A split sheet, signed before anyone leaves the session
Three people write a hook in an afternoon. One page is what keeps it from becoming a three-way argument down the line.
Picture a Saturday. Two writers and a producer spend six hours on a song. Nobody brings up ownership, because the room feels good and nobody wants to be the one who does. The song is a hit with a few thousand people. Now each of the three remembers a different split.
What a split sheet says
It is one page. It names the song, lists everyone who helped write it and gives each person a share, with the shares adding up to 100. It says who can approve a license when someone wants to use the song. Everyone signs and dates it, including a producer who shaped the melody or the lyrics.
- The song's title and the date of the session
- Each writer's legal name, not only the stage name
- Each person's share, adding up to 100
- Who can approve licenses and samples
- A signature from everyone who wrote it
Two things people mix up
Writing a song and recording it are different. The split sheet covers the song: the melody and the words. Who owns the finished recording, the master, is a separate agreement, often with whoever paid for the session. Settle both, even if one is a single line.
A worked example
The writers agree to 40 percent each, and the producer takes 20. On the sheet that is three lines and three signatures. Later a company wants to use the hook in an ad. The sheet says one writer may approve a license for all three, so the answer takes a day, not a month of messages.
Settle it while everyone still likes each other.
A split sheet doesn't replace registering the song with a performing rights organization. It is the information those registrations ask for, and the document that settles it when two people claim the same line.
If you are not sure who counts as a writer, send me what you have. I will tell you what to ask each person before anyone signs.