The truth about split sheets (and the conversation nobody wants to have)

A split sheet is a one-page document that says who wrote what percentage of a song and in what role. It’s not legally magical. It’s not a contract in the grand sense. It’s a piece of paper that everyone in the room signs before they leave, so that when — not if — the money starts showing up, nobody has to guess what was agreed.

If you write songs with other people and you don’t use split sheets, you are going to have a problem eventually. The only question is whether it happens at 50 streams or 50 million.

What actually goes on one

A proper split sheet has:

The song title, the date of the session, and a row for each co-writer.

For each writer: legal name, stage name, PRO affiliation (ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/PRS/IMRO/etc.), IPI/CAE number if they have one, publisher (or “self-published”), email, and signature.

A percentage for each writer on the writer’s share (the “songwriter” half of the publishing pie). These should add up to 100%.

A percentage for each writer on the publisher’s share, if publishing is being assigned differently from writing (common if someone’s signed to a publisher and someone isn’t). These also add up to 100% of the publisher’s half.

A line per writer describing what they contributed — “melody and lyrics”, “topline and melody”, “all music, no lyrics”, “produced and co-wrote the chorus”. Be specific. A line that says “co-wrote” doesn’t mean anything a year from now.

The percentages conversation

This is the conversation people avoid and it’s the most important one. Before anyone leaves the room, someone has to say out loud: so, what are we doing with splits on this?

The honest default for most co-writes is equal splits among writers — three people in the room means 33.33% each. Equal splits are almost never wrong and they are almost always the right starting point. They reflect the reality that you cannot later untangle who wrote what line of a melody, and arguing over it is a great way to lose a friend.

There are exceptions. If one person brought a finished song and the other just arranged the production, a 75/25 is reasonable. If one person produced the whole track but didn’t contribute writing, they might not be a writer at all (and should instead be paid a producer fee or given a master royalty point, which is a separate pie). If someone came in at the end and suggested one line, and that line ended up being the hook, you have to have the conversation about whether that’s a write or a “thank you”.

But the default is equal, and deviations from equal should be discussed — in the room, out loud, before anyone goes home.

The mistake everyone makes

They agree verbally, feel good about it, and don’t sign anything. Then the song does nothing for a year, then gets cut, then starts earning real money, then one of the co-writers’ memory of the session gets creative. Now you have a dispute, and you have it with someone you liked.

Don’t let anyone leave the room without a signed split sheet. A picture of everyone holding the signed sheet works in a pinch, but a PDF with real signatures is better.

The other mistake everyone makes

They write “50/50” on the sheet but don’t specify writer’s share versus publisher’s share. A co-writer signed to a major publisher has their publisher’s share assigned to the publisher. A co-writer who’s self-published keeps theirs. If the sheet just says 50/50, you have to re-litigate it with the administrators later. Always specify both shares.

How to have the conversation without it being weird

Say it early. The best moment is at the start of the second session, or the end of the first — not after the bridge is cut and everyone’s exhausted. Say something like: before we go any further, can we sort splits so we’re all on the same page? Then say what you think is fair (usually equal). If anyone disagrees, you’ve caught it before it’s a problem. If everyone agrees, you’re done in ninety seconds.

The people who are difficult about split conversations are the people you want to know are difficult before you’ve written three songs with them, not after.

What you can use

There’s a free split sheet generator on this site — you input the writers, their splits, their PROs, hit export, and you get a PDF you can sign or send around. No signup, no email wall. It’s at /tools/split-sheet once it ships.

Until then, any piece of A4 with the information above, a row for each writer, and a signature line will do fine. The point is the signing, not the formatting.

One last thing

Some writers refuse to discuss splits. They say things like “don’t worry, we’ll figure it out later” or “we’re all friends, we don’t need paperwork”. This is never actually about friendship. This is about keeping their options open for when the song does well. Don’t write with these people a second time.

The conversation is awkward once. The lawsuit is awkward forever.

Written by Dan Healy. If this was useful, the tools page has more like it, and the homepage has a newsletter signup.