Why might I miss out on foreign radio royalties?

Many countries pay a master performance royalty for radio and public play, often only to foreign artists on a reciprocal basis — and since the US grants no equivalent right at home, US performers can be excluded.

What is sub-publishing?

A deal where a local publisher in a foreign territory registers your songs and collects your composition royalties there, then remits them to you — usually for a percentage.

Royalties

International Royalties

Royalties your music earns abroad come home three ways: foreign PROs via reciprocal agreements, sub-publishers, and foreign neighboring-rights societies — though the US's missing radio right can cost you some of the last one.

Money your music earns overseas reaches you through three channels. Composition performance royalties flow from foreign PROs back to your US PRO under CISAC reciprocal agreements. Sub-publishing deals let a local publisher register and collect your publishing royalties in each territory. And master “neighboring rights” — radio and public-performance pay the US doesn't grant at home — are collected abroad and routed back to you.

There is a catch on that last one: because the US has no terrestrial performance right for recordings, US performers can be denied foreign neighboring-rights income under reciprocity — real money left on the table.

Notes registers your works and credits so these foreign streams are claimable, with no percentage taken.

Good to know