You finished your song, uploaded it through your distributor, and now it’s streaming. Money starts showing up in your account. You’re getting paid.
But are you getting everything? That’s the question kicking off What About Wednesdays, where I answer questions from the comment section. This time: doesn’t my distributor already collect all my royalties? Not necessarily. Let’s break it down.
What does your distributor pay?
Your distributor generally collects money from streams and digital sales of your master recording. That’s the recorded version of your song. The finished, mixed, mastered, and released performance.[1] Those payments are royalties. They just aren’t all the royalties your music can generate. Some distributors offer publishing administration as part of a package or an additional service. Check what you actually signed up for before assuming everything is covered. Uploading your song and registering the songwriting behind it are separate tasks.
What about the song you wrote?
There are two copyrights to understand: the sound recording and the composition. The composition includes the music and lyrics.[1] If you wrote and recorded your song, you may have rights on both sides. Same song. Different ways to get paid.
On the composition side, two important royalty streams are:
Performance royalties. Performing rights organizations, or PROs, such as ASCAP and BMI, collect these for public performances of compositions, including qualifying radio, live, and streaming uses.
Mechanical royalties. These relate to reproductions of compositions. The Mechanical Licensing Collective, also called The MLC, collects U.S. digital mechanical royalties from eligible streaming and download services under its blanket license.[1]
One thing to clear up: there isn’t a flat mechanical payment for every stream. Permanent downloads use a fixed rate, while interactive streaming royalties follow a formula.[2] So, seeing a streaming payment from your distributor doesn’t tell you whether your distributor collected your songwriting royalties.
Where does SoundExchange fit?
There’s another organization worth checking: SoundExchange.
It collects digital performance royalties for sound recordings played on qualifying non-interactive services, such as SiriusXM and Pandora radio. These payments go to eligible recording artists and sound recording owners.[3] Notice that we’re back on the recording side. SoundExchange serves a different purpose from your PRO and The MLC. If you perform on your recordings and own your masters, make sure your SoundExchange registration reflects both roles.
How do you cover these royalty streams?
Start by checking who handles each part of your catalog:
Your distributor: recording revenue from streams and sales.
Your PRO: composition performance royalties.
The MLC or your publishing representative: eligible U.S. digital mechanical royalties.
SoundExchange: eligible digital performance royalties for your recordings.
Then check your song information. Titles, writers, ownership shares, and recording details need attention. Creating an account is only the beginning. If you already have a publisher or publishing administrator, ask what they register and collect before submitting overlapping claims. You can also look into services that help identify gaps. Mogul supports my channel, and its services include connecting royalty sources, reviewing catalog information, and helping address registration issues. Check which services are included in the plan you choose.[4] The paperwork may not be the exciting part of releasing music. Still, you put work into making the song. Give yourself a chance to collect what it earns.
Sources and credits
[1] The Mechanical Licensing Collective, “The Digital Music Royalties Landscape.” Explanation of recording and composition royalty streams and the organizations that administer them.
[2] The Mechanical Licensing Collective, “How Are Mechanical Royalty Rates Determined?” Explanation of download and interactive streaming rate structures.
[3] SoundExchange, “Artists, Labels & Producers.” Registration and digital performance royalty guidance for recording artists and sound recording owners.
[4] Mogul, “Music Royalty Tracking and Registration Services.” Description of the company’s services. Commercial relationship disclosed above.
