The Royalty Checklist: Are You Collecting Everything You're Owed?

A lot of independent musicians assume that once their music is on streaming services through a distributor, the money takes care of itself. It doesn’t. A distributor collects one kind of royalty. There are several others, and each one has to be claimed through a different organization.

The good news: most of this is a one-time setup per song, and once it’s done, the money keeps coming. Here’s the checklist.

First, know the two copyrights

Every recorded song carries two separate copyrights, and they earn separately:

• The composition: the song itself, the melody and lyrics. This belongs to the songwriters and their publishers.
• The sound recording (the master): the specific recording of that song. This belongs to whoever owns the master, which for most independent artists is you.

If you write and record your own music, you own both, and you’re owed royalties on both sides. Most of the money people miss sits on the composition side.

1. Distributor: master royalties from streams and sales

This is the one most people already have. Your distributor delivers your recordings to streaming services and stores and pays you the master share of what they earn.

Check: you’re receiving statements, your payment details are current, and every release is actually live where it should be. If you’ve used more than one distributor over the years, make sure older accounts aren’t sitting on unpaid balances.

2. A PRO: performance royalties for your songs

When your songs are performed publicly (radio, TV, venues, streaming services, background music in businesses), the songwriter and publisher earn performance royalties. In the US these are collected by a performing rights organization (PRO) such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR.

Check:

• You’re a member of one PRO as a writer.
• Every song you’ve written is registered, with correct splits for each co-writer.
• If you perform your own songs live, look into whether your PRO lets you report setlists, since some do.

Your distributor does not do this for you. If your songs aren’t registered with a PRO, this money is either going unclaimed or ending up somewhere else.

3. The publisher’s share

Performance royalties are split into a writer’s share and a publisher’s share. If you don’t have a publisher, the publisher’s share can go uncollected unless you set yourself up to receive it.

Check: you either have a publishing administrator collecting the publisher’s share for you, or you’ve set up your own publishing entity with your PRO. Each PRO handles this a little differently, so read their current rules before choosing.

4. Mechanical royalties from streaming

Every time a song is streamed on demand or sold as a download, a mechanical royalty is owed to the songwriter and publisher. This is separate from the master royalty your distributor pays.

In the US, mechanicals from streaming services are collected by The MLC (the Mechanical Licensing Collective). Outside the US, collection is handled by local societies, usually through a publishing administrator.

Check: your songs are registered with The MLC (directly, or through your publishing administrator), and your recordings are matched to your compositions. Unmatched recordings are one of the most common reasons mechanical money goes unpaid.

5. SoundExchange: digital performance of your recordings

When your recordings are played on non-interactive digital radio in the US, such as satellite radio and internet radio where listeners don’t pick each song, a separate royalty is owed on the master side. SoundExchange collects it and pays it out to the master owner and the featured artist.

Check: you’re registered with SoundExchange as both the featured artist and the rights owner, if you own your masters. Many artists who own their recordings have never signed up.

6. Video and user content

Your music shows up in videos you didn’t make: covers, edits, background music in creator content. Platforms like YouTube can identify your recordings and route money to you through content ID systems.

Check: your distributor or a rights management service is set up to identify your music on video platforms, and you’re not blocking uses you’d rather earn from.

7. Outside the US

Some royalties are paid in other countries but not in the US. For example, many countries pay performers and master owners when recordings are played on regular broadcast radio, which the US doesn’t. These are often called neighboring rights.

Check: if your music gets played or streamed overseas, ask your publishing administrator or a neighboring rights service how foreign collection works for you.

Keep your data clean

Almost every missing royalty traces back to messy information. Keep one master list with each song’s title, writers and splits, PRO registration, ISRC (the code for each recording) and ISWC (the code for each composition) when you have it. Use exactly the same spelling of names and titles everywhere.

When something doesn’t add up, that list is how you find the gap.

Where to start

Don’t try to fix everything this weekend. Go down the checklist in order, one item at a time, and write down what’s done. For most independent musicians, PRO registration and The MLC are the biggest quick wins.

The Musical Pathfinder book covers copyright, publishing and every royalty type in more detail, including how splits and administration deals work: The Musical Pathfinder. The upcoming Navigating Music Rights course will walk through the registrations step by step.

This is general information, not legal advice. Royalty rules and collection societies change, so check the current terms with each organization.