How to Get Paid · Chapter 05 of 9
SoundExchange and digital radio
When your recording is played on satellite or internet radio, the recording’s owners and performers are owed money. SoundExchange collects it. Your distributor doesn’t.
Facts last checked
Digital radio pays the recording
SoundExchange collects royalties for recordings played on non-interactive digital services, where the listener can’t pick the song: satellite radio, internet radio and webcasters, and music channels on cable TV. It pays the people behind the recording, not the songwriters. Songwriters are paid for the same plays through their PRO.
A quirk of US law: AM/FM radio in the US doesn’t pay recording owners or performers anything. Only digital radio does, and only through SoundExchange.
The split is set by law
| Who | Share |
|---|---|
| The recording owner | 50% |
| The featured artist | 45% |
| Session musicians through a union-run fund | 2.5% |
| Session vocalists through a union-run fund | 2.5% |
Signing up
- Free to register. It deducts an admin fee of 4–6% from what it collects.
- Two kinds of account. Each featured performer registers as an artist. Whoever owns the recordings registers as the rights owner.
- Tick the international option. With an international mandate, SoundExchange also collects “neighbouring rights”: money for your recordings played on radio, TV and in public in other countries.
- Paid quarterly, from $10. Monthly by direct deposit once you’re owed $100 or more.
- Don’t wait. Royalties nobody claims expire after three years.
Questions
What does SoundExchange collect?
Royalties for recordings played on non-interactive digital services, where the listener can’t pick the song: satellite radio, internet radio and webcasters, and music channels on cable TV. It pays the recording owners and the performers, not the songwriters.
Is SoundExchange free?
It is free to register. It deducts an admin fee of 4–6% from what it collects.
How does SoundExchange split the money?
By law: 50% to the recording owner, 45% to the featured artist, and 2.5% each to session musicians and session vocalists, paid through a fund run for the musicians’ and actors’ unions.
Who in a band should register?
Each featured performer registers as an artist, and whoever owns the recordings registers as the rights owner. In a band that owns its recordings together, that can be the same people in two roles.
Do unclaimed SoundExchange royalties expire?
Yes. Royalties nobody claims expire after three years.
Sources
Official pages, all checked on October 28, 2026.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Fees and rules change: check the official site on the day you sign up. For a big deal, such as a sync offer, a label contract or selling a catalogue, pay a music lawyer for an hour.