Collaborating on music is a beautiful thing. Producers, artists, and/or songwriters come together to create magic. The successful creation of a collaborative work requires conversations amongst contributors. What is each person’s expected contribution to the work? What credits would be given for each measure of contribution? How would the generated royalty from this work be distributed amongst each contributor?
Split sheets: what are they?
In every business agreement terms are negotiated, roles are determined, and expected benefits are specified. A split sheet is one of the documents that represents the fine details of a collaboration. Particularly as it concerns who contributed what and who gets paid what.
Remember, last week we talked about the duties of a royalty manager. They interpret the contents of documents such as split sheets and determine the royalty share each contributor receives based on pre-agreed splits.
Split sheets are necessary in any collaboration. It sets the foundation of the agreement and protects the contributor’s interest. It is a good place to start to avoid legal disputes or “stories that touch” which usually come up after a piece of work becomes successful.
What does a split sheet look like
A typical split-sheet document would specify
- The name of the composition or recording.
- Details of each contributor’s personal information (names, contact, and publishing information).
- Their role or contribution to the particular body of work.
- The ownership percentage of each contributor. Royalties from the work are shared based on these splits.
If you have read this piece to this point, congratulations. You now know what split sheets are and why they are so important. However, ensure that the document is signed by all contributors though, e get why.
Finally, Royalti.io offers a simple and transparent system for recording split sheet contracts and automatically calculating royalty shares for each contributor added to a musical work. As a record label, distributor, or artiste, the platform allows you to
- combine Royalty data files from different DSPs and distros into a simple dashboard.
- Manage royalty shares and payments based on pre-agreed splits.
- Grant contributors full or managed access to view their accrued royalties calculated from Splits formulae.
Sign up for FREE, or reach out to learn more about how we can help you. You can also check out the demo to get a feel of the platform.
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