Beat licence matrix
Do I own the publishing if I buy exclusive rights?
Free (tagged) licence
On the Free (tagged) tier, claim 100% of the publishing is not permitted as these agreements are ordinarily written. Almost never. In the standard exclusive agreement the producer retains the publishing and the writer's share of the composition. Exclusivity governs who may USE the beat, not who OWNS it.
What to check in your agreement
The publishing split clause. If you want the publishing, it has to be bought separately and named explicitly.
The same question on every other tier
| Licence tier | Claim 100% of the publishing |
|---|---|
| Basic (MP3) | Not permitted |
| Premium (WAV) | Not permitted |
| Trackout / Stems | Not permitted |
| Unlimited lease | Not permitted |
| Exclusive rights | Not permitted |
What this tier is
A promotional lease. The producer tag stays in the record and commercial use is usually not granted at all. Typical price: $0.
Scope limit. This models the STANDARD form of each tier. Any individual agreement overrides it. Where a cell says 'depends', the answer is genuinely contract-specific and no general resource can resolve it.
Part of the Beat Licence Checker and
an open dataset published under CC-BY 4.0. Reuse it, including commercially, with attribution.
Last reviewed 2026-08-12.