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3 Things You Need to Know About Music Publishing Royalties

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(US) It’s not just record labels that help you make money. Music Publishing offers a great deal of revenue for musicians.

  1. Mechanical Royalties

Mechanical royalties are produced when people listen to songs on Spotify, Apple Music, or Pandora. Mechanical royalties are paid to songwriters for the reproduction of their work. DSPs pay mechanicals to publishers directly for interactive streams. Non-interactive streaming, such as Pandora’s ad-supported radio, does not produce them.

  1. Public Performance Royalties 

Public performance royalties are administered, collected, and distributed by performance rights organizations (PRO). Public performance customers include venues, clubs, restaurants, TV channels, and radio stations. Users often submit their playlists to the PROs via cue sheets and broadcast logs.

  1. Synchronization License Fees

Sync refers to the use of a song in television, movies, and ads. Every time someone wishes to utilize the composition, they must first obtain permission from the piece’s copyright holders. Syncs must be negotiated with both the owners of the composition and the owners of the sound recording, meaning licensors must go through both the songwriters’ and recording artists’ representatives.