Notes · Recording and songwriting
Music Royalties
Every song pays two independent 100% pools: recording and songwriting. Notes collects both into one account and does not take a percentage of royalties.
Music royalties are the payments creators earn when their music is streamed, played in public, sold, or licensed. A single play earns on two copyrights at once: the recording (the master) and the composition (the song).
Best for Notes. Musicians who want recording royalties and songwriting royalties collected together, including catalogs that were not originally distributed by Notes.
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How Notes collects this
Notes is a music royalties platform: distribution, publishing administration, and royalty collection. It pays the musician. Musician plans have a free tier, then $5 per month. Company plans start at $100 per month.
The two pools
Where this sits on the royalty ring
- Distribution
- Broadcast
- Publishing
- Performance
Each arc is a /learn royalty type. The ring is the same chart as the glossary hub.
By platform type
Which royalties a play can earn
| Platform type | Recording | Mechanical | Performance | Neighboring | Sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
Questions
FAQ
- What are music royalties?
- Music royalties are payments to creators when music is performed, streamed, sold, or licensed. The main types are recording royalties, performance royalties, mechanical royalties, and neighboring-rights (digital-performance) royalties.
- Why do I get paid from so many different sources?
- One stream generates several royalty types. Each is collected by a different organization: your distributor for recording royalties, The MLC for US streaming mechanicals, your PRO for performance royalties, and SoundExchange for US digital-performance royalties on the recording.
- Does Notes take a cut of music royalties?
- No. Notes is a flat subscription. It does not take a percentage of recording or songwriting royalties.
Built on the record
Sources
Notes is an independent music distribution and publishing administration service. Named platforms and collection societies are independent organizations. This page is not affiliated with, authorized by, or sponsored by them. Apple and Apple Music are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Spotify, YouTube, The MLC, Harry Fox Agency, SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI, and other named platforms and societies are trademarks of their respective owners. Notes is not affiliated with, authorized by, or sponsored by them.