Start for Free

Learn

Music Royalties, Simplified

Your music earns on two sides at once: the recording and the songwriting. Here's how every royalty type fits together, who collects each one, and what you owe when you cover, sample, interpolate, or remix someone else's song.
New here? Follow one play through the money →

Recording

DistributionPayments from streams, downloads, and sales on music streaming platforms — collected by your distributor.BroadcastPayments for recordings played on satellite radio, internet radio, and webcasts (in the US, via SoundExchange).
Music Royalties, Simplified

Songwriting

PublishingPayments to songwriters and publishers when songs are used, copied, performed, or streamed. In the US, mechanicals are collected by The MLC.PerformancePayments to songwriters and publishers when music is played on public radio, live concerts, streaming, and TV — collected by your PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC).

Collect everywhere

One song. Collected worldwide. Paid to you.

Your music earns through two layers. The first is distribution — the recording's streaming and download royalties, paid directly by the platforms everywhere they play it: one delivery, collected worldwide, no society involved. The second is society collections, and that's what this map shows — every territory has its own societies gathering what's earned there: performance and mechanical on the composition, plus neighbouring rights on the recording. The highlighted territories are where Notes is registered and collecting now; Notes reconciles both layers and pays it to you, with no percentage taken — and more light up as we sign them.
AndorraUnited Arab EmiratesAlbaniaArmeniaAngolaArgentinaAustriaAustraliaAzerbaijanBosnia and HerzegovinaBarbadosBelgiumBurkina FasoBulgariaBeninBoliviaBrazilBotswanaBelarusCanadaRepublic of the CongoSwitzerlandCôte d'IvoireChileChinaColombiaCosta RicaCubaCabo VerdeCzechiaGermanyDenmarkDominican RepublicAlgeriaEcuadorEstoniaSpainFinlandFranceUnited KingdomGhanaGuineaGreeceGuatemalaHong KongHondurasCroatiaHungaryIndonesiaIrelandIsraelIndiaIcelandItalyJamaicaJapanKenyaSouth KoreaKazakhstanSaint LuciaLesothoLithuaniaLuxembourgLatviaMoroccoMoldovaMontenegroMadagascarNorth MacedoniaMaliMacauMauritiusMalawiMexicoMalaysiaMozambiqueNamibiaNigeriaNetherlandsNorwayNepalNew ZealandPanamaPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalParaguayRomaniaSerbiaRussiaSwedenSingaporeSloveniaSlovakiaSenegalSurinameEl SalvadorThailandTürkiyeTrinidad and TobagoTaiwanTanzaniaUkraineUgandaUnited StatesUruguayVenezuelaVietnamKosovoSouth AfricaZimbabwe
  • Collecting now
  • On the map

What a song earns

  • PerformanceComposition · PROs
  • MechanicalComposition · MROs
  • Neighbouring rightsRecording · societies like SoundExchange
  • Master recordingsPaid directly by DSPs everywhere a song streams — distribution, not a society

The map shades the society-collected layer — the part that differs by territory. Master recordings are paid worldwide through distribution, so they sit outside the map.

Distribution + collectionsMaster worldwide, societies in every territory
Notes reconcilesOne place, no percentage taken
Paid to youThe musician, in full

Collection Sources

Which royalties come from where

Royalties by platform type

Platform type RecordingMechanicalPerformanceNeighboringSync
Interactive streaming (Spotify, Apple Music)●●●——
Non-interactive radio (Pandora, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio)●—●●—
Download / DJ stores (Bandcamp, Beatport)●●———
Short-form & social (TikTok, Meta, Snap)●●●—●
Fitness, sync & background (Peloton)●—●—●
Karaoke & sing-along (Singa, WeSing)—●●—●

Interactive streaming (Spotify, Apple Music) pays recording, mechanical, and performance royalties, not neighboring rights, which come from non-interactive radio via SoundExchange. Karaoke also generates a print (lyric) royalty not shown above. ROXi-style on-demand music-video and karaoke TV is audiovisual, so it leans on sync and master-use licensing rather than the statutory mechanical.

When you reuse someone else's music

Covers, samples, interpolations & remixes

Every recording is two copyrights: the composition and the master. What you have to clear depends entirely on which one you touch. The clean rule: a sample uses the original recording (clear both), an interpolation re-records it yourself (composition only).

Reuse type CompositionMasterCompulsory license? What you clear
Cover (audio only)●—●Composition only: the §115 mechanical license, no permission needed.
Cover (in a video)●——Composition only, but a negotiated sync license (the compulsory license is audio-only).
Sample●●—Both: a master-use license and a composition license, all negotiated.
Interpolation●——Composition only: you re-record it yourself, usually as a publishing co-write split.
Remix●●—Both: it's a derivative work built from the original recording.

A straight cover is a reproduction under the §115 mechanical license, not a derivative work. Samples and remixes are. The only thing that excuses clearing entirely is genuine parody or fair use, and that's a narrow, case-by-case defense.

From the play to your account

Who collects each royalty

Every royalty has a collector: the body that gathers it and pays it out. This is the whole map: which side of the song each royalty comes from, who collects it, and who ends up paid.

Royalty Side Who collects it Who gets paid
Recording royaltiesRecordingYour distributor (direct DSP deals)The master owner (you)
Digital-performance / neighboringRecordingSoundExchangeMaster owner + featured & non-featured performers
Mechanical royaltiesCompositionThe MLC (US streams & downloads)Songwriter + publisher
Performance royaltiesCompositionPROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC)Songwriter + publisher
Sync royaltiesBothNegotiated (publisher + recording owner)Songwriter + master owner
Print royaltiesCompositionThe publisherSongwriter + publisher
Non-featured musician royaltiesRecordingAFM & SAG-AFTRA FundSession musicians & background vocalists
International royaltiesBothForeign PROs / societies + sub-publishersYou, via reciprocal agreements

Built on the record

Sources & further reading

Stop missing money

See which royalties you're owed.