What is a Performance Royalty?

Music Publishing Royalties

Explained
diymusician.cdbaby.com/music-rights/music-publishing-royalties-explained

Chris Robley May 2, 2013

Music publishing is one of the most important revenue generators for an

artist that writes original material. That is why we created CD Baby Pro
Publishing Administration so that CD Baby artists get access to worldwide publishing
royalty collection.

To read about the various kinds of publishing royalties you can generate through the
usage of your music, click HERE.

But in this article — we’re going to talk about one of the big ones.

All about performance royalties

Some industry experts claim that the amount of performance royalties distributed to
songwriters and publishers each year accounts for as much as 30-35% of the total
available publishing royalties — so there’s big money to be made.

What are performance royalties anyway?

A performance royalty is owed to the songwriter and publisher of a particular song
whenever that composition is “broadcast” or performed “in public.”

These instances include…

Plays on terrestrial and satellite radio (Sirius, KEXP, etc.)
Usages on network and cable TV, film, commercials, games, etc.
Plays on internet radio.
Plays on online music streaming services (Spotify, Pandora, etc.)
Performances in live venues.

The stations, networks, venues, and music services that benefit from the
public broadcast/performance of your music owe you a performance
royalty for those usages. But they’re not psychic, and they don’t have time to hunt
down every songwriter individually. That’s where Performing Rights Organizations
come in.

How do you collect performance royalties?

As a songwriter, you’ll need to affiliate with a Performing Rights
Organization (or P.R.O.) such as ASCAP or BMI (if you’re in the USA). These
societies collect and distribute performance royalties on behalf of songwriters and
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publishers. If you’re outside the USA, check out the list of Performing Rights
Organizations HERE.

Or, as a CD Baby Pro member, we’ll handle your affiliation with ASCAP or BMI and
register your songs for you — saving you tons of extra paperwork. Plus, we’ll register
your songs directly with many other collection societies around the world
and make sure you get paid all the royalties you’re owed — not JUST
performance royalties, but also mechanical royalties for international downloads and
global streaming.

To make sure you’re getting paid all the publishing royalties you’re owed worldwide,
register today for CD Baby Pro.

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