Your song gets played in France, Japan, Brazil. Who collects that money? Not your US publisher directly — they hire sub-publishers, local companies in each territory who register your songs with the local societies, chase the royalties, and send the money home minus their commission. Without sub-publishers, your foreign income simply doesn’t get collected. With bad ones, it gets collected and slowly evaporated in fees.
The standard sub-publisher keeps 15 to 25 percent of what they collect, and the quality varies wildly. A great sub-publisher pitches your songs for local sync, audits the local society statements, and pays you on time. A bad one sits on your catalog, files nothing, and sends statements you can’t read. Since you’re usually hiring them through your publisher’s network, ask who the subs are before you sign — territory by territory — and look up their reputation.
Your leverage is the at-source clause and a commission cap. Push for sub-publisher commissions capped at 15 percent in major territories, and ask for the right to approve or replace underperforming subs. In an admin deal, you may choose your own sub-publisher network or use the administrator’s — compare the commission schedules, because a 5 percent difference across your whole foreign income is real money every quarter.
Monitor like it’s your business, because it is. Foreign statements arrive 12 to 18 months late and in formats designed to confuse — learn to read them, or pay someone who can. If a territory that should be earning shows zeros, that’s a red flag, not a coincidence: it usually means your songs were never registered with that society. One email to your publisher asking for proof of registration per territory can uncover years of missing income.
About the Author – Ruben Burgos: Ruben Burgos brings over 25 years of music expertise and more than 15 years of model guidance to the table. He is the indie major pinnacle to retaining credits for musicians and helping them navigate this wicked industry without the fuckery.