What Are Music Credits?
The complete guide to understanding who gets credited on a song, why it matters, and how credits connect to royalties.
Every song you hear is the product of many creative contributors. Music credits are the formal record of everyone who helped create a recording — from the songwriter who penned the lyrics to the engineer who mixed the final master. Credits are not just about recognition; they are the mechanism through which billions of dollars in royalties flow to the right people every year.
In the streaming era, accurate credits have become more important than ever. A single song can generate royalty payments to dozens of individuals and organizations across multiple countries. Without proper credits, money gets stuck in “black boxes” — pools of unmatched royalties that can never reach the people who earned them.
The Anatomy of a Song Credit
A fully credited song has two distinct layers: the composition (the underlying song) and the recording (the specific performance captured on tape or in a DAW). Each layer has its own set of credits, rights, and royalty streams.
Composition (Publishing Side)
The underlying musical work — melody, lyrics, harmony
Created the melody and musical arrangement. In classical music, this may be the sole credited party. In pop, the composer often collaborates with lyricists.
Wrote the lyrics (the words). Sometimes called the “lyricist.” When one person writes both music and words, they may be credited as “Composer/Lyricist” or simply “Writer.”
Adapted or rearranged an existing composition. Arrangers may receive songwriter credit depending on how significantly they transformed the original work.
Manages the business side of the composition. Publishers administer licensing, collect royalties, and pitch songs for placements. Major publishers include Sony/ATV, Universal Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell.
Recording (Master Side)
The specific recorded performance — the sound you hear
The artist(s) who performed the song — lead vocalists, instrumentalists, background singers, and featured artists. Performers earn royalties from master recording streams, sales, and digital radio play (via SoundExchange in the US). Featured artists typically receive a share of the master; non-featured (session) musicians may receive a one-time fee or union-scale payment through organizations like the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund.
Oversaw the creative and technical process of making the recording. Producers shape the sound, direct sessions, and often contribute to the arrangement. They may earn points (percentage of master royalties) and sometimes songwriter credit.
Handled the technical recording process — setting up microphones, running the console, editing takes. Mixing and mastering engineers are specialized roles within this category.
The record label owns or licenses the master recording. Labels fund recording, distribute music to platforms, and market releases. They typically own the master and recoup their investment before the artist sees profits.
How Credits Map to Royalties
When a song is streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other platform, it generates multiple types of royalties — each flowing to different credited parties:
Mechanical Royalties
Paid to songwriters and publishers for the right to reproduce their composition. In the US, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) collects mechanical royalties from streaming services at rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board. The current rate is approximately $0.0038 per stream. These flow based on the ISWC and IPI identifiers.
Performance Royalties
Paid to songwriters and publishers when a song is publicly performed — radio, TV, live venues, and interactive streaming. Collected by Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC (US), PRS (UK), and GEMA (Germany). Each songwriter must be registered with a PRO and identified by their IPI number.
Master Recording Royalties
Paid to the recording owner (usually the label or distributor) for the right to stream or sell the specific recording. These are tracked via the ISRC identifier. The label typically takes 60-85% and passes the remainder to the artist based on their contract.
Digital Performance Royalties (SoundExchange)
Paid to performers and labels when recordings are played on non-interactive digital services — satellite radio (SiriusXM), internet radio (Pandora), and cable music channels. In the US, SoundExchange collects these royalties and splits them: 50% to the master owner (label), 45% to the featured artist, and 5% to a fund for non-featured performers (session musicians, background vocalists). SoundExchange distributed over $1 billion in 2023. Performers must register directly — labels cannot collect the artist's share.
Neighboring Rights (International)
Outside the US, performers and labels earn neighboring rights royalties when recordings are broadcast on terrestrial radio, TV, and in public spaces (shops, restaurants, gyms). Collected by organizations like PPL (UK), GVL (Germany), SENA (Netherlands), and ABRAMUS (Brazil). Unlike the US, many countries pay performers for FM/AM radio play. These royalties can be significant — UK artists earn substantial income from PPL that has no US equivalent for traditional radio.
Sync Licensing Fees
Paid when a song is synchronized to visual media — film, TV, commercials, video games, social media. Sync requires two licenses: one from the publisher (for the composition) and one from the label (for the master recording). Fees are negotiated per use and can range from hundreds to millions of dollars.
The Role of Identifiers
Music credits would be meaningless without standardized identifiers that connect people, songs, and recordings across thousands of organizations worldwide. These are the four pillars of music identification:
Identifies a specific sound recording. Every version of a song — original, remix, live, remaster — gets its own ISRC. This is what streaming platforms use to count plays.
Identifies the underlying musical work. One ISWC can map to many ISRCs — the original, covers, remixes all share the same composition identifier.
Identifies a songwriter or publisher. Every PRO-registered songwriter and publisher has a unique IPI number that links them to their works across all territories.
Identifies a release — an album, EP, or single. The UPC connects a collection of recordings to a specific product for retail and distribution tracking.
Split Sheets and Ownership Percentages
When multiple songwriters collaborate, they agree on how to split ownership of the composition. This agreement is documented in a split sheet — a legal document that records each writer's percentage share. For example, if two writers co-write a song equally, each gets 50%.
The total ownership of a composition always adds up to 100%, but it's divided into two halves:
Belongs to the songwriter(s) personally. This share is collected by the writer's PRO and cannot be transferred to a publisher.
Administered by the songwriter's publisher. If a writer is self-published, they keep both halves. If signed to a publisher, the publisher takes a portion of this share (typically 15-25% of the publisher's share, keeping 75-85%).
On Credits.fm, you can see songwriter share percentages on individual ISRC lookup pages when MLC data is available. These percentages represent each songwriter's share of the total composition ownership.
The Credit Chain: From Creation to Royalties
Here's how credits flow through the music industry — from the moment a song is created to when royalties reach the people who made it:
- 1
Song is Written
Songwriters create the composition. They document their split shares and register the work with their PRO and publisher.
- 2
Song is Recorded
Performers, producers, and engineers create the master recording. An ISRC is assigned to the recording. The master is owned by the artist or label.
- 3
Work is Registered
The composition is registered with PROs (ASCAP, BMI), the MLC (for US mechanical royalties), and international societies. An ISWC may be assigned. Each songwriter is identified by their IPI.
- 4
Song is Released
The distributor delivers the recording to streaming platforms with its ISRC and metadata. A UPC is assigned to the release (album/single). The song goes live on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
- 5
Song is Streamed
Each stream is reported with the ISRC. Platforms pay master royalties to the distributor/label, and mechanical + performance royalties to the MLC and PROs.
- 6
Royalties are Distributed
The MLC matches ISRCs to ISWCs, identifies songwriters by IPI, applies share percentages, and distributes mechanical royalties. PROs do the same for performance royalties. Labels pay artists their share of master royalties.
Performer Credits: Who Played on the Recording?
While songwriter credits determine who gets publishing royalties, performer credits determine who gets paid from the master recording side. Every person who contributes a musical performance to a recording deserves a credit — but how that translates to payment varies widely depending on the performer's role.
Featured Artists
The primary artist(s) whose name appears on the release. Featured artists typically receive a percentage of master royalties (after label recoupment), their own SoundExchange payments (45% of digital performance royalties), and neighboring rights income in international territories. They are identified by the ISRC attached to their recording.
Featured Guests (“feat.”)
Artists credited as “featuring” on a track. They typically negotiate a one-time fee or a percentage of royalties from that track. Featured guests receive their own SoundExchange payments and can register with neighboring rights societies independently.
Session Musicians & Background Vocalists
Non-featured performers who contribute to a recording — session guitarists, string players, drummers, background singers. Under union agreements (AFM for instrumentalists, SAG-AFTRA for vocalists), they receive scale payments for sessions plus residuals. SoundExchange allocates 5% of digital performance royalties to the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, which pays non-featured performers.
How Performers Are Identified
Unlike songwriters (who have IPI numbers), there is no single universal identifier for performers. Credits.fm uses MusicBrainz MBIDs — unique identifiers from the open-source MusicBrainz database — to link performers across recordings, releases, and collaborations. Each musician profile aggregates their performer credits from ISRCs, songwriting credits from IPIs, and release history from UPCs into one view. SoundExchange identifies performers by their registered account; internationally, performers register with their local neighboring rights organization (PPL, GVL, SENA, etc.).
Key takeaway: Performers should register with SoundExchange (US digital radio royalties), their country's neighboring rights organization (PPL, GVL, etc.), and ensure their name appears correctly on all recordings. Even non-featured session musicians have royalty rights through collective funds.
Common Credit Problems
Despite the importance of credits, the music industry faces persistent challenges with accuracy:
Unmatched Royalties
When a streaming platform reports an ISRC but the MLC can't find a matching ISWC or songwriter, the royalties go into a “black box.” Billions of dollars have been lost this way. The MLC holds unmatched royalties for 3 years before distributing them based on market share.
Missing Songwriter Credits
Many recordings are released without registering the underlying composition. This is especially common with independent artists who distribute through aggregators (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby) — the distributor sends the recording to Spotify but doesn't register the songwriting with the MLC or PROs.
Incorrect Splits
When collaborators don't document their split agreement before release, disputes arise. Without a signed split sheet, the default in many jurisdictions is equal shares — which may not reflect the actual creative contributions.
Producer Credits
Producers often receive a “point” deal (2-5% of master royalties) and sometimes a songwriter credit. But these credits are frequently informal — based on handshake deals — and may not be registered with collecting societies, resulting in uncollected royalties.
How Credits.fm Helps
Credits.fm by Notes.fm is building the most comprehensive, free music credits database. We combine data from multiple authoritative sources:
Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)
The authoritative source for US mechanical licensing data — songwriter names, publisher chains, ownership percentages, and work-to-recording matches.
MusicBrainz (CC0)
The open-source music encyclopedia — performer credits, artist relationships, release data, and label information. Community-maintained with millions of entries.
Streaming Platforms
Real stream counts from Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and more — giving context to how widely each recording has been heard.
Our goal is to make every credit verifiable and linkable. Search any ISRC, ISWC, IPI, UPC, or musician to explore the complete credit chain.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are music credits?
Music credits are the official documentation of every person and organization that contributed to a song or recording. They identify who wrote, performed, produced, engineered, mixed, mastered, published, and released a piece of music. Credits are essential for proper attribution and royalty distribution.
Why do music credits matter?
Music credits determine who gets paid. Every stream, download, sync placement, and radio play generates royalties that must be distributed to the right people. Without accurate credits, songwriters miss royalties, publishers can't collect, and performers don't get recognized. The global music industry loses hundreds of millions of dollars annually due to incorrect or missing credits.
What is the difference between a songwriter and a performer?
A songwriter creates the underlying musical composition — the melody, lyrics, and harmony. A performer records or plays the song. The same person can be both (like a singer-songwriter), but they are separate roles with separate rights and royalty streams. Songwriters earn publishing royalties; performers earn master recording royalties.
What does a music publisher do?
A music publisher manages and exploits the rights to musical compositions on behalf of songwriters. They pitch songs for sync placements, collect royalties from PROs and the MLC, issue licenses, and pursue infringement claims. In exchange, publishers typically receive 15-50% of the songwriter's publishing income.
How do I find the credits for a song?
You can look up credits on Credits.fm by searching for the song title, artist name, ISRC, or ISWC. Our database combines data from the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), MusicBrainz, and streaming platforms to provide the most comprehensive credits available for free.
How do performers get paid?
Performers earn royalties from multiple sources: master recording royalties (paid by the label/distributor from streaming and sales), digital performance royalties (collected by SoundExchange from satellite and internet radio in the US), and neighboring rights royalties (collected by organizations like PPL and GVL from traditional radio and public performance internationally). Featured artists typically negotiate a royalty rate with their label, while session musicians receive union-scale payments plus residuals through the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund.
What is SoundExchange?
SoundExchange is the US nonprofit that collects digital performance royalties on behalf of performers and sound recording owners. When your music plays on SiriusXM, Pandora, or other non-interactive digital services, SoundExchange collects the royalties and splits them: 50% to the master owner (label), 45% to the featured artist, and 5% to non-featured performers. Artists must register directly with SoundExchange — your label cannot collect your 45% share for you.
What identifiers are used in music credits?
The main identifiers are: ISRC (identifies a specific recording), ISWC (identifies the underlying musical work/composition), IPI (identifies a songwriter or publisher), and UPC (identifies a release/album). Together, these codes connect every person, song, recording, and release in the music industry.
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