Answers/Glossary/SoundExchange
Glossary · Royalties
SoundExchange
SoundExchange is the United States organisation designated to collect and distribute the digital performance royalty on sound recordings from non-interactive services such as Pandora radio, SiriusXM and internet radio. Registration is free.
SoundExchange sits on the recording side of the business, which is why so many artists miss it. ASCAP and BMI collect on the composition. The MLC collects mechanicals on the composition. SoundExchange collects the statutory digital performance royalty on the master — the actual recorded track — from services where the listener cannot choose the exact song on demand.
Covered services include Pandora's radio stations, SiriusXM satellite radio, internet radio, simulcasts of broadcast stations and background music services. Not covered: Spotify and Apple Music on-demand streams, which your distributor collects, and United States terrestrial AM/FM radio, which pays no sound recording royalty at all under US law.
Registration is free. SoundExchange's own registration page states that "Registering is free, simple, and fast." SoundExchange does not publish a payout threshold on that page, so I am not going to repeat a number for one — compare that with The MLC, which does publish minimums.
The statutory split under 17 U.S.C. 114(g)(2) is fixed and unusually artist-friendly: 50% to the sound recording owner, 45% paid directly to the featured artist, and 5% to the AFM and SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund for non-featured performers. A self-releasing artist is entitled to register as both the featured artist and the rights owner, and should.
The misunderstanding: that DistroKid, TuneCore or CD Baby handles this for you. None of them registers you with SoundExchange as part of standard distribution. Have your ISRCs ready when you sign up, because that is how usage is matched to your recordings.
Free registration, ten minutes, done from my kitchen table — but I am an artist, not counsel.
Related terms
- Digital performance royaltyA digital performance royalty is the payment owed for publicly performing a sound recording over a non-interactive digital…
- Sound recording royaltyA sound recording royalty is income earned by the specific recorded master of a song, as opposed to the underlying composition.
- PRO (performing rights organization)A performing rights organization licenses the public performance of musical compositions and collects performance royalties for…
- ISRCAn ISRC, International Standard Recording Code, is a 12-character identifier assigned to a specific sound recording.
Answers that use this term
- 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…
- 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)…
- 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…
- 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.
Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.
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