusion across different registration systems.  

In the UK, joint authorship requires collaboration with a common design where contributions aren't distinct. Each co-author owns the entire work jointly and needs permission from others to license it exclusively. In the US, joint authors can independently grant non-exclusive licences and must account to co-writers for profits. This difference becomes crucial when working internationally - you may need different agreements for different territories to ensure your work can be properly exploited worldwide.  

Without a written agreement, UK law presumes equal splits between all contributors to a joint work. However, proving who contributed what becomes extremely difficult without documentation. This can lead to registration conflicts at PRS/MCPS, delayed royalty payments, and expensive legal disputes. Unlike some territories, UK law doesn't distinguish between lyrical and musical contributions in determining splits - all creative input is valued equally unless otherwise agreed in writing.  

Use a split sheet at the end of every writing session. The Credits Due campaign provides a free template that captures all essential information: each writer's legal name, IPI number, publishing affiliation, contact details, and agreed percentage splits. Have everyone sign it before leaving the session. This simple document can prevent years of disputes and ensures everyone can be properly registered with PRS/MCPS. If splits aren't finalised, at minimum document who was present and contributed creatively.