Challenge · 7 Days · Beginner
The Publishing Foundation Audit
Secure the financial future of one song in one week, creating a template for your entire catalog.
This challenge guides you through a professional audit of a single song's publishing information. By the end of the week, you will have a rock-solid, repeatable checklist for securing the rights and future royalties for every song you write.
The plan, day by day
- Day 1Choose one released or unreleased song. Locate or create a document for all its essential data: title, writers, split percentages, ISRC, and ISWC (if available).
- Day 2Draft a formal split sheet for the song. If you have co-writers, send it to them for signature. If you are the sole writer, sign and date it for your records.
- Day 3Using an AI assistant, prompt it to create a 5-step checklist for registering a song with your specific PRO (e.g., ASCAP, BMI, SESAC).
- Day 4Follow the checklist and register your song with your PRO and SoundExchange. If it is already registered, double-check that all information is 100% accurate.
- Day 5Analyze the song's emotional core. Add 5-10 metadata keywords to your data document describing its mood, instrumentation, and ideal sync placement scenarios (e.g., 'introspective piano,' 'hopeful strings,' 'driving indie rock for car commercial').
- Day 6Research one publishing administrator. Read about their services and how they collect royalties that PROs do not. Understand what you are missing.
- Day 7Consolidate all documents for this song into a single, clearly labeled folder. This is your new template for every song going forward.
