A working songwriter with three co-writes on a mid-charting album, credits missing from the delivered masters, a publisher pushing an option renewal, and a session log that did not match the deal memo. We reconstructed the paper and rewrote the option before the renewal window closed.
S.M. delivered three co-write splits on a mid-charting album released the prior quarter. When the composition credits posted to the DSPs, her name was on none of them. Her deal memo said she was on all three.
Her session logs, the co-writers' logs, and the studio's booking records confirmed the memo. The publisher administering the masters said the delivery was final and any amendment required consent of every party in the release chain.
The renewal window on her three-year publishing deal opened the same month. The publisher's option letter treated her royalty ledger as clean and offered a renewal on the same terms.
We pulled every session log, deal memo, DAW file timestamp, and BMI/ASCAP registration record and built a single credit chronology. We opened a dispute with the DSP credit administrators through the correct label and publisher channels, filed a written objection with each rights administrator, and corrected two of the three credits within four weeks. The third required a co-writer countersignature we surfaced through a straightforward records request.
On the option, we held the window open past the publisher's stated deadline, ran a comparable-market analysis on advance and administration terms across three peer publishers, and countered with a one-year extension at a higher advance rate, tighter reversion timing, and audit rights she had never held under the original agreement. The renewal closed on corrected terms with the credits restored before the option was signed.
"They told me the credits were final. Brandon said the paper was not."
— S.M., Songwriter
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