# Music Publishing Splits & Songwriter Ownership (`civicdataforge/music-publishing-splits`) Actor

Reconciled songwriter/publisher SPLIT metadata for any song — writers (with IPI), original publishers, administrator chains, and collection shares — from The MLC's federal registry, deduped into canonical works by ISWC.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/civicdataforge/music-publishing-splits.md
- **Developed by:** [Bryan](https://apify.com/civicdataforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, MCP servers
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Music Publishing Splits & Songwriter Ownership

**Who owns what % of a song's publishing — reconciled, deduped, and audit-flagged.** This is the one
metadata layer that catalog buyers, sync teams, and clearance desks cannot get cleanly from any single
source. Enter a song title or ISWC; get back a canonical work with its writers (and IPI numbers),
publishers, administrator chains, and collection shares — with ownership discrepancies flagged.

### Why this exists (the gap)

The MLC — the Music Modernization Act's federally-designated registry for US mechanical royalties —
publishes song ownership, but three things make the raw data unusable on its own:

1. **It's a deeply nested tree.** Each work carries original publishers, each with an administrator
   chain, each with its own share. You need the flat "who collects what %" table. It doesn't give you one.
2. **It returns dozens–thousands of registrations per song.** A search for *Bohemian Rhapsody* returns
   **6,523** raw records — the real Queen work, live versions, remasters, arrangements, AI covers, and
   competing publisher submissions, all mixed together.
3. **Errors hide in the pile.** Shares that don't sum to 100%, missing IPI numbers, missing ISWCs,
   orphaned admin links — the exact things a royalty auditor or acquirer needs surfaced.

This Actor solves all three. It's the **reconciliation** that is the product.

### What it does (the moat)

- **Flattens** the nested original-publisher → administrator chain into clean share rows.
- **Reconciles** every MLC registration of one song into a single canonical work, keyed by **ISWC**
  (fallback: normalized title). 6,523 raw hits → a handful of canonical works, most-recorded first.
- **Flags discrepancies**: `shareLooksIncomplete`, `missingIswc`, `writersMissingIpi`, share-sum totals —
  the audit signal.
- **Optional Songview cross-check** (ASCAP/BMI): when you supply your own reCAPTCHA token, Songview
  records are merged into the same canonical work and cross-source conflicts are surfaced.

### Real output (live, Queen — *Bohemian Rhapsody*)

````

title           : BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
iswc            : T0101545054
mlcSongCodes    : B60422
recordingCount  : 9412
writers         : FREDDIE MERCURY \[IPI 00077406269] CA (Composer/Author)
publisherSplits :

- QUEEN MUSIC LTD -> EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC  share=100%  ipi=00223437493
  reconciliation  : { sources:\["mlc"], mlcRegistrationsMerged:1, publisherShareSum:100,
  shareLooksIncomplete:false, missingIswc:false, writersMissingIpi:\[] }

```

And the reconciler earning its keep on the messy pile it separated out — a 10-registration group with
no ISWC, flagged automatically:

```

publisherShareSum: 687.5   shareLooksIncomplete: true   missingIswc: true
writersMissingIpi: \["KA TA REU SI SEU","MARK BRYMER","FELIX LOEHNERT","DAVID DODSWORTH"]

````

### Output schema (per canonical work)

| field | meaning |
|---|---|
| `title`, `iswc`, `mlcSongCodes[]` | canonical identity (all MLC codes merged into this work) |
| `writers[]` | `{ name, ipi, role, roleCode }` — deduped across registrations, IPI preferred |
| `publisherSplits[]` | `{ originalPublisher, administrator, collectionShare, hfaNumber, ...ipi }` |
| `recordingCount`, `sampleIsrcs[]` | linkage to recordings/DSP data |
| `reconciliation` | source list, registrations merged, share sum, and every discrepancy flag |
| `songviewPublishers[]` | present only when a Songview token was supplied |

### Who buys this

- **Catalog investors (Hipgnosis / Sony class)** — verify actual ownership % before a nine-figure buy.
- **Sync & sample-clearance teams** — find every publisher/administrator to clear, with IPI + HFA IDs.
- **Music lawyers & royalty auditors** — the discrepancy flags are the audit surface.
- **AI-music-licensing startups** — resolve ownership at scale by ISWC.

### Input

```json
{ "title": "Bohemian Rhapsody", "exact": true, "maxWorks": 25 }
````

or precise-by-code:

```json
{ "iswc": "T-010.154.505-4" }
```

### Sources & access (honest)

- **The MLC** — accessed via its **public Work Search API** (the same open, key-less JSON endpoint the
  MLC's own public search box uses). No login, no CAPTCHA. This is the federal work registry; use is
  subject to The MLC's Musical Works Database Terms of Use.
- **Songview (ASCAP/BMI)** — the shared ASCAP+BMI view is **reCAPTCHA-gated** (every request needs a
  Google reCAPTCHA token), so it is **disabled by default**. Supply your own `songviewToken` to enable
  the cross-check. For bulk needs, ASCAP publishes a downloadable repertory file and The MLC offers a
  Bulk Database Feed. This Actor never solves or bypasses CAPTCHAs.

# Actor input Schema

## `title` (type: `string`):

Song title to look up (e.g. 'Bohemian Rhapsody'). Broad match across The MLC's works index; combine with 'exact' to narrow. Leave empty if searching by ISWC.

## `iswc` (type: `string`):

International Standard Musical Work Code (e.g. 'T-010.154.505-4' or 'T0101545054'). The precise key: returns the exact work regardless of title spelling. Takes priority over 'title' if both are given.

## `exact` (type: `boolean`):

When true and searching by title, keep only works whose title matches exactly (after normalization). Filters out arrangements/covers with different titles.

## `maxWorks` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of reconciled canonical works to return, ranked by recording count (most-recorded first). Each canonical work merges all of The MLC's duplicate registrations for that song.

## `songviewToken` (type: `string`):

Optional. Songview (ASCAP/BMI) is reCAPTCHA-walled and DISABLED by default. If you supply a valid Google reCAPTCHA token you obtained yourself, Songview records are cross-reconciled with MLC and share conflicts are flagged. Leave empty to run MLC-only.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "title": "Shape of You",
  "exact": false,
  "maxWorks": 25
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "title": "Shape of You"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("civicdataforge/music-publishing-splits").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "title": "Shape of You" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("civicdataforge/music-publishing-splits").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "title": "Shape of You"
}' |
apify call civicdataforge/music-publishing-splits --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=civicdataforge/music-publishing-splits",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Music Publishing Splits & Songwriter Ownership",
        "description": "Reconciled songwriter/publisher SPLIT metadata for any song — writers (with IPI), original publishers, administrator chains, and collection shares — from The MLC's federal registry, deduped into canonical works by ISWC.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "hO9eW34GIX1MD5Ede"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/civicdataforge~music-publishing-splits/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-civicdataforge-music-publishing-splits",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/civicdataforge~music-publishing-splits/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-civicdataforge-music-publishing-splits",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/civicdataforge~music-publishing-splits/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-civicdataforge-music-publishing-splits",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "title": {
                        "title": "Song title",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Song title to look up (e.g. 'Bohemian Rhapsody'). Broad match across The MLC's works index; combine with 'exact' to narrow. Leave empty if searching by ISWC."
                    },
                    "iswc": {
                        "title": "ISWC",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "International Standard Musical Work Code (e.g. 'T-010.154.505-4' or 'T0101545054'). The precise key: returns the exact work regardless of title spelling. Takes priority over 'title' if both are given."
                    },
                    "exact": {
                        "title": "Exact title match",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "When true and searching by title, keep only works whose title matches exactly (after normalization). Filters out arrangements/covers with different titles.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "maxWorks": {
                        "title": "Max canonical works",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of reconciled canonical works to return, ranked by recording count (most-recorded first). Each canonical work merges all of The MLC's duplicate registrations for that song.",
                        "default": 25
                    },
                    "songviewToken": {
                        "title": "Songview reCAPTCHA token (optional)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional. Songview (ASCAP/BMI) is reCAPTCHA-walled and DISABLED by default. If you supply a valid Google reCAPTCHA token you obtained yourself, Songview records are cross-reconciled with MLC and share conflicts are flagged. Leave empty to run MLC-only."
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```