The Difference Between Recording and Songwriting Income

Groover helps you promote your music and get it heard by the right people. But once your song is out there, a complex, separate type of income is generated: songwriting (or music publishing) royalties.

This is income owed to you from mechanical and performance usage – think streaming, radio, international play, and public performance. Collecting it is incredibly complex, requiring registration with hundreds of global societies. Most musicians miss out simply because they don’t know where to start.

Maximize Your Income with Songtrust

Songtrust takes the pain out of global royalty collection. They act as your worldwide music publishing administrative team, monitoring your music’s activity and registering your catalog where it’s earning to ensure you receive all the songwriting royalties you’re owed from over 215 countries and territories.

Songtrust simplifies the administrative process:

• Keep 100% Song Ownership: You retain full control and copyright of your work.
• Global Collection & Transparency: They monitor your songs weekly for streaming and royalty activity, register your songs, collect earned royalties, and then pay you each quarter. You can track every cent earned with their user-friendly dashboard and detailed royalty reporting.
• Unmatched Coverage: Their direct affiliations with over 60 pay sources globally cover 98% of the world’s music market.
• Exclusive Rewards: As a member of their community, you immediately gain access to exclusive deals and resources through the Songtrust Amplified program.

Access Exclusive Resources: Joining the Songtrust Amplified Community

We are proud to be an official partner in the Songtrust Amplified rewards program. Beyond music publishing administration, Songtrust Amplified, is designed to support the entire professional life of a songwriter. By joining Songtrust, you gain access to a suite of exclusive, curated rewards and discounts on essential services, including exclusive deals from Groover, and other leading companies across distribution, marketing, and more.

Ready to Start Collecting Your Music Publishing Royalties?

You’ve got the knowledge and the trusted support system to maximize your songwriting income. The hard work is creating the music, now let Songtrust handle collecting the publishing royalties you’ve generated for it. Stop leaving money on the table. Take this quick, final step to claim your global publishing royalties today. 

Ready to promote your music? Send it to the music pros on Groover ⬇️

L’article Groover joins Songtrust Amplified: Unlock your publishing royalties est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.

The “loud” part of the music industry (the playlisting, the social media marketing, and the live shows) is what most creators focus on. But the “quiet” part (music publishing) is where a sustainable career is built. We discussed with the Songtrust team – who helped more than 445,000 songwriters collect their global royalties – and we’ve noticed a consistent gap in understanding. Many artists believe their distributor or their Performing Rights Organization (PRO) is collecting everything. The reality? They aren’t.

The Missing Piece of the Artist Royalty Puzzle: Are You a Songwriter?

The key distinction to make upfront is this: Publishing royalties belong to the songwriters. When you release a song, you are dealing with two distinct sets of rights: the recording (also referred to as the master) and the composition (the underlying melody and lyrics).

If you are a non-performing songwriter (you write or produce songs but don’t sing them) or an independent artist that writes and performs your own material, you own a piece of that composition. However, if you are strictly a vocalist or performer who did not contribute to the writing process, you generally do not earn publishing royalties.

If you have even a 1% credit on the writing of a song, that song generates its own set of royalties: publishing royalties. These are then divided into two main buckets: Performance Royalties and Mechanical Royalties (see visual below). If you are only registered with a PRO like ASCAP or BMI, you are likely only collecting about 50% of your available publishing income. You’re likely missing the mechanical royalties and the international publishing income that stay stuck in foreign territories.

How to Promote Your Music and Maximize Publishing Revenue

Before diving into the technical breakdown of “how” to find your missing money, let’s talk about the “why”. In 2026, the music market will be more saturated than ever. Standing out requires more than just a great hook, it requires a team and a strategy too.

As a Songtrust Amplified partner, Groover plays a pivotal role in this ecosystem. While Songtrust ensures your “back-end” is secure by collecting every cent you’ve earned from your composition, Groover handles the “front-end” by getting your music into the ears of the people who matter.

The connection is natural: if you use Groover to land a major Spotify playlist or a blog feature, those new streams trigger mechanical and performance royalties. If your publishing isn’t set up correctly before you start your Groover campaign, you’re essentially working hard to generate revenue that you’ll never see.

1. The Great Mechanical Mystery

The biggest mistake we see independent artists make is ignoring Mechanical Royalties.

Historically, these were paid when a physical CD was “mechanically” pressed. Today, they are triggered by every single stream. In the U.S., the Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) handles these.

• The Catch: Your PRO does not collect mechanical royalties.
• The Numbers: As of January 1, 2026, U.S. mechanical royalty rates have risen to 13.1 cents per work for physical and permanent downloads, while the streaming revenue share for songwriters is climbing toward a 15.35% cap by 2027.

If you aren’t registered with a publishing administrator or directly with mechanical societies globally, that money stays “unallocated.” After a few years, it is often distributed to the biggest publishers based on their market share… meaning your hard-earned royalties are literally being handed to major-label stars.

2. The International “Black Box”

The music industry is global, but royalty collection is typically local. When your song is streamed in France, Brazil, or Japan, the local collection societies in those countries collect the royalties.

If you are an artist registered only in your home country, those foreign societies have no way of knowing who you are. They hold your money in what’s commonly referred to as the “Black Box”. If it isn’t claimed within a certain window (usually 2–3 years), it’s no longer accessible to you.

We’ve seen artists discover thousands of dollars in back-dated international royalties simply by registering with a global administrator. Songtrust, for example, has direct relationships with 65 collection societies worldwide, ensuring that when your music travels, your money follows.

Quick Note: In the U.S., we primarily deal with PROs. However, in most other parts of the world, these entities are known as Collective Management Organizations (CMOs), such as SACEM in France or GEMA in Germany. The key difference is that many CMOs manage both performance and mechanical rights under one roof, whereas the U.S. system remains fragmented.

3. The Metadata Trap

In 2026, metadata is your most valuable employee. Metadata is basically your digital “ID card” attached to your song. It includes your ISRC (for the recording) and your ISWC (for the composition).

If the data on your Spotify profile doesn’t match the data at your PRO, or if your co-writer registered the song with a different title, the systems can’t “match” the stream to the songwriter. This leads to “unidentified” royalties.

Pro Tip: Make sure to always use a Split Sheet. Before you leave the studio, ensure every co-writer or collaborator agrees on the percentage of the song they own and has provided their IPI number (a unique ID given by your PRO).

How to Set Yourself Up for Success

To ensure you aren’t the artist missing out, follow this checklist for every release:

1. Finalize Splits Early: Don’t wait until the song is a hit to argue over percentages.
2. Register with a PRO: This covers your performance royalties and ensures you’re identifiable within the music publishing ecosystem.
3. Use a Publishing Administrator: This is the most efficient way to collect global mechanicals and international funds without spending years filling out paperwork for every country where your music may be generating royalties.
4. Register Your Live Performances: Many artists don’t realize they can earn royalties for playing their own songs at a local club or festival. Submit your setlists to your PRO!

Leverage Groover for Discovery: Use Groover to ensure your music is actually being heard. The more ears you reach, the more the royalty machine starts to turn.

Protecting Your Legacy

Music publishing isn’t just about getting a check next month; it’s about building a catalog that serves as a long-term asset. In a world where music publishing market values are projected to exceed $10 billion by 2030, your compositions are essentially real estate.

Don’t let your “quiet” money go to waste. By combining the proactive promotion of Groover with the administrative powerhouse of Songtrust, you are giving your career the best possible foundation. You focus on the art, we’ll focus on making sure that art pays you for the rest of your life.

Written by Songtrust

L’article Music publishing royalties explained: What independent artists are missing est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.

1. What Are Music Royalties?

Every music creator gets annual music royalties for each use of their work. There are many types of royalties. Anytime someone listens to your music on Spotify or Pandora, watches a live music performance or does a cover on one of your songs, the original creator is paid. They receive a share whenever the services are performed.

| Check out: Music Rights and how do they work?

2. Main Types of Music Royalties

There are two main types of royalties every artist should be aware of: Performance Royalties (PR) and Mechanical Royalties (MR). 

Performance Royalties

These are earned every time your song is performed in public. Be aware that Public performances don’t just mean live concerts, though, they include things like: 

• Streaming services
• Radio plays
• Television broadcasts
• Live performances 
• Even concerts by other artists 

PR are collected by Performance Rights Organizations (PROs). In the US, these are ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.  When your song is played, these organizations collect royalties and send them to you. However, your streaming platform doesn’t handle these payments directly. It’s the PRO that will ensure you get paid.

Mechanical Royalties

These are earned whenever your song is reproduced, either physically (like on CDs or vinyl) or digitally (like through streaming).  Whenever a digital copy of your song is created, like when someone streams it, a mechanical royalty is generated. 

In the US, MR are collected by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). These royalties are paid to the songwriter and publisher of the song.

| Read also: How to copyright a song

Streaming Royalties (SR)

As obvious as it sounds, they are generated every time someone streams your song. But, it’s not as straightforward as you might think. Cause what you need to know is that Spotify (for example) doesn’t pay you directly. They pay your distributor, then your distributor pays you your part of the royalties. But, these streaming pay only pay a part of the royalties you’re owed. They don’t pay the songwriter directly. Those are handled by PROs like ASCAP. So, even if your distributor is paying you for streams, you could still be missing out on songwriting royalties if you’re not registered with a PRO. 

Neighboring Rights — What You Need to Know

Neighboring Rights can get a bit more complicated, so here’s a basic rundown: 

These are performance royalties that are generated outside your home country. To collect them, your country must be a signatory of the Rome Convention of 1961. The US didn’t sign the Convention. So, if you’re American and  your music is played abroad, you’ll need to research and register in those countries to collect your royalties. Services like SongTrust can help you collect these globally.

Non Interactive Streaming Royalties 

This is a category of royalties that many artists forget about. These are collected by SoundExchange and are generated when your song is played on services like Pandora, Sirius XM or web radio stations. Unlike Spotify, where listeners choose the specific songs they want to hear, these non-interactive services play curated music based on genres or stations. SoundExchange handles the royalties for these types of digital performances. Digital Performance Rights don’t involve songwriters or publishers. 50% of the royalties are paid to the Right’s Owner (the owner of the master record) 45% goes to the featured artist and the other goes to non-featured artists (like musicians for example).

| Check out: A clear guide to avoid underselling your music

It can be tricky to calculate your streaming royalties. Using a streaming royalties calculator such as this simple tool for Spotify streaming royalties can prove useful.

To Conclude

To make sure you’re collecting everything you’re owed, register with the appropriate organizations like your PRO, MLC and SoundExchange. If you have an international fan base, don’t forget about neighboring rights. Services like SongTrust can help make sure you’re collecting all your royalties from over 200 counties! 

Don’t neglect your royalties! By managing them, you’re getting paid for every stream, play and performance. 🙂

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L’article What Are Music Royalties and Why Are They So Important? est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.

“What’s your share of the master rights on this recording?” – “Have you negotiated your publishing splits?” – “Do you have any co-producers on this song?” 

If you’ve never heard these kinds of questions before or are unfamiliar with those terms, let’s fix that. Whether you’re signed or independent, knowing your terminology and the basics behind them will help you make better, more informed decisions for your career.

Groover will help you better understand all things copyright and ownership so you can sign contracts that make sense for your career, and ultimately benefit your bank account. In this article we outline the difference between publishing/composition rights, master/recording rights and synchronization (sync) rights.

1. Publishing/composition rights

Instead of boring you with the dictionary definition of what copyright is, let’s jump straight into what it does in a musical context.

In short, copyright in music is what protects a fixed original work for 70 years after the death of the last creator of the work. “Fixed” in this case means the work has been made tangible in any way. This could mean being written down, recorded in voice memos, texted, scribbled on a napkin, you name it. If it can be heard or seen, it’s been fixed and the writer(s) automatically own the copyright.

• Who is entitled to publishing copyright?

The writers and producers split publishing rights. Publishing rights should only be given to those who partook in the actual creation of the song. Thus, if a writer and producer are the sole creators of a work and agree that they contributed equally, the publishing splits would be 50% for the author and 50% for the producer. There should be no involvement of labels, managers, or distributors in a publishing split agreement unless they helped make the song. Composition rights are for the composers of the song only.

The only other potential stakeholder of publishing rights of a work would be a publisher. Music publishers are often in charge of overseeing the copyright ownership of the songwriters they have contracts with, and are the ones who register the songs with royalty collection agencies so their songwriters get paid. However, if you are familiar with the way the business works and are comfortable overseeing these administrative aspects of your career yourself, you do not need a publisher, and can register yourself as a your own publisher with these collection agencies. If you would rather have someone handle this and promote your songs, here is how to find and pitch a music publisher.

In the US, there are a number of organizations who run the music copyright world, and we refer to them as PROs (Performance Rights Organizations). The major PROs in North America are ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SOCAN, and you are free to choose whichever one you think suits you best. Their job is to collect the royalties generated from music streams and plays, and distribute them to the songwriters, composers, and publishers of the work. This can only happen if you are registered with them, and if your songs are registered with them under your name. Song registration is simple, but should only happen when all parties have agreed on the split percentages. This is usually negotiated by managers or labels, but can absolutely be done by the artist and producers directly.

• How does my song generate royalties?

Songs generate 2 types of royalties that are collected by such agencies. These are:

– Public performance royalties: when a musical work is performed or displayed publicly (on TV, on the radio, at a grocery store, in bars, when streamed, or even played in concert).
– Mechanical royalties: when a musical work is reproduced (as a digital download [iTunes purchase, ringtone], printed as a CD or vinyl, or streamed on on-demand DSPs). The name comes from having to physically reproduce a work when labels wanted to distribute it before the internet came along.

These royalties are often collected by separate agencies. The PROs mentioned above only collect performance royalties. In the US, there is one main entity that collects the mechanical royalties paid by digital streaming platforms (DSPs), called the Mechanical Licensing Collective (or MLC). It then hands off the royalties to other agencies, most notable the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) in the US, which represents all major music publishers. The HFA only collects mechanicals, while PROs only collect performance royalties. Some services like Songtrust collect both, but they often take a slightly larger percentage because of this double service.

2. Master/recording copyright

“Master” is short for master recording, and is essentially the final version of the song that is sent out to distributors. Master rights are the second type of copyright that exist in music, and they are split between any party that partook in shaping the final product of a work and allowing it to come to life in the public space. This is primarily the artist who recorded the song, but would also include the writers and producers, labels (who promote and market to make the song heard, unless you’re independent), engineers (who mix and master the final song file), featured artists (who provide vocals), and distributors (if you’re independent). It is worth noting that the producer’s share of a master recording is usually very small, as their contribution primarily involves the creation of the song, not the life that comes after it.

Example: if you are an independent artist and you’ve written, produced, recorded, mixed, and distributed an EP entirely on your own, you are the sole owner of your master rights, and will therefore be the sole collector of master royalties, in addition to your publishing royalties.

Let’s say someone wants to record a cover of your song. If you own your publishing rights, you automatically get compensation as the writer of the song being used. However, that artist will be collecting the master royalties, as they are not using your sound recording of the composition. Does that make sense?

Master rights are important to understand because ownership of them often leads to legal battles amongst labels and artists. Depending on your contract, the label may actually be the sole owner of your masters, and they are the ones who have a say in where your song is played and how it’s used. That was the crux of the recent debacle between UMG and TikTok; because UMG controlled the masters of so many artists, as was agreed upon in their contracts, it had the power to remove every artists’ master recordings from the platform. This is also why sped up, slowed down, or reverb versions of those artists’ songs were still being used – they were not the master recording. As the writer and/producer of a musical work, you will always own your publishing/composition rights, but as the performing artist, there is no guarantee of master rights ownership unless you are independent or have negotiated it into your contract.

• Who collects master royalties?

Master royalties are collected by distributors. When you are signed to a label, they act as your distributor and are thus an intermediary, only passing on your cut of the earnings once they’ve taken their share. Independent artists have it easy here. If you are unsigned, you can choose how to distribute your music completely by yourself, and have quite a few options.

Here are the 3 types of distribution to consider:
– Self-distribution of a physical copy of your work (vinyl, CD) by hand or at shows
– Physical distribution by another party (in-store sales)
– Digital distribution (streaming platforms, downloads, Youtube)

There are many ways to go about distribution. Today, it is much easier to use an online distributor to get your music on streaming platforms and social media, and then get creative with how you will direct people to your artist page yourself. When you use an online distributor, they will make sure your music is on all the DSPs you specify, as well as social media platforms to be used as sounds for videos. They will also pitch your music to editorial playlists on DSPs to further your exposure, should you choose to write a pitch. Once everything is out, they will keep tabs on how your music is performing, and collect the master royalties for you in exchange for a one-time charge or percentage of each payment.

Some partners may even offer to distribute your music free of charge like Amuse. It’s up to you to make your choice in this competitive market.

Calculating your streaming royalties can be complicated. You can use this simple tool to estimate your Spotify streaming royalties based on your number of streams.

| Read more: Digital Music Distribution – Workshop #3 Groover Tips

• What are neighboring rights?

Just as publishing/composition rights owners collect public performance royalties, so too do the owners of the sound recording… though not everywhere. Neighboring royalties are also what we call payments earned when royalties are generated in other countries. Neighboring royalties are generated whenever public performance royalties are. To jog your memory, this can be from TV, air time on the radio, use at a concert, in an H&M, etc.

Every country has its own legislation when it comes to neighboring rights. For example, the US does not recognize neighboring rights. That means that only the owners of the publishing rights are paid performance royalties. This is a small win for songwriters, as radio and TV plays can mean a big pay day!

Just because neighboring rights aren’t recognized in the US doesn’t mean you’ll never see performance royalties as a shareholder of your masters. You can still collect these royalties from other countries by registering with services like SoundExchange, which keep track of your international earnings for you. The US does authorize the collection and redistribution of neighboring rights via Sound Exchange from digital radios (iHeart Radio, Sirius XM, Pandora, etc.), allowing artists and labels to receive compensation for sound recordings played in North America. 

3. Synchronization rights

When a visual media, such as a movie or video game, wants to use a song for their project, they need a synchronization license. Unlike master and publishing royalty rates, sync rates are negotiated directly with the potential user of the music, often the music supervisor of a show, movie, or game.

As we now know very well, two types of musical copyright – publishing and master – must be dealt with in order for music to be used legally. All owners of copyright have a say in the negotiation of a rate that must be paid by whoever the music supervisor is representing, grouped in a single fee called a “Sync fee”. Depending on who the studio that wishes to work with you is, you could be paid a one-time lump sum of tens of thousands of dollars for the use of your music. The bigger the company, the more you can ask for!

Once a rate has been agreed upon, a license is granted to the production studio and they are free to use it. Their use of your music is called a sync placement. You do not receive royalties from sync placements, as the license is a one-time payment, but the exposure you receive will likely lead to future royalties from streaming.

In summary

To conclude, remember that every song has two types of copyright: composition rights (lyrics and melody) and sound recording rights (the final version of the song).

Composition rights are split between the composers of the work (writers and producers), and the publisher. Sound recording rights are split between the performers and the label (as they have distributed the music). If there’s no label, the distributor used will own that share.

Performance royalties are earned when a song is played publicly and/or streamed, and these belong to the owners of the composition copyright. As the owner of the sound recording rights, you are also paid performance royalties, but only outside of the US. Public performance royalties earned internationally are called neighboring rights. The US only authorizes performance royalty collection for sound recording owners if it is done through SoundExchange.

Mechanical royalties are generated when a work is reproduced, either physically or by digital download/stream. These royalties are collected by composition rights owners only, never the sound recording owners.

As an independent artist, you are entitled to a far bigger piece of the royalty pie than would be an artist signed to a label, especially if they do not write their own songs. In order to collect everything you are owed, we recommend registering for Songtrust (to collect both mechanical and performance royalties), and SoundExchange (to collect neighboring royalties). If you use a digital distributor, they will collect performance royalties on your behalf. After signing up with these agencies, negotiate splits with your collaborators and register your songs, and enjoy the paychecks that start to roll in!

– Article translated by Elinore Trompeter –

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L’article MUSIC RIGHTS: how do they work? est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.