This article was written in collaboration with KOSIGN, a company that Ari’s Take is proud to partner with.
Let’s get this out of the way: if you have music on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other digital streaming platform, you are probably missing out on publishing royalties.
Unlike your master royalties, which are paid to you automatically by your distributor, songwriters have to take active steps to collect their publishing royalties.
“But ASCAP/BMI/SESAC collect my publishing royalties!” Not quite – or at least, not completely. In fact, we have a whole other post explaining why your PRO isn’t enough to collect all of your publishing royalties.
+Publishing Royalties – Why having a PRO isn’t enough
Also registered with The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)? Great work, but still not enough to collect everything you’re owed.
In this post, we’re going to cover:
- What kind of royalties are generated from streaming
- How those royalties eventually get paid to songwriters
- How a music publisher can help songwriters collect every dollar owed to them by DSPs.
What Publishing Royalties are Generated by Streaming?
Let’s quickly recap the two main types of publishing royalties:
- Performance royalties: generated from public performances of compositions. Uses of your song on radio, television, and in live concerts all generate performance royalties.
- Mechanical royalties: generated from reproductions of a composition. For example, the sale of CDs/Vinyl/Cassettes, digital downloads, and sheet music all generate mechanical royalties (aka ‘mechanicals’).
You may be wondering which of these royalties is generated by streaming. The answer is both! That’s right: because streams are considered “digital performances” and digital reproductions of songs, DSPs pay performance and mechanical royalties to songwriters for streams from all over the world.
It’s important to understand the difference between these royalty types because they are collected and paid to songwriters by different organizations. For example, in the United States, performance royalties are collected by Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. On the other hand, mechanical royalties are handled by a different set of organizations: The Harry Fox Agency collects mechanicals generated by physical music, downloads, and lyrics and tab sheets, while the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) collects mechanicals generated by streams in the United States.
The International Royalty Problem (Streaming’s Version)
It’s tempting to believe that all you need to do as a songwriter to have all of your streaming royalties accounted for is register your songs with a PRO and the MLC. Unfortunately, this breaks down when we consider international royalties.
Let’s start with the mechanical side. Say you’ve registered a song with the MLC and that song blows up across Europe, generating 20 million streams from people in Germany, France, and Italy. Want to know how much money the MLC will collect on your behalf for those streams?
None.
That’s right. The MLC only collects royalties from streams generated in the United States. There are no “reciprocal agreements” to collect streaming mechanicals from international collection societies. To collect those international streams, artists either have to directly register with an MLC-equivalent in every country where their music is being streamed, or register with a non-US-based collection society that has reciprocal agreements with international collection societies. And you can be sure that each of those societies will take a cut of your royalties before the money ever reaches your bank account.
As for the performance side, the good news is that US-based PROs generally have reciprocal agreements with most international collection societies. The bad news? In addition to each of these societies taking a cut of your royalties, it can take forever for songwriters to actually receive these royalties. Because collection societies around the world need time to process your royalties before sending them to your US-based PRO – who will then process them to deliver payments to you – songwriters often have to wait upwards of 12 months before receiving these royalty payments.
Collecting international publishing royalties from streaming is an inefficient, time-consuming process, requiring multiple registrations and a variety of middle-men just to make sure you’re collecting every fraction of a cent you’re owed. But it doesn’t have to be this difficult. This is where a publishing administrator – or publishing admin – can help.
How Music Publishers Collect Your Money and Save Your Time
A publishing admin will handle all of the necessary paperwork to register your songs directly with collection societies all around the world. This eliminates middle-men and reduces processing time to ensure you receive all of your publishing income as quickly as possible. However, not all publishers are created equal, and some do a better job at collecting your money than others. One example we want to highlight is KOSIGN, a publishing admin service created by Kobalt Music – the biggest independent music publisher in the world.
KOSIGN – Collecting Directly From The Source
Unlike other publishing companies who collect your songs through international collection societies, KOSIGN collects your international royalties directly from streaming services. That’s right: no middle-men, no extra processing time, just direct publishing collections from the DSP to you.
KOSIGN collects these royalties through amra, a Collective Management Organization owned by KOSIGN’s parent company, Kobalt Music Group. With amra, KOSIGN can offer prompt, direct payments to songwriters using the same infrastructure trusted by A-listers such as Max Martin, Childish Gambino, and Paul McCartney. Payments are distributed quarterly, and KOSIGN offers a rolling quarterly term that you can cancel at any time if you decide to pursue a more traditional publishing deal down the road.
In order to deliver a premium service (including quarterly payments), KOSIGN requires an application to join their platform. If you would like to join KOSIGN, you can apply here.
If you need to collect global publishing royalties, KOSIGN is here for you
Far too many songwriters are missing out on publishing royalties generated from streaming. PROs and organizations like the MLC can help, but collecting all of your global publishing royalties requires navigating a complex web of international collection societies. A publishing admin can help ease the administrative burden on songwriters, but it’s essential to choose the right publisher. If you’d like to take advantage of a flexible option to collect all of your global publishing royalties, KOSIGN has you covered.
