Checklist: Preparing Your Catalog for a Global Publisher Partnership

Checklist: Preparing Your Catalog for a Global Publisher Partnership

Hook: You spent years building songs, credits, and relationships — the last thing you need is slow royalty collection, mismatched metadata, or unregistered rights once you sign with a global publisher like Kobalt. Use this practical checklist to close gaps, speed onboarding, and protect every dollar of publishing income before you sign.

The context: Why catalog prep matters in 2026

Global publishing partnerships expanded rapidly through late 2025 and into 2026. Partnerships such as Kobalt and Madverse show publishers are doubling down on cross-border admin and regional reach. That means publishers can collect more revenue for you, but only if your catalog is ready: clean metadata, correct rights, complete registrations, and documented splits. Publishers move fast; missing or messy data creates delays, lost claims, and revenue leakage.

What this checklist does for you

• Focuses on actionable pre-signing tasks for independent musicians, producers, and small labels
• Targets the most common revenue loss points: metadata, registrations, registrations mismatches, and undocumented splits
• Prepares your catalog for onboarding to a global admin like Kobalt or a regional partner like Madverse

Pre-signing rights audit — the nonnegotiable first step

Before you negotiate terms, complete a granular rights audit. Publishers expect a clear statement of ownership for each work. If you present a tidy rights picture, onboarding goes faster and trust begins on day one.

Audit checklist

• Confirm composition ownership for every track: list writers, producers, co-writers, and split percentages.
• Confirm master ownership: label, independent artist, or third party? Note any pre-existing label agreements.
• Identify third-party samples and interpolations and provide licenses or clearance documents.
• Collect agreements with freelancers — session musicians, writers, producers with work-for-hire clauses should have signed contracts.
• List existing publishing deals or administration agreements, including start and end dates, territories, and recoupment status.
• Map out exclusive vs non-exclusive rights and any carve-outs for sync, film, or brand usage.

Metadata cleanup — the single biggest ROI for faster payouts

Industry trends in late 2025 showed metadata accuracy directly correlates with claim success rates. In 2026, publishers increasingly rely on automated matching and AI tools to reconcile catalogs with collecting societies and digital platforms. Poor metadata breaks those matches.

Essential metadata fields to standardize

Provide these fields for every recording and composition. Use consistent formatting and avoid abbreviations.

• Track title — exact spelling and capitalization as released
• Primary artist and any featuring credits
• Writer credits with full legal names and IPI/CAE numbers where available
• Publisher name per writer and publisher IPI where available
• ISRC for each master
• ISWC for compositions if assigned
• Release date, label name, catalog number
• Language and territorial metadata if applicable for localized versions
• Recording contributor roles — producer, mixer, engineer, performer
• Split percentages — per writer and publisher with decimal precision

Practical tips for metadata consistency

• Use a single master spreadsheet or a DDEX/RIN export to avoid multiple conflicting versions.
• Assign a metadata owner in your team who reviews new releases and legacy entries monthly.
• Run a match check against collections portals like YouTube Content ID, SoundExchange and PRO databases to surface mismatches before you hand files to the publisher.
• Use standardized naming conventions for producer tags and featuring credits; mixed naming creates orphaned royalties.

Registrations and claims — get registrations done first

Publishers can collect worldwide, but they cannot claim money that has never been registered. Registering composition and master metadata with relevant societies and platforms is crucial.

Registration checklist

• PRO registrations — ASCAP, BMI, PRS, GEMA, etc. Make sure each writer is registered with a performing rights organization and that compositions are registered under the correct member account.
• Mechanical rights — register with mechanical rights bodies where required, or prepare to transfer mechanical administration to the publisher.
• Neighboring rights — for performers and labels: register with PPL, SENA, IMRO affiliates, or regional neighbors organizations.
• SoundExchange and local equivalent — in the US, SoundExchange claims digital performance royalties for masters. Make sure recordings are registered and claimant info is accurate.
• ISRC assignment confirmation — ensure ISRCs are unique and mapped to the correct recordings in distributor portals.
• Content ID and digital fingerprinting — ensure you have a Content ID claim or that your publisher will register on your behalf.
• International mechanical bodies — for territories with mechanical agencies, ensure registrations are in place or marked for publisher administration.

Splits, split sheets, and documentation

Ambiguous splits are the fastest path to delayed royalties and legal headaches. Document everything before you hand a catalog to a publisher.

Split documentation checklist

• Signed split sheets for every composition, ideally with full legal names and contact details.
• Producer agreements that state percentages or confirm work-for-hire status.
• Contributor consent for samples and any master license agreements for third-party content.
• Contract index that maps each recording to the relevant contracts and start/end dates.

Contract and negotiation prep — what to look for in a publishing deal

When talking to a publisher like Kobalt, or a regional partner such as Madverse, use this list to protect rights and ensure transparency.

Key commercial and legal points

1. Scope — publishing administration only, co-publishing, or full publishing? Clarify what rights you are transferring and what remains with you.
2. Territory — global administration vs limited territories. With regional partners, ensure coordination for cross-border collection.
3. Term — duration of the agreement and renewal mechanics.
4. Fees and splits — admin fee percentage for publisher services, recoupment mechanisms, and how advances are handled.
5. Audit rights — ability to audit publisher books and the frequency and notice period for audits.
6. Data reporting — frequency, format, and level of detail. Seek machine-readable statements and access to portals where possible.
7. Exclusivity and carve-outs — territory or usage-specific carve-outs for sync, print, or special licensing.
8. Termination and reversion — rights to terminate and the process for transferring data back on exit.
9. Sub-publishing — how foreign royalties are routed and any fees for sub-publishers.
10. Dispute resolution — jurisdiction, arbitration clauses, and handling of contested splits.

Technical onboarding—packaging deliverables for fast ingestion

Publishers can ingest catalogs quickly if you deliver complete, machine-friendly packages. The industry moved toward RIN and DDEX standards by 2025 and 2026 is seeing wider adoption for automated onboarding.

Onboarding deliverables

• Metadata spreadsheet in CSV or DDEX RIN format covering the essential fields listed earlier.
• Master files metadata with ISRCs embedded and accessible via cloud links.
• PDF copies of split sheets and contracts named consistently to match track IDs.
• Tracklists with release notes for deluxe editions, remasters, and alternate versions.
• Content ID registration info and fingerprinting files if applicable.
• Legacy claim lists for unpaid or disputed royalties to assist publisher recovery efforts.

Legacy royalty recovery — low-hanging fruit before signing

Many independent creators have unclaimed or misallocated royalties scattered across societies and DSPs. A publisher will try to recover them, but a prepared catalog speeds the process and increases recovery rates.

Recovery checklist

• Identify unmatched play reports in DSP dashboards and export logs for the publisher to review.
• Search PRO and SoundExchange databases for unclaimed works using consistent writer name variants.
• Compile admin portal screenshots and historical distributor reports for disputed claims.

Real-world example: how an indie label prepped and sped onboarding

Case study: Sunrise Lane Records, an independent label with 120 tracks, planned to sign a global administration deal in 2026. They completed a three-week prep using this checklist. Results:

• Metadata cleanup reduced unmatched claims by 72 percent prior to publisher ingestion.
• Proper PRO registrations increased quarterly mechanical collections by 18 percent within the first payout cycle.
• Clear split documentation reduced vendor queries and sped payments by two additional payment cycles.

This shows simple prep yields measurable revenue and faster time-to-pay.

2026 trends to plan for

• AI-enhanced matching — Publishers are using machine learning to reconcile metadata, but AI still needs high-quality inputs to avoid false matches. Clean data remains vital.
• Regional publisher partnerships — Global admins are partnering with regional distributors and publishers, as Kobalt did with Madverse, to improve collection in underrepresented territories. Prepare localized metadata and transliterations.
• RIN and DDEX standard expansion — more platforms expect machine-readable manifests for large catalogs; exporters and distribution partners are standardizing on RIN for recording data.
• Blockchain pilots — experiments for immutable split ledgers and transparent micro-payments continue, but they are still nascent for mainstream revenue collection.
• Increased transparency demands — artists expect richer portal access and more frequent statements; negotiate reporting cadence and level of detail.

Advanced strategies for maximizing collections

1. Use canonical identifiers — ensure consistent use of ISRC and ISWC across all platforms and files so publisher systems can match records faster.
2. Maintain a change log — track metadata updates with timestamps and responsible persons to simplify troubleshooting during onboarding.
3. Localize metadata where appropriate — transliterations, alternate titles, and localized artist name variants improve match rates in non-Latin markets.
4. Provide high-resolution contributor IDs — IPI/CAE numbers remove ambiguity and speed PRO matching worldwide.
5. Pre-clear samples where possible — having pre-existing sample clearances dramatically reduces legal hold-ups for synchronization and global admin.

Negotiation-ready checklist — what to have in your folder

• Complete rights audit and ownership matrix
• Metadata master spreadsheet in DDEX or CSV
• Signed split sheets for all catalog items
• List of registered societies and registration confirmations
• Legacy claim list and DSP report exports
• Proposed deal terms and redlines you will not accept
• Questions about sub-publishing and foreign collection routes

Publishers want clean, unambiguous data. The faster you supply it, the faster you get paid and the more trust you build for future opportunities.

Final pre-sign checklist — a concise punch list

• All compositions have split sheets and writer IPI numbers
• All masters have ISRCs and embedded metadata
• PRO, SoundExchange, and neighboring rights registrations completed or flagged for publisher action
• Clear list of legacy unpaid claims and supporting reports
• Contract folder indexed and matched to each track
• Metadata delivered in machine-readable format
• Negotiation priorities documented: reporting cadence, fees, term, termination and audit

Next steps and realistic timelines

For most independent catalogs, complete prep takes 2 to 8 weeks depending on size and the quality of existing metadata. Small catalogs with good organization can be ready in under two weeks; larger back catalogs with missing registrations may take months. Build a timeline with weekly milestones and assign a metadata owner to keep momentum.

Call to action

Ready to sign with a global publisher like Kobalt or evaluate regional partners like Madverse? Download the printable version of this checklist, run a 2-week data sprint, and bring a complete package to your next negotiation. If you want hands-on help, schedule a catalog audit with a publishing specialist to identify immediate recovery opportunities and a prioritized onboarding plan.

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