A common misconception in the music industry is that collection societies like ASCAP and BMI fulfill all of a music creator’s publishing needs. While these organizations are essential, they only cover a portion of a creator’s revenue.
As a music publishing administrator, Woolyvard helps songwriters worldwide collect hard-to-reach royalties, including global publishing royalties and mechanical royalties that Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) cannot collect.
How Woolyvard Works
Starting with Registration
After registering for an account, Woolyvard clients gain access to an online dashboard that serves as a hub for their publishing activity. To activate their accounts and start the song registration process, songwriters must complete three steps:
- Register Songwriters: Include any songwriters that Woolyvard will collect for. Outside writers are co-writers not administered or collected for in your account.
- Register Songs: Include co-writers and splits (songwriter shares, the percentages of a composition each co-writer gets paid royalties for).
- Add ISRCs: Include each song’s ISRC, a code attached to each unique sound recording. For songs with multiple recordings, add every relevant ISRC. Without these details, Woolyvard’s ability to register and collect on a client’s behalf is limited.
Once works are added, Woolyvard stores each song’s metadata and makes it available to view within the client’s dashboard. The registrations are then added to a Common Works Registration file (CWR), an industry-standard format used by publishers and collection organizations worldwide.
The Journey of a Song with Woolyvard
At the Heart of Music Publishing
Once a CWR is received, societies typically return an acknowledgment of receipt and any errors encountered in the file. Woolyvard reviews these errors and notifies the client, especially when a counterclaim is involved.
A counterclaim occurs when Woolyvard’s registration conflicts with a preexisting registration for the work. For example, if a Woolycard client registers a song with a 50/50 songwriting split, but their co-writer has already registered it and claimed 100% of the composition, the registration won’t be completed until the dispute is resolved. This can result in conflicting information, duplicate registrations, or outdated information in the public repertoire. Similarly, all royalty disbursements for that song will freeze until resolved. Other works will begin to appear over weeks to several months, depending on the individual society’s registration protocol.
Music Publishing Timeline
Publishing is a long-term process, and global registration can take time to complete. This is due to the number of societies your works should be registered with, each society’s individual process and timeline, and the additional work around songs with multiple co-writers and publishers.
Taking Control of Your Royalties
By joining Woolyvard, clients position themselves to overcome the financial challenges of today’s music industry. Once works are submitted, Songtrust helps music creators fill in the gaps in their global royalty collection that a collection society membership doesn’t entirely address. Woolyvard’s footprint covers most of the global music publishing market, benefiting clients when works are submitted through their online dashboard.
Additionally, clients retain 100% of their rights over a short-term commitment, with only a one-time registration fee and a low 15% commission rate. Don’t leave money on the table — register your works with Woolyvard today.
