Are you getting the most revenue out of your music as possible?
Even if you’re collecting general royalties on streams from Spotify, Apple Music and the like, chances are you are still missing out on making more money. But, how? Well, unless you have a publishing administration deal in place, you might be missing out on tons of potential revenue from streaming platforms and more.
There are two ways to make additional cash from your music on top of general royalties. We break down all three options below.
Here are three ways to earn money from royalties.
General streaming royalties
Streaming royalties are the money you earn from Spotify via your distributor for basic streams. This is sometimes referred to as ‘master use royalist’ or the ‘artist royalty.’ If you’re distributed through Symphonic Distribution, you can find your sales summary on your dashboard.
Mechanical royalties
Mechanical royalties are similar to streaming royalties in the sense that it is money you earn every time your music is streamed. However, unless you have a publishing administrator or a distributor working on your behalf, then your royalties are likely going to the collection societies around the world waiting to be claimed.
Additionally, if you don’t register for publishing administration in time, then collection societies will retain your royalties and you will miss out on uncollected revenue.
Performance royalties
Performance royalties are royalties you earn every time your music is performed or played publicly. If you are registered as both a songwriter and publisher with a performing rights organization (PRO), such as ASCAP or BMI, then you are eligible to collect performance royalties.
Music registered for performance royalties can collect money when it is broadcasted in public places, such as radio, tv stations, stores and more. Learn more about performance royalties here.
To begin collecting performance royalties, you need to register yourself with PROs. Read more about performance royalties here.