SoundExchange and Digital Performance Royalties

SoundExchange collects US digital performance royalties for sound recordings played on non-interactive services: satellite radio, internet radio, and webcasters. It does not cover on-demand streaming like Spotify, and it does not cover the composition side. Statute splits each payment 45% to the featured artist, 50% to the rights owner, and 5% to a fund for non-featured performers.

Most artists collect from their distributor and stop there. That covers Spotify and Apple Music. It does not cover the money your recordings generate on digital radio, which travels a separate path with a separate organization behind it.

SoundExchange is that organization in the US. It administers statutory licenses for eligible non-interactive digital services; the rate structure varies by service category. For Section 114 royalties, it then pays featured artists and sound recording copyright owners. Registration is free, and SoundExchange says it collects as far back as three years, so registering late may still recover royalties from that window.

This page covers what SoundExchange does and does not reach, how the split lands in your account, what you have to register, and when the money arrives. Figures here are what SoundExchange published as of August 2026, and rates and thresholds do change.

For the legal frame underneath all of it, which copyright is which and who owns what, see Music Copyright Basics Every Artist Should Know. For where this income sits among the others, see Music Royalties Explained: The 6 Types You Earn.

What SoundExchange Covers, and What It Does Not

SoundExchange pays on the sound recording when it is played on a non-interactive digital service. Non-interactive means the listener picks a station or channel and the service picks the track. That is the dividing line, and it is the one artists get wrong most often.

SoundExchange organizes its licensees into categories. These are the ones an artist is most likely to be played on:

Three things fall outside it, and each one costs artists money when they assume otherwise.

On-demand streaming. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, TIDAL, and YouTube Music offer on-demand listening, which falls outside the Section 114 statutory license and is licensed directly. Recording royalties typically reach artists through the label or distributor that delivered the music. Pandora uses different payment paths: Pandora says artist royalties for its ad-supported service continue through SoundExchange, while royalties for its subscription services are paid through record labels.

AM/FM over the air. The US has no general performance right in sound recordings for terrestrial broadcast, so a station playing your record on air owes the featured artist nothing. SoundExchange campaigns to change this through the American Music Fairness Act, which had not become law as of August 2026. The catch worth knowing: when that same station simulcasts its signal online, the digital transmission does pay. Your record can earn from a station's stream and nothing from its tower on the same spin.

The composition. SoundExchange does not currently collect or distribute royalties for songwriters or publishers. Public-performance royalties for the composition are generally handled through a PRO. The MLC administers the U.S. blanket compulsory mechanical license for eligible interactive streams and digital downloads; physical, sync, and other mechanical uses follow different licensing paths. Different copyright, different money, covered in Performance vs Mechanical Royalties: Who Pays What.

How the 45/50/5 Split Reaches You

SoundExchange distributes each payment by a formula set in statute, not by negotiation:

• 50% to the sound recording copyright owner, which is the label, or you if you own your masters

• 45% to the featured artist, paid directly, even when a label owns the recording

• 5% to a fund for non-featured performers, directed to the AFM and SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund

That 45% going straight to the artist is the unusual part. SoundExchange pays it to the featured artist directly rather than routing it through the label. The 5% never appears in your account at all, because it belongs to the session players and backing vocalists on the record and is administered elsewhere.

If you own your masters and you are the featured artist, you are entitled to both shares, 95% of the payment. That only happens if you are registered in both roles. Registering as featured artist alone leaves the owner half sitting unclaimed, which is the single most common way independent artists lose SoundExchange money.

Two details that catch collaborators:

Two-artist collaborations default to 50/50. SoundExchange says it treats a recording credited to two featured artists as a 50/50 collaboration unless the two artists direct it otherwise. For recordings with a different number or configuration of featured performers, confirm the allocation with SoundExchange rather than assuming 50/50.

Producers and engineers get paid through a Letter of Direction. A featured artist can instruct SoundExchange to route part of the artist share to a producer, mixer, or engineer. SoundExchange requires a signed LOD form and a repertoire chart naming each covered recording; include the ISRC when available. The mechanism is the same one used with distributors and publishers, explained in What Is a Letter of Direction in Music?.

SoundExchange, Your PRO, Your Distributor, and The MLC

These four cover different money from different uses. The accounts you personally need depend on your roles and agreements; for example, a publisher or publishing administrator may register works with The MLC and collect on a songwriter's behalf.

For a self-released artist who owns the masters and self-administers the songs, checking each applicable collection route is groundwork that helps the catalog receive royalties due. Artists with label, publishing, or administration agreements should confirm which party registers and collects each stream. It sits alongside the rest of the business setup that artists and their teams do once and then rely on for years. For the composition half of the picture, see Music Publishing Explained for Artists.

How to Register

Registering with SoundExchange is free.

Step 1: Create your account at soundexchange.com. Register in both applicable roles, Featured Artist and Sound Recording Copyright Owner, if you own your masters and perform on the record. SoundExchange defines the sound recording copyright owner as the person or company, typically the label, that owns a specific recording.

Step 2: Supply your payee details. Legal name or entity name, contact information, tax information, and payment details. Choose direct deposit if you can, because it changes both how often and how soon you get paid (see the next section).

Step 3: Submit or claim your recordings. In the first recording-information step, SoundExchange's submission form requires artist name, song title, and the 12-character ISRC. The complete submission also asks for recording-claim information and at least one associated release. List every featured artist on a recording with multiple features.

ISRCs are strong identifiers for matching recordings. Services generally report the track title and featured artist plus either the ISRC or, when it is unavailable, the album name and marketing label. Supplying accurate metadata can improve matching, and SoundExchange also provides Search & Claim for reported recordings. If you have released through a distributor, your ISRCs are in your distributor dashboard.

When SoundExchange Pays, and What Has to Accrue First

Payment timing depends on how you elected to be paid, which is why the direct deposit choice matters more than it looks.

Balances below the threshold are not lost. They carry forward until they clear the line.

SoundExchange puts its administrative rate at 4 to 6%, deducted before distribution. On back royalties, its FAQ states that it collects as far back as three years, so an artist who has been played for years and never registered can recover part of that, not all of it. The rates services pay are set by the Copyright Royalty Board and reset on a periodic schedule, so per-play earnings are not fixed year to year.

What SoundExchange pays depends on covered usage, the applicable service and rate structure, the share you are entitled to, and any account-level deductions or directions. A generic per-quarter figure cannot predict an individual account's payout.

Collecting Outside the US

The old advice was that SoundExchange handles US collection only. That is out of date. As of August 2026, SoundExchange offers international collection, and the distinction it draws is between registering and becoming a member.

Registering with SoundExchange is what lets you claim your domestic US statutory royalties. Membership is a further step: it lets you grant SoundExchange a mandate to claim your royalties internationally. Both are needed for overseas income, and SoundExchange describes it as a two-step process, a membership agreement followed by an International Mandate authorizing representation outside the US.

SoundExchange says it works through more than 100 agreements with over 75 collective management organizations, covering what it puts at 93% of the global neighboring rights market. That is its own figure, so treat it as a claim rather than an audited number.

The alternatives are still there. You can register directly with national societies such as PPL in the UK, GVL in Germany, and SENA in the Netherlands, which avoids an intermediary but means managing each relationship yourself. You can use a neighboring rights administrator, which charges a commission that varies by company and by catalog, so get the rate in writing before signing. If you have a publishing or label deal, check what it already covers before paying anyone twice.

Common Misconceptions

"My distributor collects this." Your distributor collects on-demand streaming income. SoundExchange collects digital radio performance royalties under the statutory license. Different services, different collection paths, no overlap.

"I registered as the artist, so I am covered." Registering as Featured Artist claims 45%. If you own your masters, the other 50% needs a Sound Recording Copyright Owner registration too.

"My music is not on radio, so this does not apply." Internet radio and algorithmic radio tiers play far more catalog than terrestrial radio does. If you are distributed widely, you may be earning without knowing it, and registration is free either way.

"SoundExchange is just the US." It was, for years. Membership plus an International Mandate now opens overseas neighboring rights collection through its partner societies.

"This is the same as my PRO." SoundExchange pays on the sound recording. Your PRO pays on the composition. Two separate copyrights in the same song, tracked and paid separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often does SoundExchange pay?

Checks go out quarterly, at the ends of March, June, September, and December. Direct deposit accounts that have accrued at least $100 are paid in monthly distributions instead.

Is there a minimum balance before I get paid?

Yes. To be included in a quarterly distribution you need a balance of $10 for direct deposit or $100 for a check. Smaller balances carry forward.

What if my music was played before I registered?

SoundExchange states that it collects as far back as three years. Registering now can recover part of what has accrued in that window, but not plays older than it.

Does SoundExchange handle sync licensing?

No. Sync is a separate negotiated license for using a recording in film, TV, games, or advertising. It is arranged directly or through a sync agent, never through SoundExchange.

Read Next

• Music Copyright Basics Every Artist Should Know

• Music Royalties Explained: The 6 Types You Earn

• Performance vs Mechanical Royalties: Who Pays What

• What Is a Letter of Direction in Music?

• Music Publishing Explained for Artists

Orphiq keeps your release metadata, ISRCs included, in one place and helps you plan the releases those registrations are attached to.