How to Register Your Songs With a Performing Rights Organisation
- 10 Nov 2026
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Registering your songs with a performing rights organisation (PRO) is how you get paid when your music is played on radio, TV, in venues and on streaming services. It takes about ten minutes per song, and royalties for unregistered songs are often never paid to you.
Which PRO to join
Join the society in the country where you live or pay tax. Examples:
- UK: PRS for Music
- US: ASCAP or BMI (you can join only one as a writer). SESAC and GMR are invitation-only.
- Germany: GEMA. France: SACEM. Canada: SOCAN. Australia and New Zealand: APRA AMCOS.
Your society collects your royalties worldwide through agreements with societies in other countries. Costs differ: PRS for Music charges a one-off joining fee for writers, while ASCAP and BMI are free for songwriters to join. Check the current fees on your society's website.
What you need for each song
- The exact song title, plus any alternative titles.
- Every writer's legal name, their role (composer, lyricist or both) and their share. Shares must add up to 100%.
- Each writer's society and IPI number, if they are members. Ask your co-writers for theirs.
- Publisher details, if any writer has a publisher.
- Recording details, such as the ISRC and the performing artist, where the form asks for them.
Step by step
- Join as a writer member and wait for your membership and IPI number.
- Register the work in the member portal before or right after release.
- Make sure co-writers register the same shares. Conflicting registrations are held until they match.
- Report live performances, called setlists or live notifications, if your society pays for them.
- Check your statements: songs with no income for a long time may have registration problems.
Common mistakes
- Different names in different places. Use the same legal name on your release credits, your society registration and your split sheets.
- Registering only your own share. Register the whole song with all writers.
- Waiting until a song is successful. Many societies have time limits for claiming past royalties.
- Forgetting instrumentals. Instrumental compositions are works too and earn performance royalties.
- Thinking the distributor does it. Distribution and PRO registration are separate. See publishing royalties explained.
Also register your recordings
If you are a performer or own your masters, you may also earn neighbouring rights when the recording is played in public. That is a different organisation; read neighbouring rights explained.
When you create a release on SpaceMedia, enter the same writer names and shares you registered, so your recordings and songs can be matched.
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Register on SpaceMedia
Begin your music publishing journey by signing up and creating a free account on SpaceMedia.
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Choose the plan that suits you best
Select from a variety of membership options to find the one that aligns perfectly with your music distribution needs.
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Submit your music for distribution
Create a new release and upload your tracks to have them distributed across various platforms.
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Quick Review
Our team promptly evaluates your uploaded tracks, ensuring they meet our quality standards before distribution.
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Get Paid
Once your music is distributed and gains traction, we ensure timely compensation for your creative work.
SpaceMedia delivers music to a broad and changing network of streaming, download, social, and music-identification platforms. This can include major services such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, SoundCloud, Tidal, Pandora, Boomplay, Anghami, iHeart, JioSaavn, KKBOX, NetEase Cloud Music, Tencent, Qobuz, and other supported partners.
The exact network can change as platforms update territories, rules, and delivery requirements. SpaceMedia gives you access to supported distribution channels, but no distributor can guarantee that every platform will accept every release in every country.
Most major streaming services do not let every artist upload music directly. A distributor like SpaceMedia delivers your audio, artwork, metadata, and rights information to supported platforms so your release can appear on services such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, and others.
Create an account, choose the plan that fits your needs, upload the final release files, review the details, and submit. SpaceMedia reviews Free submissions within 5 business days, Premium submissions within 2 business days, and Label submissions within 1 to 2 business days. Store publishing happens afterwards.
You can monetize eligible music on supported video platforms through Content ID when your plan includes it. Content ID is currently included with Premium and Label, and it is not included with the Free plan.
Only submit music you fully control for Content ID. Tracks with uncleared samples, non-exclusive beats, royalty-free loops used by many creators, public-domain recordings, or disputed rights may be rejected or may cause claims that need to be resolved.
Submit your release through SpaceMedia and choose distribution to social music platforms where available. Eligible releases can be delivered to platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and other supported social or short-form music services.
Once delivered, each platform decides how the music appears, how long processing takes, and which features are available in each territory. Use accurate metadata and clean audio to reduce avoidable delivery issues.
Independent music distribution lets artists release music to streaming, download, and social platforms without signing to a traditional record label. You stay in control of your music while using a distributor to deliver it to supported services.
With SpaceMedia, you can manage releases, artist details, earnings, and payout information from your account. All standard plans let users keep 100% of standard DSP royalties.
The Free plan lets artists release music without an upfront distribution fee and keep 100% of standard DSP royalties.
This gives new artists a way to start releasing music before paying for a yearly plan. Premium and Label add more primary-artist capacity and tools. All standard plans include 100% of standard DSP royalties.
Yes. In many cases you can transfer existing releases to SpaceMedia while keeping them live, as long as you submit the same metadata, audio, artwork, UPC, and ISRCs where available.
Keep the old release live until the SpaceMedia delivery is live and matched correctly. Removing the old version too early can interrupt availability or make stores treat the transfer as a new release instead of matching it to the existing one.