Demystifying Royalties: Understanding PROs, Publishing Admins, and SoundExchange
How to register every royalty you’re owed when you release a song.
Ever wonder why, no matter how many times you read about royalties, it still doesn’t click? Music royalties were never designed for transparency. The system sits on outdated rules, and instead of being rebuilt as technology evolved, new layers were simply stacked on top. What we have today is fragmented, inconsistent, and confusing.
Major label artists rarely feel this because they have entire teams tracking royalties and managing recoupment for them. Independent artists most often don’t. And while new distributors and royalty-tracking tools are popping up, most are built for labels and administrators, not for artists. The infrastructure still favors the people around the music, not the people making it.
This leaves self-managed artists navigating a royalty system that was never designed with them in mind. But here’s the bright side. If you understand how the business actually works and build your own ecosystem, you can have more control and, in many cases, more financial power than major label artists.
If you need a refresher on how royalties work at the simplest level, check out my previous post: Royalties 101 for Self-Managed Artists.
I have dealt directly with the administrative departments of all the major labels, and I can tell you firsthand: even the people responsible for collecting royalties make mistakes, handle too many artists at once, or miss things entirely. Transparency has never been the industry’s strong suit. But as an independent artist, you can take ownership. With the right systems, you can collect your money accurately, consistently, and sometimes more effectively than artists signed to major labels.
If you are overwhelmed by royalty terminology, here are the actual steps you should take with an easy-to-monitor checklist.
What Should a Self-Releasing Artist Do?
If you own both your songwriting and your masters, you need representation on both sides of copyright.
At minimum, every independent artist should:
Join a PRO such as BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC
Sign with a publishing administrator such as Songtrust or an equivalent service
Register with SoundExchange as both the artist and the rights owner
Consider a neighboring rights administrator if you have international listeners or radio activity
Keep your metadata and splits clean because none of this works without accurate information. (It’ll also save you so much time when your song is being considered for a sync placement and increase the chance of actually getting placed!)
This is how you recreate for yourself the infrastructure major label artists receive from full administrative teams. Let’s break it down.
PROs, Publishing Admins, SoundExchange: They Are Not Interchangeable
Most artists assume that because they signed up with a PRO like BMI or ASCAP, they are fully covered. But performance royalties are only one part of the royalty ecosystem.
To collect everything you are owed, you need to understand that each organization collects a different type of royalty for a different part of the music.
Below is the plain language breakdown every independent artist should know.
1. PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC)
Performance Royalties for the Composition
A PRO collects performance royalties for the composition. This means the underlying song: the lyrics, melody, and chords.
They collect when your song is:
played on the radio
performed live
used in bars, cafes, and venues
broadcast on television
streamed on digital platforms for the performance portion only
PROs do not collect mechanical royalties.
A mechanical royalty is the payment a songwriter or publisher earns whenever their composition is reproduced. This includes streams, downloads, physical formats, and when another artist releases a cover of the song.
PROs also do not collect anything for the master recording. If you are only with BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC but have not appointed a publishing administrator, you are likely missing part of your publishing income.
2. Publishing Administrators (Songtrust, Sentric, TuneCore)
Mechanical and Global Publishing Royalties
A publishing administrator works alongside your PRO but covers additional revenue streams that the PRO does not.
Publishing administrators collect:
mechanical royalties for streams and downloads
international publishing royalties
performance royalties through global partners
unmatched and unpaid royalties from foreign societies
They link your compositions to dozens of global collection systems that your PRO alone cannot access.
Publishing administrators do not collect:
royalties for your recording (distributors typically collect this)
digital performance royalties for the recording (SoundExchange)
neighboring rights
This is why Songtrust is not the same as SoundExchange. They operate on completely different sides of copyright.
3. SoundExchange
Digital Performance Royalties for the Sound Recording
This is one of the most commonly missed revenue streams for independent artists.
SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for the master recording. These royalties are earned when your recording is played on non-interactive digital services such as:
Pandora Radio
SiriusXM
Online webcasters
Digital radio stations where the listener cannot choose the next track
SoundExchange pays:
The featured artist
The master recording owner
Non-featured performers such as session musicians and background vocalists
It is the only U.S. organization legally authorized to collect these royalties.
SoundExchange does not collect:
mechanical royalties
publishing royalties
on-demand streaming royalties
neighboring rights outside the U.S., except for specific partner agreements
4. Neighboring Rights
Global Master Side Broadcast and Public Performance Royalties
Outside the United States, when your recording is played on the radio, television, in clubs, in cafes, or in public spaces, the master recording owner and the performers earn royalties. These are called neighboring rights.
The United States does not grant full neighboring rights for terrestrial radio or public performance of recordings. The only neighboring style royalty is for digital non-interactive streams, and SoundExchange handles those.
If your music receives international play, or you plan to expand outside the U.S., you may need a neighboring rights administrator.
Some companies that offer these services include:
Symphonic
Lime Blue Music
AllTrack
SoundExchange International Mandate
No service covers every territory. If you start seeing an increase in international streams, make a list of the countries and confirm with your neighboring rights administrator that these territories are covered.
Why This Matters
If you are only collecting from your distributor and your PRO, you are earning a fraction of what your music actually generates. Once you understand which organization handles which part of your royalties, you stop guessing and start filling in the gaps. That is when your income becomes predictable, trackable, and scalable.
You do not need a label or a large team of administrators to build a sustainable career. You need clarity, proper registration, and the right systems in place to collect what your music is already earning.
So the next time you submit your song for release, make sure you register it in the places that actually pay you. Use this checklist for each song you release:
Royalty Registration Checklist for Independent Artists
PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC)
For performance royalties on the composition.
Publishing Administrator (Songtrust, Sentric, TuneCore Publishing)
For mechanical royalties and global publishing royalties.
The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective)
Verify your songs are properly listed for U.S. digital mechanical royalties.
SoundExchange
Register as both Featured Artist and Sound Recording Rights Owner for U.S. digital performance royalties on the master.
Neighboring Rights Administrator
Symphonic, Lime Blue Music, AllTrack, or SoundExchange International Mandate for international master-side royalties.
Distributor (DistroKid, AWAL, CD Baby, Tunecore, etc.)
Uploads your master recording to DSPs and pays master royalties.
Metadata and Splits
Double-check songwriter splits, producer splits, ISRC, ISWC, and all credits.
Share your own experience in the comments — what’s been the most confusing part of royalties for you?