Royalty Guide · 3 min read
Every stream pays twice
One play generates two separate royalties: one for the recording, one for the song. They are collected by different people, through different systems.
A song and a recording of that song are two different pieces of property. When someone streams your track, the platform pays a royalty for the master — the recording — and a separate royalty for the composition underneath it. Distribution collects the first. Publishing administration collects the second.
The recording side is fast and mostly automatic: your distributor delivered the file, the stores know who to pay, the money arrives on a monthly or quarterly cycle. The song side is slower and manual, because nobody can pay a composition until somebody has told the collecting societies who wrote it and in what proportions.
This is why artists who release consistently for years can still have a second pile of money sitting untouched. Nothing was stolen. The recording royalty was claimed and the song royalty was never registered.
What to remember
- The master royalty and the publishing royalty are separate money.
- Your distributor does not collect your publishing royalty.
- Only a registered song can be paid.