Essay
Publisher's Share vs Writer's Share, Explained
Publisher's share vs writer's share: ASCAP makes you open a publisher account to collect the second half. BMI can pay it to you. The MLC ignores the split.
Performance royalties are traditionally split 50/50 into a writer's share and a publisher's share. The writer's share is paid by your PRO directly to you. The publisher's share is paid to whoever is registered as the publisher.
If you never opened a publisher account and never appointed an administrator, that half is the money most independent writers never see.
Mechanicals are not split that way. The MLC pays the work's owners according to registered shares, without a separate 'writer's half.' That is one reason people think their PRO 'covers everything.' It does not.