Who Wrote This Song? How to Find the Songwriter and Who to Ask for a License

To find out who wrote a song, start with the credits on a streaming service. Then check them against the free rights databases, which list the writers and their publishers. The writers and publishers control the song itself, so they are the people to ask before you record it or put it in a video. A label or artist usually controls one particular recording of it.

"Who made this song?" has two answers, and awards season shows the split. The Recording Academy says Song of the Year recognizes the songwriters who wrote and composed the song, while Record of the Year recognizes the artist's performance and the producers' contributions. Nominations for the 69th Grammy Awards are due on Monday, November 16, and have not been announced yet. Before you ask anyone for permission, know which of the two you are asking about.

This guide uses U.S. sources. It is general information, not legal advice.

Step 1: Read the credits where you found the song

Open the song in the app where you heard it. Apple Music has a View Credits option, though Apple says credits are not available for all songs. Spotify has a credits view too, but it shows only what your label or distributor sends it, and it says some distributors do not support credits yet. So a missing name does not prove there is no writer. The credit may simply never have been sent.

Write down the title as credited, every writer, any publisher named, the record label, and the years in the © and ℗ lines. The Copyright Office says a notice names the copyright owner and the year of first publication. Notice is optional for works published on or after March 1, 1989, and ownership can be transferred, so the owner in a notice may not be the current one.

Step 2: Look the song up in the free rights databases

Credits come from labels and distributors. Rights databases come from the people who register songs, so they make a good second opinion. Use more than one.

• Songview: ASCAP's repertory page describes it as a collaboration between ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESAC covering more than 40 million musical works. It is free to search on the ASCAP and BMI websites. A result can list who wrote the song, which society each writer belongs to, who publishes it, and the song's ISWC and IPI codes.
• The MLC's Public Work Search: The MLC says this free tool lets anyone look up ownership information for more than 55 million songs. Search by work title, open the work, and look for the publisher information.
• The Copyright Office's public records: the Copyright Public Records System holds registrations and recorded documents such as transfers of ownership, and the Office lists it as covering 1898 to 1945 and 1978 to today. Some guides still point to the Office's Public Catalog, but the Office says that was decommissioned in 2025.
• Outside the U.S.: look for the public search of the society that represents the writer. SOCAN, for example, offers a public repertoire search in Canada.

Step 3: Read the results with care

• Publishers and administrators: the MLC says a publisher invests in creating, promoting, acquiring, licensing or administering songs, and an administrator does many of a publisher's jobs for its clients. ASCAP warns that the contact it shows may be for a publisher or administrator of only certain rights, so it may not be the copyright owner. Treat it as the first person to write to, not the last word.
• The green checkmark: in Songview, a green checkmark means the performing rights organizations agree on the information. No checkmark does not mean the song is wrong. It means the details are not yet identical everywhere, so confirm with the publisher.
• Songs, not recordings: ASCAP says its search is not meant for sound recording purposes, such as finding which label controls a recording. For the recording, start with the label in the ℗ line.
• Same title, different song: copyright does not protect titles, so records list many different works with the same title. Match the writers' names, not just the title.
• Gaps: the MLC's terms say its ownership information may not be complete, and that the data comes partly from third parties such as digital music providers. ASCAP says its ACE (ASCAP Clearance Express) view can leave out a work when interested parties dispute the split, or when it cannot verify its members' interests.

Step 4: Decide who to ask, and for what

The Copyright Office treats the song and the recording as separate works, and says licenses generally must be obtained separately from the owners of each. Match your plan to the right owner.

• To record and release your own version: ask the publisher or writers. In the U.S., if the song has already been released with its owner's permission, the compulsory license is another route. It covers your own recording of the song, not the original recording. See mechanical licenses, explained.
• To change the melody or the words: ask the publisher first. Circular 73 says the compulsory license does not let you change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work.
• To use the original recording, such as a clip or a sample: ask the label or artist that owns it.
• To put the song in a video: the compulsory license covers phonorecords, which the Copyright Office says do not include sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work. Ask the publisher about video, and the label too if you use the original recording.
• To perform it live: the venue usually holds the performing-rights licenses. See licensing songs to perform live.

Step 5: Ask clearly

The Copyright Office's guide to getting permission lists what a request should include. Write to the publisher you found, or to the administrator if that is who the database names, and give:

• the writers' names and the exact title;
• the copyright date, if you found one;
• exactly how you plan to use the song;
• who will hear it, and whether it will be sold;
• your name or organization, and how to reach you.

Write early. The Office warns that the first person you contact may not control the rights and may send you to someone else. Keep every reply, the date you searched and screenshots of what you saw.

If your searches come up empty

An empty result does not mean the song is free. The Copyright Office says the complete absence of information about a work in its records does not mean the work is unprotected, and copyright exists whether or not a work is registered. SOCAN says the same about its repertoire: if a work is not listed, that does not mean it is not there.

Do not give up yet. Try the writer's name instead of the title, and try other spellings. Ask the artist or label that released the recording who wrote it. If the song matters and the trail goes cold, a music attorney or a clearance professional can search for you.

A shortcut for original songs

Everything above is the long way round for a song that is already out in the world. When you license an original song directly from its writer, you know who wrote it from the start. On Starchild, every license comes with a certificate naming the writers, and starchild.music/verify checks a license. Search also understands writer names, so you can look up a writer and hear their songs. Start with songs for artists to record, or read how song licensing works in plain English.

Sources

• Recording Academy: Grammy 101 (Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year)
• GRAMMY.com: How To Watch The 69th Grammy Awards Nominations
• Apple Support: View song credits in Apple Music on the web
• Spotify for Artists Support: Song credits
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 1, Copyright Basics
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 16A, How to Obtain Permission
• ASCAP: About ASCAP Repertory Search
• Record of the Day: Four major US PROs announce expansion of Songview to include musical works information from GMR and SESAC
• The MLC: Tools
• The MLC Help Center: How can I find publisher information for a song registered with The MLC?
• The MLC: Musical Works Database Terms of Use
• The MLC: Music Industry Terminology
• U.S. Copyright Office: Search Copyright Records
• U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright Public Records System Tutorials
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 73, Compulsory License for Making and Distributing Phonorecords
• SOCAN: Public Repertoire