Notes · Platform royalties
Tidal Royalties
A Tidal play can earn recording and songwriting royalties. Notes delivers the recording and registers the composition side. Flat subscription. No royalty cut.
Tidal is a hi-fi music streaming service known for lossless audio and an artist-centric brand, serving a smaller but highly engaged audiophile and artist-supporter audience.
Best for Notes. Musicians who release to Tidal and still need the publishing and neighboring-rights sides registered, not only the recording delivery.
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How Notes collects this
Notes ships your sound recordings to Tidal as part of every release, with credits and ISRCs included. Your songwriter credits are registered with PROs and The MLC so the publishing side of every play is paid as well. Recording royalties from Tidal, plus the performance and mechanical royalties behind every play, are reconciled in one place, with no percentage taken. Notes does not take a percentage of royalties.
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 Tidal royalties?
- Tidal is a hi-fi music streaming service known for lossless audio and an artist-centric brand, serving a smaller but highly engaged audiophile and artist-supporter audience.
- What does a Tidal stream pay?
- Like other interactive services, a Tidal play earns recording royalties for the master plus a mechanical and performance royalty on the composition, with the publishing side collected separately through The MLC and the PROs. Per-stream value depends on Tidal's revenue, the listener's market, and the period's total streams.
- Does being on Tidal collect my publishing royalties too?
- No. Delivering to Tidal handles the recording (master) side. The composition's mechanical and performance royalties are collected separately through The MLC and the performing-rights organizations, and only if your songs are registered. Notes registers both sides.
- Does Notes take a percentage of my Tidal royalties?
- No. Notes is a simple $5/month subscription with no percentages and no hidden fees. The royalties from both the recording and publishing sides are paid to you in full.
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. TIDAL is a trademark of its owner. Notes is not affiliated with, authorized by, or sponsored by TIDAL.