Royalties
SoundExchange Royalties
SoundExchange pays digital-performance (neighboring-rights) royalties for US plays on services like SiriusXM and Pandora. Distributors register you only as the recording owner, so your featured-artist share goes unclaimed unless you register directly.
Where this sits
SoundExchange Royalties
- Distribution
- Broadcast
- Publishing
- Performance
When your recording plays on US non-interactive digital radio (SiriusXM, webcasters, Pandora's radio tier), it earns a digital-performance royalty (also called neighboring rights) that SoundExchange collects. It pays two shares: one to the sound-recording owner, and one to the performers: the featured artist plus non-featured musicians.
Good to know
SoundExchange Royalties: common questions
- Does my distributor register me with SoundExchange?
- Usually only as the sound-recording owner, not as the featured artist. The featured-artist share has to be claimed by registering directly with SoundExchange, or it goes unpaid. Notes registers you for both shares.
- Does SoundExchange collect international royalties?
- No. SoundExchange covers US digital-performance royalties only. International neighboring rights are collected by each country's society, so you need separate registrations to collect them.