ASCAP is a U.S. Performing Rights Organization for songwriters, composers, and publishers.

Why it matters hereIf ASCAP is your PRO, use its repertory and member account to confirm and register your composition-side rights.

BMI is a U.S. Performing Rights Organization for songwriters, composers, and publishers.

Why it matters hereIf BMI is your PRO, use BMI Songview and your account to verify that the same works you register at the MLC also exist on the performance side.

Bulk upload is a workflow for submitting many works at once using a structured file.

Why it matters hereThe CWR download is designed for the MLC bulk-upload path so you do not have to retype every missing work by hand.

Common Works Registration

Common Works Registration is a fixed-format file standard for sending composition registration data in bulk.

Why it matters hereWhen the report finds unregistered MLC works, the remedy page can generate a CWR file for you to upload yourself.

The composition is the song as written: melody, lyrics, and musical work, separate from any particular recording.

Why it matters hereThe MLC, PROs, writer shares, publishers, and CWR files are all about the composition side.

Your catalog is the list of songs you want to check.

Why it matters hereEvery scan starts from the catalog rows you enter or paste, then tracks registration status work by work.

A distributor delivers your recordings to streaming services and stores.

Why it matters hereDistributor data can help you find ISRCs and publishing clues, but distribution alone does not guarantee composition registration.

Global Music Rights

Global Music Rights is a U.S. Performing Rights Organization focused on public-performance licensing.

Why it matters hereThe intake can encode GMR as your PRO affiliation when building a CWR file.

Interested Party Information / CAE number

IPI, formerly called CAE, is a global identifier for songwriters and publishers.

Why it matters hereAn IPI helps match your writer identity and lets the generated CWR file carry stronger registration data.

International Standard Recording Code

An ISRC identifies a specific sound recording, not the underlying composition.

Why it matters hereAdding ISRCs helps connect your song registrations to released recordings, especially when titles are similar.

International Standard Musical Work Code

An ISWC identifies the underlying musical work or composition.

Why it matters hereA registered work with no ISWC is flagged as incomplete because matching can be weaker across covers, territories, and databases.

Mechanical Licensing Collective

The Mechanical Licensing Collective is the U.S. organization that administers blanket mechanical licenses for many digital music uses.

Why it matters hereRoyalty Gap Scanner checks whether your compositions appear in the MLC data and helps prepare missing works for registration.

Sound recording

The master is a specific recorded version of a song.

Why it matters hereSoundExchange and ISRCs live on the master side, while the MLC and PRO registrations live on the composition side.

Mechanical royalties are composition royalties tied to reproductions and certain digital uses of songs.

Why it matters hereThe MLC is central here, which is why missing MLC registrations are treated as publishing-side gaps.

An MLC Song Code is the MLC identifier for a work in its database.

Why it matters hereWhen you mark a title as found, the scanner stores the song code so the report can distinguish registered works from missing ones.

A member portal is the account area where a rights organization lets you manage registrations and claims.

Why it matters hereThe remedy step tells you what to upload or enter, but you stay in control by submitting through your own portal.

Neighboring rights are rights connected to sound recordings and performances, separate from the composition copyright.

Why it matters hereSoundExchange checks are included because money can sit under artist, performer, or recording-owner names even when the song is otherwise released.

Needs confirmation means a match looks possible, but not certain enough to trust automatically.

Why it matters hereThe scanner asks you to confirm ambiguous matches so the remedy list does not create false fixes.

A name variant is another spelling, stage name, casing, or release name connected to you.

Why it matters hereAdding variants improves searches because royalty databases may store the same person under inconsistent names.

Performing Rights Organization

A Performing Rights Organization licenses and pays public-performance royalties for compositions.

Why it matters hereThe site cannot safely automate PRO lookups, so it gives you a user-assisted checklist for the performance side.

A publisher controls or administers composition rights and collects publishing income for a work.

Why it matters hereIndependent writers are often self-published unless they use an administrator or have assigned publishing rights elsewhere.

Administrator / Publishing administrator

A publisher or administrator manages some or all of the publishing registration and collection work.

Why it matters hereThe report shows the admin name when the MLC listing includes one, because it can explain who is already handling the work.

Performance royalties are generated when a composition is publicly performed, broadcast, streamed, or otherwise used in public.

Why it matters herePROs handle this side, so the remedy page asks you to mirror MLC fixes in your PRO account.

Pending check means the tool is waiting for you to complete a user-assisted lookup.

Why it matters hereThe report avoids claiming a title is clean or missing until you finish the MLC or SoundExchange checklist.

A recording is a released or unreleased audio version of a work, usually identified by an ISRC once distributed.

Why it matters hereThe intake accepts recording details so the remedy page can include recording links in manual registration cards.

A repertory is a public or member-searchable catalog of works registered with a rights organization.

Why it matters hereYou use repertory searches at places like BMI, ASCAP, and the MLC to confirm whether your works are already listed.

Registered means the scanner has enough user-confirmed evidence that the work exists in the relevant system.

Why it matters hereRegistered MLC works are treated as clean when the song code and ISWC are present.

Reg. no ISWC

Registered incomplete means the work appears to be registered, but an important field is missing.

Why it matters hereThe current report uses this mainly for MLC works that have a song code but no ISWC.

SoundExchange collects and distributes U.S. digital performance royalties for sound recordings, mostly for non-interactive services.

Why it matters hereThe scanner sends you through SoundExchange unclaimed lists so artist, performer, and recording-owner names are not missed.

SESAC is a U.S. Performing Rights Organization with invitation-based songwriter and publisher affiliation.

Why it matters hereThe intake can encode SESAC as your PRO affiliation when building a CWR file.

Self-published means you control your own publishing interest instead of assigning it to a separate publisher.

Why it matters hereThe manual entry cards default to self-published language when there is no separate publisher information in the scan.

Unclaimed royalties are money or usage records that cannot be matched to a registered payee or rights owner.

Why it matters hereThe site looks for obvious registration gaps and SoundExchange list hits before those royalties stay stuck or get handled by default rules.

Unregistered means a work was not found under your identity after the guided search.

Why it matters hereUnregistered MLC works become remedy items for CWR generation or manual entry.

Musical work

A work is the composition record for a song title and its writers.

Why it matters hereThe report counts your catalog in works because each composition needs its own registration status.

A writer is a person credited with authorship of the composition, such as a songwriter, composer, or lyricist.

Why it matters hereThe CWR file and manual entry cards use your writer name, role, IPI, and share to register missing works.

Writer share is the percentage of the composition credited to a writer.

Why it matters hereFor the current single-writer flow, the generated remedy data assumes your writer share is 100 percent unless the product is expanded later.