The Essential Guide to Rights Registration: PPL, PRS & MCPS
By Written by Peter McVeigh
A step-by-step guide to registering your masters and compositions with PPL, PRS, and MCPS in the correct sequence - so every royalty stream is tracked and claimed from day one.
Why Registration Order Matters
For any rights holder, whether you are an independent artist, a songwriter, or a management company, understanding the mechanics of performance rights is crucial. Simply creating a hit song is only half the battle; the other half is ensuring that the revenue generated from that song is accurately collected.
This guide outlines the essential sequence for registering your intellectual property (IP) with the key collecting societies: PPL, PRS, and MCPS. Following this process correctly is the single most effective step you can take to ensure royalty revenue streams are established and tracked.
Do not treat these societies as separate silos. You are managing three distinct but interconnected types of rights, and the order in which you register them matters.
The Foundation: The ISRC Code
Before touching any collecting society, you must have a unique identifier for your sound recording: the ISRC (International Standard Recording Code).
An ISRC is a unique 12-character code that identifies a specific sound recording, regardless of where it is streamed or sold. It tells the world that this recording is this specific work.
Why it comes first: PPL and PRS will require this code to properly link your composition (the song) to your master recording (the sound file). Without the ISRC, the societies cannot correctly track or differentiate between your various tracks.
Most digital distributors (CD Baby, DistroKid, eMuBands, TuneCore) assign ISRC codes automatically when you upload a release. Always record these and keep them safe - you will need them at every stage of registration.
Step 1: Register the Master Recording with PPL
The first society you should register with is PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited).
What PPL manages: PPL manages the rights pertaining to the sound recording itself, often called the master recording. These rights belong to the record label or the artist/rights holder who owns the master file.
What PPL collects: PPL collects royalties for the performance of the recording. When your song is played on the radio, in a background soundscape, or streamed, PPL ensures the creator of the master recording gets paid.
The registration process: Submit the finished, mixed, and mastered sound file details Provide full metadata including the ISRC code, song title, recording artist, and composition details PPL establishes the royalty stream for the sound performance The site takes you through a step by step process to registering the recordings
Why start with PPL? By registering the master recording with PPL first, you establish the core physical asset of your IP. PPL registration is built around the unique ISRC, making it the logical starting point for establishing your rights in the industry ecosystem.
Step 2: Register the Composition with PRS
While PPL manages the sound, the next layer of rights concerns the underlying material: the composition (the lyrics, melody, and harmony). These rights are managed by the Performing Rights Society (PRS).
What PRS manages: PRS is the collecting society that manages the performance rights for the underlying composition, not the recording itself.
What PRS collects: PRS collects royalties whenever your song is publicly performed, whether it is played on a radio station, in a restaurant, or streamed online. These royalties relate to the song itself, independent of the specific recording artist.
This is why a cover version of your song still generates PRS royalties for you as the songwriter, even though you did not perform on that particular recording.
Step 3: Register Mechanical Rights with MCPS
Alongside PRS, you must also register your composition with MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society).
What MCPS manages: MCPS manages the rights related to mechanical reproduction i.e. any time the composition is copied or reproduced in physical or digital format.
What MCPS collects: MCPS collects royalties whenever the composition is reproduced for example, when a song is streamed on Spotify (a digital reproduction), or when a CD is pressed (a physical reproduction).
The link between PRS and MCPS: PRS and MCPS are intrinsically linked because the composition that is publicly performed (PRS) is often the same composition that is reproduced (MCPS).
The joint process: To ensure comprehensive coverage, the best practice is to use the PRS website platform to jointly register your work. This allows you to set your percentage splits for both PRS (Performance) and MCPS (Mechanical) rights in one place, ensuring your rights are allocated correctly regardless of how the song is consumed.
How the Three Societies Link Together
The three societies work together to create a comprehensive royalty net. Understanding how they interconnect is key to making sure nothing falls through the gaps.
The ISRC link: The ISRC code serves as the fingerprint. It links the physical sound file (the master, registered with PPL) to the underlying song structure (registered with PRS/MCPS).
The performance link: When a song plays on radio or is streamed, two separate royalties are generated: PRS collects performance royalties for the song (composition) PPL collects performance royalties for the recording (master)
The reproduction link: When a song is streamed or downloaded: MCPS collects mechanical royalties for the song's reproduction PPL ensures the masters are accounted for in the distribution metadata
This is why both PRS/MCPS membership and PPL membership are necessary for independent artists who write and record their own music. You are both the composer and the master rights holder two separate income streams, both requiring separate registration. You can see from the image above that, when registering works via the PRS 'Register Works' section, the MCPS information is completed & there's a link to register PPL sound recordings of the song also. Once you have each of the accounts they are interconnected & the process becomes much easier.
The Recommended Order of Operations
To summarise, here is the recommended sequence for rights holders:
Stage 0: Acquire your ISRC codes Obtain unique ISRC codes before registering anywhere. Your distributor will usually assign these if you don't enter an ISRC code but you can enter your own personal ISRC code.
Stage 1: Register with PPL File the master recording first, using the ISRC. This establishes the performance royalty stream for the sound recording.
Stage 2: Register with PRS and MCPS jointly Use the metadata from your PPL registration to register the underlying composition, setting your joint percentage split on the PRS platform. This covers both performance (PRS) and mechanical (MCPS) royalties in one step.
Why the sequence matters: By registering in this order, you ensure that when your work is consumed globally, every potential revenue stream performance, mechanical, and master is accurately tracked and claimed. The ISRC acts as the spine connecting all three registrations.
Artists who skip steps or register out of sequence often find royalties going unclaimed or misattributed. The process takes an afternoon to complete and can generate passive income for the entire lifetime of the copyright.
Hopefully you've found this article useful. If you're stuck I've developed a video series on registering for PPL, PRS & MCPS. Head over to the lecturer hall to check them out.