Music Label Services for Independent Artists, Labels & Rights Holders.

Music label services are the administrative, distribution, publishing and rights-management functions that traditionally live inside a record label, delivered as a service to independent artists, labels, publishers and rights holders who want to retain ownership of their music. A modern music label services company handles digital distribution, publishing administration, metadata management, royalty collection and catalog oversight on behalf of the artist, without acquiring a share of the copyright or master recording.

Under a traditional record deal a label typically acquires a share (often a majority) of your master recordings and publishing rights in exchange for funding and services. With music label services, you keep 100% of your rights. You pay for, or commission a percentage of collected royalties against, specific services such as distribution, publishing administration and metadata work. The relationship is a service engagement, not a transfer of ownership.

Music label services are designed for independent artists, self-releasing bands, small and mid-sized labels, publishers, estates and rights holders who want institutional-grade administrative infrastructure without signing a record or publishing deal. If you are releasing music and want it properly distributed, correctly registered and actively collected on, while keeping ownership, label services are the right model.

CGM offers two integrated service lines. Metadata Administration is a direct CGM subscription service handling catalog data, ISRC and ISWC identifier management, platform synchronisation, and DDEX delivery. Publishing Administration and Digital Distribution are commission-based at 15% of collected royalties, delivered through CGM's SESAC partnership — covering society registration with PRS, MCPS, ASCAP, SOCAN, APRA and others, active royalty pursuit, and worldwide release to 150+ DSPs. A free Catalog Assessment is the typical starting point. We review your situation and recommend only the services you actually need.

Yes. Code Group Music is based in Mayfair, London, and we work extensively with UK-based artists and labels, including PRS for Music, MCPS and PPL registration. Our music label services extend worldwide from our London base, covering collection societies and DSPs across 60+ countries.

The best starting point is our free Catalog Assessment. It takes under five minutes and a member of our team will review your situation personally, then respond with honest, specific recommendations on which label services (if any) would actually move the needle for you. No obligations and no sales pressure.

DIY distribution platforms are aggregators: they deliver your audio files to DSPs and collect the resulting recording royalties from those platforms. They do not provide publishing administration (registering your compositions with PRS, MCPS, and international collection societies), metadata auditing, ISWC management, or active royalty pursuit. Artists using DIY aggregators typically collect streaming royalties from their recordings, but miss publishing royalties, neighbouring rights income through PPL, back-catalogue claims, and any royalties generated in territories outside the platform's reciprocal network. Music label services are not a replacement for a distributor — they are the layer above it that ensures the full royalty picture is captured.

The UK music label services market ranges from large aggregators with self-serve dashboards and no direct human contact, to boutique firms that take a limited number of clients and provide personalised administration. Code Group Music sits firmly in the latter category: we take on a limited number of engagements, work directly with PRS for Music, PPL, and MCPS in London, and operate on a commission-only basis with no upfront fees. The comparison that matters most in practice is whether a provider actively pursues back-catalogue claims and international royalties (or only handles new registrations going forward), and whether statements are itemised by platform, territory, and income type. Our Catalog Assessment gives you an honest benchmark for your current situation before any commercial discussion.

Yes. PRS for Music, PPL, and MCPS operate UK-wide; there is no difference in the registration process, royalty collection mechanics, or our ability to administer your works whether you are based in London, Glasgow, Cardiff, or Belfast. Code Group Music works with artists and rights holders across the whole of the UK from our London base, and all of our engagements are managed remotely unless a face-to-face meeting is requested.

Brexit has not materially affected royalty collection for UK artists in the EU. PRS for Music's reciprocal agreements with European collection societies — including SACEM in France, GEMA in Germany, SIAE in Italy, and others — are bilateral international agreements between the societies, not dependent on EU membership. UK artists registered with PRS continue to receive royalties collected in EU territories through the same reciprocal mechanism as before.

ROI from music label services depends heavily on the catalog in question: how many compositions, which territories they are active in, and whether there are years of unregistered or uncollected royalties to claim. For a catalog with a significant back-catalogue that has never been professionally administered, the first year of active collection and back-catalogue claims typically recovers multiples of the administrative cost. For a new catalog being correctly set up from the start, the value is in preventing future leakage rather than recovering past losses. The most accurate way to estimate the ROI for your specific situation is through a Catalog Assessment — we review your actual catalog and give you an honest picture of what professional administration would recover, before you make any commercial commitment.

We work on a commission basis, taking a percentage of the royalties we collect on your behalf. There are no upfront fees, no monthly retainers, and no charge unless we collect. The commission rate is agreed at the start of the engagement and depends on the scope of services and the size and complexity of your catalog. We discuss specific rates through the Catalog Assessment process, once we understand your situation. We do not publish a standard rate because the right structure varies significantly by catalog size and scope.

Yes, but the most valuable service at an early stage differs from what a more established artist needs. For an emerging artist with a small catalog, the priority is correct setup from the start: PRS and PPL registration, correct ISRC issuance, DDEX-compliant metadata, and ISWC registration for all compositions. These are low-cost to establish correctly and expensive to correct later if done wrong. The back-catalogue recovery and active multi-territory pursuit that drives ROI for larger catalogs is less relevant early on. Our Catalog Assessment identifies exactly which services would be cost-effective for your current stage.

Yes. Estates, heirs, and catalog acquirers are a specific client type for us. Inherited or acquired catalogs often have significant administrative gaps: outdated society registrations, missing or incorrect ISRC codes, unregistered compositions, or distribution arrangements that have lapsed. Our process begins with a full catalog audit before we establish an administration structure appropriate to the catalog's current state and commercial profile. For catalogs with historical royalty income, we also conduct back-catalogue recovery work to identify any unclaimed income still within the collection window.

The Catalog Assessment takes under five minutes to submit and we respond within two to three business days with specific recommendations. If you decide to proceed, the onboarding phase — full catalog audit, society registrations, metadata corrections, and distribution infrastructure setup — typically takes two to four weeks, depending on catalog size and the complexity of existing registrations. Some society registrations, particularly certain international societies, have their own processing timelines outside our control, but we manage the entire process and keep you updated at each stage. For new releases after onboarding, our standard delivery timeline to 150+ DSPs is seven business days.

You own your catalog and you always will. If you end the engagement, we transfer all registrations, ISRC records, and society account management back to you or to your new provider. We issue all ISRC codes in your name, not ours, which means there is no complication with reregistration if you move to a different provider. Our notice period and transfer process are set out in the service agreement, and we design the exit to be straightforward rather than to create dependency.

A music label acquires rights — typically a share of the master recording or publishing copyright — in exchange for funding and services. A music label services company does not acquire any rights. It provides the same operational functions (distribution, publishing administration, royalty collection) under a service agreement. You pay through a commission on collected royalties or a fee, and your ownership of the music remains completely untouched.

Distribution is one layer of label services, but it covers only the delivery of your music to DSPs and the collection of streaming royalties from those platforms. It does not cover publishing royalties (performance, mechanical and sync income collected through PRS, PPL, MCPS and international societies), nor does it handle metadata administration, catalog auditing or ISWC registration. Most independent artists with a distributor are already missing a significant share of their total potential royalty income.

In many cases, yes. Collection societies hold unclaimed royalties for varying periods — PRS for Music holds unclaimed royalties for up to seven years in some circumstances. Once we register your works, we file active claims for any royalties that should have been collected under your name. The scale of back-catalogue recovery depends on the societies involved, the territories your music has been performed or streamed in, and how long the works have been unregistered.

CGM's publishing administration focuses on the publishing side: PRS for Music (performing rights) and MCPS (mechanical rights), with international registration through CGM's SESAC partnership covering ASCAP, SOCAN, APRA, and other CISAC member societies. PPL handles master recording royalties (neighbouring rights) — a separate function for the master side of a recording, distinct from publishing administration. If you need PPL registration or neighbouring rights management, ask us about this separately during your Catalog Assessment.

For new society registrations, the first payment typically arrives within 60 to 90 days of successful registration, though the exact timing varies by society and territory. For distribution, royalties begin accruing from the moment your music goes live on DSPs and are reported monthly. For back-catalogue claims, the timeline is longer — typically three to six months for claims to be processed and paid, depending on the society.

There is no minimum. We work with artists who have a single track through to rights holders with catalogs of thousands of works. A small catalog with strong royalty potential can benefit just as much from proper publishing administration as a large one. Our free Catalog Assessment is the best way to understand whether the services would be financially worthwhile for your specific situation.