Who is entitled to music royalties

Since there are two different copyrights in any piece of recorded music; one for the sound recording master copyright and for the music and lyrics compositional copyright , there can technically be multiple different copyright owners. However, there are many cases where one rightsholder will own both copyrights. Keep in mind that this table only shows the general rule of copyright ownership.

Recording royalties are earned from the use or digital reproduction of the sound recording of the music. When music is streamed, downloaded or sold in a physical format, the rightsholder of the sound recording is due royalties. Sometimes only the record labels are the recipients of these royalties, because they own the rights to the sound recordings.

The named recording artist - the performer - on a recording, will earn recording side royalties according to their agreement with their record label or distributor. In some cases, other non-featured performers will also be cut into these royalties, though not always.

In addition to the recording rightsholder, there is a small percentage of digital performance royalties in the US and neighbouring rights elsewhere payable to non-featured recording musicians. Remember - compositional, or publishing, royalties are broken down further into four main buckets: mechanical, performance, micro-sync, and print royalties. Mechanical royalties are owed to you when music featuring your composition is physically or digitally reproduced.

For example, if your EP is streamed or pressed to vinyl, you are due mechanical royalties. These mechanical royalties are collected by pay sources and collection societies such as The MLC in the US, mechanical rights organizations MROs or collective management organizations CMOs , and paid out to the songwriter or their publisher.

Streaming mechanical royalties are collected via blanket licenses with the Digital Service Providers such as Apple Music, Spotify, or Deezer , while physical mechanical royalties such as those earned by pressing a vinyl record , are paid based on individual licenses, often requested directly from a publisher.

For a deeper dive on mechanical royalties, including how they are collected, check out this article. Note that streams from on-demand streaming services, like Spotify or Apple Music, earn both a performance royalty and a mechanical royalty - this is unique among types of music usage. STEP 3 — Collect mechanical royalties related to your sound recordings. When can you collect mechanical royalties on your sound recordings?

STEP 4 — Collect performance royalties related to your sound recordings. When can you collect performance royalties on your sound recordings? What do you need to do to collect performance royalties on your sound recordings? A quick online search should do the trick. STEP 5 — Collect performance royalties for non-featured performances on the digital performances of sound recordings.

For example, when it is featured in a live show, on the radio or on television. Nope, SoundExchange pays out royalties to featured artists and copyright owners. Now What? Ok, that was a LOT of information!

Step 2- Register with an admin publishing company or mechanical royalty collections society… like Songtrust or MCPS …to collect the mechanical royalties related to your songwriting. Step 3- Sign up with a digital music distributor… like Distrokid or CD Baby …to collect the mechanical royalties related to your sound recordings.

Ready for More? Signup for the music admin challenge. Everything you need to know to protect your songs, sell them and get paid! Daniel June 27, at am - Reply.

Joyce Kettering June 28, at pm - Reply. Hey Daniel, It depends on the libraries you had in mind. Effie May 21, at am - Reply. Hi there I am a singer songwriter working with a producer on a song currently.

Joyce Kettering May 24, at pm - Reply. Daniel July 15, at am - Reply. Joyce, That explains it perfectly. Thank you so much! Joyce Kettering July 15, at pm - Reply. Ciprian August 1, at pm - Reply. Joyce Kettering August 9, at pm - Reply. Hi Ciprian, Yep! And you could work with an admin publishing company like Songtrust or Sentric if you wanted to.

Chuck Hughes September 8, at pm - Reply. Joyce Kettering September 10, at pm - Reply. Danny January 3, at pm - Reply. Joyce Kettering January 7, at pm - Reply. A sound recording of a composition is one way to fix the composition on a tangible medium. Craig February 26, at pm - Reply. Live Now! Log In Create an Account. Become a Royalty Exchange Member.

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