# Split sheet

Also known as: Songwriter split sheet, Split agreement

> A split sheet is a short written agreement, signed by everyone who contributed to a song, that records each person's percentage of ownership. A publishing split divides the composition among its writers; a master split divides the recording among its owners. Each must total exactly 100%, and it is best signed at or soon after the session, before anyone's memory differs.

Source: https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/split-sheet · Category: Rights and licensing · Last reviewed: 2026-10-02 · License: CC BY 4.0

## Key facts

- **Records:** Ownership percentages of a work or recording
- **Must total:** 100%
- **Signed by:** Every contributor
- **Kinds:** Publishing split, master split
- **Used for:** PRO and publisher registrations, royalty payouts

## What a split sheet contains

A complete split sheet lists the **song title** and date, then for each contributor their **legal name**, **role**, **ownership percentage**, [performing rights organization](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/performing-rights-organization) and IPI number, **publisher** if any, and **signature**. The percentages must add up to exactly 100. When the recording is also co-owned, a separate master split records those percentages — the people who own a song and the people who own a recording of it are often not the same.

## Why it matters

Collecting societies pay according to the shares registered for a work. If co-writers register shares that add up to more than 100%, the work is typically held in dispute and paid to no one until the conflict is resolved. A split sheet signed by everyone is the evidence that resolves it. It is also the input to every later royalty payout: each statement line is divided according to it.

## When to sign it

The norm is to agree splits **in the room** — at the end of the writing or recording session — while everyone's contribution is fresh and before the song has commercial value. Splits renegotiated after a song succeeds are far more contentious.

Under US law, a song written by several people intending their contributions to merge into one whole is a *joint work*;[1] absent an agreement, its co-owners are generally presumed to hold equal shares, which is rarely what the room actually agreed.

## In practice at SNVRKOTICS

SNVRKOTICS refuses to save a split sheet that does not total exactly 100%, keeps master and publishing splits separate, and allocates every payout run by largest remainder so no cent is lost to rounding.

## Questions

### How do you split a song with no agreement?

Without a written agreement, default rules depend on the jurisdiction; in the United States co-writers of a joint work are generally presumed to own equal shares. That presumption is a reason to sign a split sheet, not a substitute for one.

### Is a split sheet legally binding?

A signed split sheet is evidence of an agreement between the signatories and is generally treated as such. For significant deals, it is usually followed by fuller agreements.

### What is the difference between a master split and a publishing split?

A publishing split divides ownership of the composition among its writers; a master split divides ownership of a specific recording among its owners, such as an artist and a producer.

## References

1. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. "17 U.S. Code § 101 — Definitions (joint work)." https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101

## Related

- [Music publishing](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/music-publishing): Music publishing is the business of owning or administering song copyrights: registering works, licensing them and collecting songwriters' royalties.
- [Master recording](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/master-recording): A master recording is the original fixed recording of a performance, and the separate copyright that protects that recording.
- [International Standard Musical Work Code](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/iswc): The ISWC is an ISO 15707 identifier for a musical work — the composition itself, independent of any recording of it.
- [Music royalties](https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/music-royalties): Music royalties are payments to rights holders each time a song or recording is sold, streamed, performed, licensed or broadcast.

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Cite as: "Split sheet." SNVRKOTICS Wiki, 2026-10-02. https://wiki.snvrkotics.com/split-sheet