The Studio · Royalties · Everything your music earns
The royalty maze: everything your music can earn
A song can earn in more ways than most artists are ever told about, and each one is collected by a different kind of organisation, on its own timetable. Here is the whole map in plain words: what each income is, who usually misses it, and how we find and collect all of it for you, so nothing slips through the cracks.
The basics
Every track is two things: the recording and the song
Every released track is really two things. There is the recording: this particular performance, captured in the room. And there is the song itself: the melody and the words, which anyone could record. UK law protects each one separately, and each earns in its own way, often through different organisations and on different timetables.
Then there are the people who played on it. When a recording is played on the radio or in public, the musicians on it can be owed money too, separately from the recording and the song.
That is why a single play can set off several payments, and why it is so easy for some of them never to arrive.
The map
Everything a song can earn, and who usually misses it
Here is each income in plain words, with the way it most often goes missing.
Streams
Each time someone plays the track on a streaming service, the recording earns and so does the song. Often missed: the song’s side, when the writers were never registered, so the recording is counted and the writing is not.
Downloads and direct sales
Downloads bought from a store, or straight from your own artist page. Often missed: sales spread across lots of places, which are easy to lose track of.
Performance royalties (the song)
Earned by the song when it is played on radio or TV, in shops, bars and venues, and when it is performed live. Often missed: gigs. Songs played live can earn too, but only if someone reports the set list.
Mechanical royalties (the song)
Earned by the song each time it is copied: streamed, downloaded, or pressed onto a CD or a record. Often missed: plays in other countries, where nobody registered the song.
Neighbouring rights (the recording in public)
Earned by the recording itself, not just the song, when it is played on the radio, on TV or in public, for the recording and for the musicians who played on it. Often missed: the players. Band members and session musicians are easy to leave off, and then nobody claims for them.
Sync
Music placed in film, TV, adverts and games. There is the licence itself, and the song can earn performance royalties again each time it is broadcast. Often missed: the royalties after broadcast, which depend on the production reporting the music it used.
YouTube and Content ID
When other people use your recording in their videos, Content ID can find the match and run ads against it for the owner. Often missed: all of it, if the recording was never registered. And the opposite problem: claims landing on videos that should stay clear, such as session films.
CDs and vinyl
CDs and vinyl sold in shops, online and at gigs. The song earns when it is pressed, and the recording earns when it sells. Often missed: copies sold at the gig table that nobody wrote down.
Merch and your own store
Not royalties, but income the music creates: merch, bundles and signed editions from your own store. Often missed: the whole opportunity, when there is nowhere for fans to buy.
Overseas
Most countries have their own organisations collecting for plays there, and most pass the money back through agreements with each other. Often missed: countries where the song or recording was never registered. That money can sit unclaimed and, in some places, is eventually paid out to others.
The cracks
Why so much slips through the cracks
None of this finds you on its own. Each kind of income is collected by a different kind of organisation, for different people, and it only reaches the right person when the right details were registered in the right place, usually before the music came out.
Missing or mismatched codes
Every recording has its own code (an ISRC), and every song can have one too (an ISWC). If a code is missing, or the two don’t line up, plays can’t be traced back to the music.
People left off
A writer or player who isn’t listed, or is listed under a slightly different name, is easily missed.
Nobody registered it abroad
A song can be played in a country where nobody ever told the local organisations it exists.
Nobody checked
Royalties arrive months later, in long statements from several places. If no one checks them against what was released and played, the gaps go unnoticed.
How we do it
We find and collect all of it for you
You make the music. We handle the maze, so nothing slips through the cracks, and you never have to learn how any of it works unless you want to.
Registered before release day
Every recording and every song is registered before the music comes out, with its codes, writers and players listed properly. The stereo and Dolby Atmos versions each get their own code.
Collected at home and abroad
Streams, sales, performance, mechanicals, the recording played in public, sync and YouTube: we collect it in the UK and from overseas.
Checked, not just received
We check what comes in against what was released and played, and chase anything that is missing or wasn’t matched.
Session films kept clear
Your recordings are registered so other people’s uses are found, while the session films and clips we publish stay free of claims.
Clear, once a year
A clear statement for each track, every year, showing what came in and where it came from.
The part only you can do
A little of this money goes straight to the people who wrote or played, and only if they have signed up themselves. We tell you exactly what to join and help you do it, so that isn’t missed either.
Common questions
What are music royalties?
Royalties are what your music earns each time it is used: streamed, downloaded, pressed, played on the radio or in public, performed live, or placed in a film or advert. The recording and the song earn separately, and the musicians on a recording can be owed money too.
What is the difference between the recording and the song?
The recording is one particular performance, captured in the studio. The song is the melody and the words, which anyone could record. UK law protects them separately, and each earns its own royalties, often from different organisations.
What are mechanical royalties?
Mechanical royalties are earned by the song each time it is copied: streamed, downloaded, or pressed onto a CD or record. They are easy to miss for plays in other countries, where the song has to be registered too.
What are neighbouring rights?
Neighbouring rights pay the recording, and the musicians who played on it, when it is played on the radio, on TV or in public. In the UK, performers are entitled to be paid when a recording they played on is played in public or broadcast. Players who were never listed on the recording often miss out.
Why do royalties go missing?
Usually because something wasn’t registered, or wasn’t registered in the right place: a missing code, a writer or player left off, or a country where nobody registered the song. Money that can’t be matched can sit unclaimed, and in some places it is eventually paid out to others.
Do I need to register anything myself?
Possibly one or two things. A little money goes straight to the people who wrote or played, and only if they have signed up themselves. If that applies to you, we tell you exactly what to join and help you do it. Everything else, we handle.
How long do royalties take to arrive?
Months, as a rule. Most arrive some time after the plays that earned them, and money from overseas can take longer. It is one reason royalties build over time rather than overnight.
What do you do for the artists you work with?
We handle the maze. We register every recording and song before release, collect what your music earns at home and abroad, check it against what was played and chase anything missing, and give you a clear statement for each track every year. Nothing happens to your music without your written say-so.
Not sure what any of this means? Talk to us. No jargon, no pressure.
Make the music. Leave the maze to us.
We work with a small number of independent artists at a time, from the first session to release day and beyond. Tell us about your music.
Sources
Checked on 30 September 2026. Research and rules change, so treat anything here as a snapshot and check the source.
- How copyright protects your work (GOV.UK)
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 1: copyright and copyright works (legislation.gov.uk)
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 16: the acts restricted by copyright (legislation.gov.uk)
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 182D: right to equitable remuneration (legislation.gov.uk)
- How Content ID works (YouTube Help)