Part 1 of 9: The Independent Artist’s Guide to Releasing Music
This isn’t paperwork to put off until the song “does something.” You own your music the moment you record it — but registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office is what turns that ownership into a legally enforceable right to sue for damages and attorney’s fees if someone infringes on it.
Every recording actually carries two separate copyrights, and they’re filed separately. Form PA, for Performing Arts, covers the composition itself — the lyrics, chords, and melody. Form SR, for Sound Recording, covers the actual final master. Register only one and you’ve protected half of what you made. It’s worth waiting until mixing and mastering are finished before filing the SR, so what you register matches exactly what ships to streaming.
Filing song by song runs $45–$65 or more each time, which adds up fast, so it’s worth batching instead. GRAM covers released music — up to twenty works or recordings from one album in a single filing, cover art included. GRUW covers unreleased music — up to ten unpublished works or recordings in one filing. Both require at least one common author across the batch, which is standard for a single artist or band. And a note on the so-called “poor man’s copyright”: mailing yourself a CD or flash drive holds zero legal weight. Only official registration via Copyright.gov actually counts.
Timing matters too — file right around your release date, before the track is circulating on DSPs, YouTube, and TikTok, where sampling and outright theft happen fast. It’s cheap insurance for your credit, your royalties, and your proof that you made the thing.
Registration protects ownership, but it doesn’t collect royalties — that’s a separate system entirely. A PRO like ASCAP or BMI handles performance royalties from radio, streaming, and public performance. The MLC handles mechanical royalties from streaming and digital sales. SoundExchange handles digital performance royalties owed to you specifically as the recording artist — a separate pool from your PRO. Skip any of these and real money just sits unclaimed in the industry’s black box. Register the copyright, then register with all three, before you release.
