Co-Writing Agreements: Beyond the Split Sheet

A split sheet answers one critical question: who owns what percentage of this song? But it doesn't cover the dozen other questions that come up when multiple people write together. That's where a co-writing agreement comes in.

Split sheet vs co-writing agreement

A split sheet is a snapshot of ownership for a single song. It lists the contributors, their PRO info, IPI numbers, and percentage splits. It's filled out after each writing session and is essential for registering the song correctly.

A co-writing agreement is broader. It's a contract between collaborators that covers the ongoing relationship and business decisions around the songs they create together. Think of the split sheet as the "who gets what" document and the co-writing agreement as the "what happens next" document.

Most independent songwriters only use split sheets, and that's fine for straightforward collaborations. But if you write with the same people regularly, release music commercially, or want to avoid disputes down the road, a co-writing agreement fills in the gaps a split sheet can't.

What a co-writing agreement covers

Decision-making on sync licenses. If a music supervisor wants to use your co-written song in a TV show, who decides whether to accept the offer? What if one writer wants to say yes but another thinks the fee is too low? A co-writing agreement establishes whether decisions require unanimous consent or majority vote.

Administration rights. Who handles the business side of the song? This includes registering it with PROs, responding to licensing inquiries, and managing the song's metadata. Without an agreement, there's no designated administrator, which means things fall through the cracks.

Sampling and derivative works. Can one co-writer authorize a remix or a sample clearance without the others' consent? A co-writing agreement defines the rules for any derivative uses of the song.

Revision and completion. What happens if a song is unfinished and one writer wants to complete it with someone else? Can they bring in a new writer? Does that change the existing splits? These situations are more common than people realize.

Credit and naming. How will the writers be credited on releases, streaming platforms, and liner notes? Stage names vs legal names, the order of credits, and whether "feat." or "prod. by" credits affect ownership.

When you need one

For a one-off writing session with someone you may never work with again, a split sheet is usually sufficient. Document the splits, get everyone's info, move on.

But consider a co-writing agreement when you're entering an ongoing writing partnership, writing for a specific project like an album or EP, collaborating with someone who has a publishing deal (their publisher may require it), writing songs intended for commercial sync licensing, or working across different PROs or different countries.

The more money at stake, the more important it becomes to have the business terms documented upfront.

What happens without one

Without a co-writing agreement, disputes get resolved by default copyright law. In the US, that means each co-writer has the right to non-exclusively license the entire song without the other writers' permission, as long as they account for the other writers' share of the revenue.

That sounds reasonable in theory, but in practice it leads to chaos. One writer could license the song for a commercial you hate. Another could authorize a remix you never agreed to. And because there's no contract saying otherwise, they're legally within their rights.

A co-writing agreement overrides these defaults with terms everyone actually agreed to.

Keeping it simple

A co-writing agreement doesn't need to be 20 pages written by a lawyer (though for high-stakes situations, legal review is smart). For independent songwriters, a clear 1-2 page document covering the key points is vastly better than nothing.

The most important items to include: the writers' names and contact info, the ownership percentages (which your split sheet already covers), who administers the song, how sync and licensing decisions are made, and what happens if there's a disagreement.

Start with the split sheet

If you're not using co-writing agreements yet, don't stress. Start with the fundamentals: fill out a split sheet for every song you write with other people. That alone puts you ahead of the majority of songwriters.

Once you're consistently documenting splits, you'll naturally start noticing the questions a split sheet doesn't answer. That's when a co-writing agreement becomes the obvious next step.