How Do We Split Song Royalties in My Band (Before It Gets Ugly)?

Here's the conversation every band avoids until a song starts earning: who owns what? And here's what the law says if you never have it: a collaboration is a joint work with equal ownership — regardless of contribution. The person who changed one lyric owns as much as the person who wrote the song. That default has ended more bands than creative differences.

How working bands actually split

• Even splits ('the Beatles model' in theory): simple, harmonious, and fine — as long as it's *chosen*, in writing, not defaulted into

• Contribution splits: the writers divide by who brought what — commonly settled per song, the day it's finished, while memories agree

• Music/lyrics splits: 50 to the topline, 50 to the music, divided within each side

There's no wrong choice. There is a wrong time: later.

The one-rehearsal fix

A split sheet per song — everyone's legal name, PRO, IPI number if they have one, and a percentage that totals 100 — signed. That's the entire document. It's what publishers, admins, and PROs will ask for anyway; doing it now means every future registration is paperwork instead of a negotiation.

In Musavise it's free and takes minutes: add the song to your catalog, attach the writers, set the shares, and send each writer a private sign link — typed-name e-signatures, unlimited (commercial e-sign tools cap free tiers at about three documents a month). While you're at it, the band partnership agreement settles the other landmines — the band name, gear, and what happens when someone leaves — in plain language.

One rehearsal of mild awkwardness now, or the default later. Ask any band that's been through it.

All of it lives in one free Musavise account — free means free, within honest limits, and your data exports whenever you want it. Create your free account; it takes about two minutes.