---
title: "For deal counsel: a model registration schedule and diligence request list"
description: "Two models for the documents on a music catalogue sale or loan, built on the catalogue rating's scope: a registration schedule the seller attaches, with one row per work, and a numbered list of what the buyer or lender asks the seller for. Each column and each item names the part of the rating it lets someone check."
image: "https://trackforge.studio/docs/img/trackforge-social-card.png"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://trackforge.studio/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# For deal counsel: a model registration schedule and diligence request list

:::note[Scope]
A TrackForge rating grades registration at the UK and US statutory collection routes: PRS for Music, MCPS, ICE, The MLC, PPL and SoundExchange, and, for a direct ASCAP or BMI member that supplies its own export of its account, that society as its US performing route (available on owner export; not yet exercised on an issued rating). It does not grade direct memberships of other societies (GEMA, SACEM, SOCAN, APRA and the rest), income collected abroad by a sub-publisher, or mechanicals outside The MLC. Income that reaches a PRS or PPL member through those societies' reciprocal agreements is in scope through PRS or PPL: the rating grades the home registration that the foreign society matches against, and does not read whether the foreign society has matched it. A direct ASCAP or BMI member that supplies no export is not graded on its US performing income, and the rating says so.
:::

This page is for the lawyers, lenders and diligence teams on a music catalogue sale or loan. It gives two things to copy into deal documents: a **registration schedule** the seller attaches, one row per work, and a **diligence request list** of what the buyer or lender asks the seller for. Both are built on the [rating's scope](/docs/certification/rating/scope-and-independence) and nothing wider, so every column and every item names the part of the rating it lets someone check. This page is a model for counsel to adapt to the transaction; it is not legal advice.

## How the two fit together

The schedule is what the seller says about each work, as of a stated date. The request list is the evidence that lets that statement be checked. A TrackForge [catalogue rating](/docs/certification/rating/levels#tier-1-catalogue-rating) reads the same items from the societies' records and the seller's exports, under the published [rule book](/docs/certification/rating/rule-book), so each column of the schedule has a counterpart in the rating.

A seller who keeps the catalogue in the TrackForge Workspace can have the schedule's registration columns read rather than typed. The free [TrackForge check](/docs/workspace/registration-health#the-trackforge-check) reads public records only: it reports work by work what they show, and for a UK catalogue it reports the UK routes as not checked. A [catalogue rating](/docs/workspace/catalogue-rating) adds the seller's declaration and exports, which the Workspace's "Get ready for a rating" page gathers (items 1 to 3 below).

## The registration schedule

One schedule covers one rights position class, as the rating does: a **publishing schedule** for compositions and a **recording schedule** for sound recordings. A seller holding both gives two schedules. A right the seller does not hold on a work is entered as not held; it is not a defect.

### Publishing schedule (compositions)

| # | Column | What the seller enters | What it lets the rating check |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | Seller's work reference | The seller's own key for the work, unchanged across versions of the schedule | The population: the works the seller attests are theirs, fixed before any lookup |
| P2 | Title | The title as registered | Identity: title, artist or duration inconsistent across sources |
| P3 | Writers and IPI name numbers | Each writer on the seller's controlled share, with their IPI name number | Identity: writer without IPI on a controlled share |
| P4 | ISWC | The work's ISWC, where it has one | Identity: conflicting ISWCs for one work |
| P5 | ISRCs | The ISRC of each recording of the work the seller relies on | Identity: one ISRC per recording, recordings linked to the right work, ISRC collision |
| P6 | Society work numbers | The work's number at each in-scope route where it is registered: PRS for Music and MCPS (the PRS tune code), The MLC song code, and the ASCAP or BMI work ID for a direct member | Identity: duplicate registrations and unresolved identity; Risk: un-merged duplicate shells at The MLC |
| P7 | Rights held | Which of performing, digital mechanical and physical mechanical the seller holds on the work | Rights positions: which routes the work is surveyed at |
| P8 | Attributable share | The seller's share of the work, as a percentage | Weighting: the declared share, first in the rating's order of sources |
| P9 | Documenting agreement | The agreement under which the seller holds that share, by reference to item 7 below | Title: ownership documented; the society's share agreeing with the documented share |
| P10 | Registration position per route | At each in-scope route: registered to the seller at a stated share, registered to another party only, not registered, or right not held | Registration: not registered where exploited; registered under another party only; registered share lower or higher than owned |
| P11 | US Copyright Office registration | The registration number, for a US-origin work | Title: no US Copyright Office registration for a US-origin work; recorded termination notice |
| P12 | Disputes and competing claims | Any dispute or counterclaim the seller knows a society has recorded, by route | Risk: competing claim or dispute flagged at a society |
| P13 | As of | The date the row is true as of | Sources and dates: every reading is dated, and a reading older than its age limit never decides |

### Recording schedule (sound recordings)

| # | Column | What the seller enters | What it lets the rating check |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Seller's recording reference | The seller's own key for the recording | The population |
| R2 | Title and main artist | As released | Identity: title, artist or duration inconsistent across sources |
| R3 | ISRC | One ISRC per recording | Identity: exploited recording has no ISRC; ISRC collision or recycling |
| R4 | ℗ credit | The ℗ line on the release, as delivered through the distributor | Title: the release's ℗ credit names another party |
| R5 | Documenting agreement or licence | The agreement or licence under which the seller holds the master, by reference to item 7 below | Title: the agreement a recording needs where the credit names another party |
| R6 | Attributable share | The seller's share of the recording | Weighting: the declared share |
| R7 | Registration position per route | At PPL and at SoundExchange: registered to the seller, registered to another party, or not registered | Registration: exploited recording absent from PPL or SoundExchange |
| R8 | As of | The date the row is true as of | Sources and dates |

### Header rows to copy

```text
Publishing: Seller work ref | Title | Writers (IPI name numbers) | ISWC | ISRCs | PRS/MCPS tune code | MLC song code | ASCAP or BMI work ID | Rights held | Attributable share % | Documenting agreement | Position at PRS | Position at MCPS | Position at The MLC | Position at ASCAP or BMI | US Copyright Office reg. no. | Disputes or competing claims | As of
Recording: Seller recording ref | Title | Main artist | ISRC | ℗ credit | Documenting agreement or licence | Attributable share % | Position at PPL | Position at SoundExchange | As of
```

The ASCAP or BMI columns apply only to a direct member of that society; a seller who collects US performing income through PRS for Music leaves them out.

### Works the seller is recorded on but does not own

A second short list, attached to the schedule: each work the seller is recorded on at a society but whose income belongs to someone else under an agreement (for example a work sold on with the seller left on the chain). For each, the seller gives the work reference, the reason, the agreement, the name of the person attesting and the date. This is the rating's [grading scope](/docs/certification/rating/routes-and-positions#grading-scope): those works are removed before weights are computed, never scored, and disclosed with the weight they would have carried.

## The diligence request list

Each item names what to ask for and the part of the rating it lets TrackForge or the buyer's team check. Items 1 to 3 are what the Workspace's "Get ready for a rating" page asks the owner for.

| # | Request | What it lets TrackForge or the buyer's team check |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | **The list of works** to be sold or charged, in the form of the registration schedule | The population. The rating's attestation fixes it before any lookup, so a work cannot be dropped later to improve the result |
| 2 | **The owner's declaration**, given by a named person with their role and the date: which publishing companies are the seller's (with IPI name numbers), the societies the seller is a direct member of (with the member or account number at each), and the rights held on the listed works | The attestation: rights positions, memberships and collecting routes. Which routes are in scope follows from it |
| 3 | **The income split**: the share of publishing income that is performing; the share of digital mechanical income from the United States; for a direct ASCAP or BMI member, the US share of performing income; for recordings, the SoundExchange share of neighbouring-rights income. Each with its basis (royalty statements or an estimate) and, for an estimate, the lowest and highest it could be | Estimated inputs and routes: how much each route weighs and whether it is material. The rating is worked out across the range and issues the lowest letter |
| 4 | **The seller's complete works export from PRS for Music**, from the member's own account | Identity, title and registration at PRS for Music and MCPS, including duplicate registrations and sources that disagree |
| 5 | **The seller's own account export from ASCAP or BMI**, for a direct member | Registration at the US performing route. Without it that route is not graded, and the rating says so |
| 6 | **Royalty statements** from the in-scope routes for the periods the buyer's team wants to test | Collection. Without statements the rating reads "collection not assessed" |
| 7 | **The agreements** under which the seller holds each listed work: songwriter, acquisition, co-publishing and administration agreements for compositions; recording, assignment and licence agreements for masters | Title: ownership documented, and the society's share agreeing with the documented share |
| 8 | **The list of works the seller is recorded on but does not own**, with the agreement for each | The grading scope, and the weight those works would have carried |
| 9 | **US Copyright Office registration numbers** for US-origin works, and any recorded termination notices the seller knows of | Title: US Copyright Office registration and recorded termination notices |
| 10 | **Notices of disputes or counterclaims** received from PRS for Music, MCPS or The MLC | Risk: competing claims and disputes flagged at a society |
| 11 | **Society acknowledgements** for registrations sent and not yet published, with the date sent | In flight: what is in a society's queue. The rating itself reads the acknowledgements TrackForge or the Workspace recorded; they move the projected letter and the outlook, never the actual letter |
| 12 | **Who has fixed the registrations** since the last rating, if any: the seller, TrackForge, Ortpur (a company connected with TrackForge) or a third party | Independence: `remediated_by`, disclosed on every rating event |
| 13 | **For recordings: the ℗ credit on each release**, and, where a credit names another party, the agreement or licence for the recording | Title for sound recordings. A recording whose credit names another party is not checked until the agreement is supplied |

The list does not ask for statements or exports from direct memberships of societies outside the in-scope routes, or for income collected abroad by a sub-publisher, because the rating does not grade them. Counsel who need those can add their own items; a TrackForge rating will not check them.

## Related

- [For lawyers: what the rating asserts, and what it refuses](/docs/certification/rating/scope-and-independence)
- [Routes, rights positions and "not checked"](/docs/certification/rating/routes-and-positions)
- [Levels: catalogue check and catalogue rating](/docs/certification/rating/levels)
- [Catalogue rating in the Workspace](/docs/workspace/catalogue-rating)
- [Glossary: rating terms](/docs/certification/rating/glossary)

Source: https://trackforge.studio/docs/certification/rating/deal-documents/index.mdx