Straight Answers on the Money Side of Music
Plain answers to the questions independent artists actually ask about getting paid — royalties, registration, splits, sample licensing and what gear is worth buying. Written from ten years of releasing music independently, with every figure sourced and dated.
- 64Answer pages
- 679Questions answered
- 75Glossary terms
- RoyaltiesThe four separate pots of money one stream creates, who holds each one, and how to get your name attached to all four.14 answers
- Getting startedStep-by-step procedures for every registration and document an independent release needs, in the order you should do them.6 answers
- Getting paidTiming, thresholds, unclaimed money, taxes, and why the number in your dashboard is not the number you earned.13 answers
- Splits and ownershipWho owns what when more than one person touched the song — split sheets, producer shares, beat sales, and the two copyrights.12 answers
- Sample licensingWhat a Splice licence actually lets you do, what it does not cover, and why royalty-free and claim-free are different things.4 answers
- ComparisonsSide-by-side breakdowns with the arithmetic shown — PROs, distributors, publishing administrators, sample services.6 answers
- Gear and spendingWhat is genuinely worth buying, what is not, and where the same money does more for you somewhere else.6 answers
- Original researchFirst-party studies built from my own data — numbers nobody else can publish because nobody else has them.3 answers
Every answer on this site
Royalties
- Does DistroKid Collect All of Your Music Royalties?No. DistroKid collects one of the four royalty streams your song generates — the recording (master) side from streaming platforms.
- Where Does the Money From One Stream Actually Go?One stream of one song generates money in four separate places at once: the recording royalty (collected by your distributor), the performance royalty on the composition (collected by ASCAP or BMI)…
- Is Registering With the MLC Worth It for a Small Artist?Yes, and the calculation is not close, because registration with The MLC is free and takes about twenty minutes.
- ASCAP or BMI — Which PRO Should a Beginner Join?Both are free for songwriters, so cost no longer decides the writer account. The difference is on the publisher side.
- Why Am I Only Getting Half My Performance Royalties?Because performance royalties are split into a songwriter share and a publisher share, roughly half each, and ASCAP and BMI pay each half to whoever is registered for it.
- What Is SoundExchange and Do Independent Artists Need It?SoundExchange collects the digital performance royalty on the sound recording from non-interactive services — Pandora radio, SiriusXM and internet radio, where the listener cannot pick the exact…
- Should You Register a Song Before or After You Release It?Before. Performance and mechanical royalties accrue from the moment a song is publicly played, so a song released unregistered starts generating money with no claimant attached.
- What Is a Mechanical Royalty, and Who Pays It?A mechanical royalty is the money owed for reproducing a musical composition — copying the song, not the recording.
- What Is a Performance Royalty, and Who Collects It?A performance royalty is money owed when a musical composition is performed publicly — on streaming, radio, television, in a bar, gym or stadium.
- How Streaming Royalties Are Actually Calculated (There Is No Per-Stream Rate)Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music do not pay a fixed price per stream. Each service pools its subscription and advertising revenue for a market and a month, pays out a contracted share of that…
- ISRC vs ISWC: The Two Codes Your Song NeedsAn ISRC identifies a specific sound recording and is issued when you distribute — DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby assign one automatically to every track.
- What ASCAP and BMI Actually Cost to Join (And the One Number Nobody Publishes)Joining ASCAP as a writer is free, and joining as a writer and publisher together is also free — the $50 is charged only when you take a publisher account on its own.
- What Royalties Does DistroKid Collect? My Two Exports, Same SongsDistroKid collects sound recording royalties — the master side — from the stores it delivers to. I can show you the boundary exactly, because I have two complete exports covering the same songs.
- What Royalties Do ASCAP and BMI Actually Collect?ASCAP and BMI collect one thing: public performance royalties on the composition. They do not collect mechanical royalties, they do not collect your recording royalties from streaming, they do not…
Getting started
- How to Register With The MLC (Step by Step)Registering with The MLC is free. Create a member account at themlc.com, choose Self-Administered Songwriter if you control your own publishing, add each work with its writers, splits and ISWC, link…
- How to Register With ASCAP or BMI (Step by Step)Both organisations are free for songwriters, so cost decides nothing on the writer side. Apply as a writer, record your IPI/CAE number from the member dashboard, then register every song with the…
- How to Register With SoundExchange (Step by Step)SoundExchange registration is free — its own wording is "Registering is free, simple, and fast." Create an account at soundexchange.com and register in both roles that apply to you: featured artist…
- How to Register a Song With the US Copyright Office (Step by Step)Create a free eCO account at copyright.gov, pick the right application, upload a deposit copy and pay. As of August 2026 the Single Application is $45 for one work by one author who is the sole…
- How to Fill Out a Split Sheet (With Every Field Explained)A split sheet records one song's writing shares in writing before anyone leaves the session. It needs the song title, date, studio, and for every contributor: legal name, role, PRO affiliation…
- The Independent Release Checklist: What to Do Before, On, and After Release DayA complete independent release runs on a fixed timeline. Four weeks out: sign the split sheet, register the work at ASCAP or BMI and at The MLC, add the recording to SoundExchange, decide on…
Getting paid
- Why Do Independent Artists Earn Less Than They Expect From Streaming?Two reasons, and only one of them is the per-stream rate everybody complains about. Per-stream payouts are genuinely small.
- The 90-Minute Royalty Registration Checklist for Independent ArtistsIn one sitting of roughly ninety minutes you can open every account that collects money for your music: an ASCAP or BMI writer and publisher account (30 minutes), The MLC (20), SoundExchange (10), a…
- Why Your Royalties Are Sitting Unclaimed (And How to Go Get Them)Royalties accrue whether or not anybody claims them. If your works are not registered with The MLC, your recordings not registered with SoundExchange, or your compositions missing a publisher at…
- How Long Does It Take to Get Paid Music Royalties?The MLC pays mechanical royalties about 75 days after the end of each monthly usage period, so January streams pay in mid-April.
- Do You Need an LLC as an Independent Musician?Most self-releasing musicians do not need an LLC. An LLC separates your personal assets from business liabilities — that is the whole product.
- How Music Royalties Are Taxed in the US (The Parts Artists Get Wrong)US music royalties are taxable income whether or not a tax form ever arrives. Because 1099 reporting has dollar thresholds, small payouts from DistroKid, ASCAP, BMI, The MLC and SoundExchange often…
- How Musicians Actually Get Paid on YouTube (All Five Streams)YouTube pays musicians through five separate pipelines that most artists collapse into one. Partner Program ad revenue and the YouTube Premium share go to the channel owner through AdSense.
- What Is YouTube Content ID? A Musician's Plain ExplanationContent ID is YouTube's automated fingerprint matching system. Copyright owners give YouTube reference files, every upload is scanned against that database, and a match produces a Content ID claim…
- Where to Find Your ISRC, ISWC and UPC (Every Lookup Route)Your ISRCs and your UPC live in your distributor dashboard — DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby display them per track and per release, and issue both free.
- What Is a Sync License, and Can an Independent Artist Actually Get One?A sync licence is permission from the owner of a composition to synchronise that song with visual images — film, TV, ads, games, online video.
- How Far Back Can You Claim Unpaid Music Royalties? Every US Collector's WindowIt depends on which pot the money is in, because each US collector runs its own clock. ASCAP will credit performances from before you registered for up to one survey year.
- Does YouTube Premium Pay Creators? What a Premium View Is Worth to a MusicianYes, directly. YouTube states that revenue from Premium membership fees is distributed to creators based on how much Premium members watch their content, that the majority of that revenue goes to…
- Is YouTube Raising the Partner Program Threshold to 8,000 Hours? Yes — From 1 February 2027Yes. YouTube's own Partner Program update page states that from 1 February 2027 the entry threshold for new creators becomes 1,000 subscribers plus either 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365…
Splits and ownership
- When Should You Do a Split Sheet — and What Goes On It?Do the split sheet the day the song is made, while everyone is still in the room and nobody thinks it is worth anything.
- What Percentage Does a Producer Get on a Song?There is no legally fixed producer split. A producer who wrote the underlying music commonly takes a share of the composition, conventionally somewhere between a fifth and a half depending on how…
- What Is the Difference Between Master Rights and Publishing?Every song is two separate copyrights. The master is the sound recording - the specific audio file from your session.
- Do You Need to Register Copyright on a Song You Already Own?You own copyright in your song automatically the moment you fix it in a tangible form — recording it is enough. Registering with the US Copyright Office is a separate, optional step that does…
- Can You Copyright a Beat?Yes. An original instrumental is a musical work under US copyright law, and the specific recording of it is a separate sound recording copyright, so a beat carries both copyrights exactly like a song…
- Who Owns the Song When You Buy a Beat?Buying a beat buys you a licence, not a song. Unless a signed agreement says the producer assigns the composition, the producer remains a writer on everything recorded over that beat — including on…
- Do You Need a Music Publisher, or Just a Publisher Account?"Publisher" means three different things and beginners are usually sold the wrong one. It is the publisher SHARE — roughly half of every performance royalty.
- What Does a Publishing Administrator Actually Do?A publishing administrator registers your compositions with collection societies worldwide, claims the publisher share of the royalties those societies hold, and pays it to you minus a commission —…
- What Is Sub-Publishing in Music, and Do You Need It?A sub-publisher is a company engaged by a rights holder to license and administer its works in one specific territory — a German company handling a US catalog inside Germany, for example.
- What Is a Master Use License (And Why You Always Need Two)A master use licence is permission from whoever owns the sound recording to use that specific recording in something else — a film, an ad, a game, a YouTube video. It never travels alone.
- What Is a Co-Publishing Deal, and What Do You Actually Keep?In a co-publishing deal you assign half of the publisher's share of your compositions to a publisher, usually in exchange for a recoupable advance.
- Writer's Share vs Publisher Share: The Two Halves of Every CompositionEvery performance royalty on a composition is divided into two halves — a writer's share and a publisher share. ASCAP states it on its own application: royalties are split 50/50 between writers and…
Sample licensing
- Is Splice Royalty Free? What the License Actually Lets You DoYes. Splice grants a royalty-free license for every sound you download from Splice Sounds, so you keep 100% of the royalties on the finished song and Splice takes no cut and no ownership.
- Can You Sell Beats Made With Splice Samples?Yes. Selling beats and instrumentals made with Splice Sounds is explicitly permitted, whether you lease them, sell exclusives, or release them yourself, and Splice takes no cut of the sale.
- Do You Keep Your Splice Sounds If You Cancel the Subscription?Yes. Splice states that sounds you have downloaded remain covered under the license granted to you at the time of download even if you cancel or pause your Splice Sounds subscription.
- Will Splice Loops Get Your Video Copyright Claimed on YouTube?A licensed Splice loop can still trigger a YouTube Content ID claim, because Content ID matches audio fingerprints and has no knowledge of licences.
Comparisons
- ASCAP vs BMI vs SESAC vs GMR: Which PRO Can You Actually Join?Only two of the four US performing rights organizations are open to you. ASCAP and BMI accept applications from anyone.
- DistroKid vs TuneCore vs CD Baby: The Real Five-Year CostDistroKid Musician and TuneCore Rising Artist both cost $24.99 a year for unlimited releases and take no commission.
- The MLC vs Songtrust vs a Publishing Admin Deal: Who Should Collect Your Publishing?The MLC is free and collects one thing: US digital mechanical royalties under the Section 115 blanket licence. A publishing administrator such as Songtrust, DistroKid Publishing or CD Baby's…
- Every Hidden Fee in Music Distribution, ListedThe sticker price of a distribution plan is a floor, not a total. DistroKid Musician is $24.99 a year, but a single release with YouTube Content ID, Store Maximizer, Discovery Pack, loudness…
- Splice vs Buying Sample Packs Outright: Which Is Cheaper Over Ten Years?Splice Creator at $19.99 a month is $2,398.80 over ten years and delivers up to 24,000 credits, about $0.10 a sound.
- YouTube Content ID vs Distributor Monetization: What Each One Actually PaysYouTube pays musicians through four separate channels that beginners treat as one. The YouTube Partner Program pays ad revenue on videos you upload.
Gear and spending
- Do You Need Expensive Gear to Make Beats That Get Released?No. A laptop you already own, a DAW, one pair of headphones you know well, and a source of good sounds is enough to make releasable music, and it has been enough for years.
- Is a Splice Subscription Worth It for a Beginner Producer?As of August 2026 Splice costs $12.99 a month for Sounds+, $19.99 for Creator and $39.99 for Creator+, and for most beginners it is the highest-return money in music production.
- How Much Does It Actually Cost to Release a Song Independently?Releasing a song independently costs between $9.99 and $24.99. CD Baby charges $9.99 once per single with no annual fee; DistroKid Musician and TuneCore Rising Artist are $24.99 a year for unlimited…
- What Splice Actually Costs (Every Tier, Every Credit, and the Free Part)Splice Sounds is not free. Sample downloads require a paid plan: Sounds+ at $12.99/month for 100 credits, Creator at $19.99/month for 200 credits, and Creator+ at $39.99/month for 500 credits, with a…
- Does Splice Work With FL Studio, Logic and Other DAWs, or Only Ableton?Splice works with every DAW. Sounds download as ordinary audio files you drag into any project, the free Bridge plugin (VST3 and AU) previews them in your session's key and tempo inside FL Studio…
- Should You Finance Music Gear? What Sweetwater's 0% Financing and Easy Payments Actually CostOnly for a purchase you have already justified with cash, and only on the right terms. Sweetwater offers three different ways to pay over time and they are not the same product.
Original research
- I Tested 40+ YouTube Titles Against vidIQ's Scoring Model — One Clause Moved the Score 24 PointsAcross structured title-testing sessions against vidIQ's title-scoring model, the largest single lever was not the headline formula but the specificity of the middle clause.
- What Music Platforms Actually Pay Per Play — Seven Years of My Own Royalty DataAcross seven years and 677,639 verified plays of my own catalog, the spread between platforms is far wider than the per-stream debate suggests.
- I Paid Songtrust $100 to Collect My Publishing — Here Is Every Dollar That Came BackOver payment periods from late 2023 through early 2026, covering usage of my 73 registered songs back to June 2019, Songtrust collected $261.39 in publisher-share royalties on my catalog and paid me…
Also on this site
- Problems & AnswersEvery question this site answers, grouped by the problem it solves — the fastest way to find the one that matches yours.
- The road I actually walkedEvery stage of building this, in order, what each one cost me, and where to learn it. Twelve stages, 34 checked resources.
- The money glossaryEvery term that stopped you, defined in one place, one page per term.
- CalculatorsDistributor cost over time, songwriting splits, PRO cost, and payout estimates built on my own measured rates.
- Verified numbers & open dataEvery fee on this site with the date it was last checked, plus per-platform payout rates from 38,691 verified lines of my own royalty history.
Get the paperwork done in one afternoon
The Zero to Beat Society walks through registration, splits and release paperwork step by step — with the templates and checklists already filled in.
See the tiers