During my vacation I’ve browsed through a lot of radio channels and every one was playing the new Miley Cyrus Song at some point and very frequently and I asked myself how she or any other artist earn money from the radio stations.
Does the artist really get a certain amount for every time the song gets played on any station on any country or does she like sell the rights to play the song as much as the radio stations want for a certain amount? How does it work?
I’m specifically asking about radio, not Spotify or smth similar.
Thanks!
In: 2
The artist may not make any money on it. This is for the US.
Radio royalties are paid in two parts 1) to the song writer (whomever it is) 2) to the holder or the publishing rights (i.e. the master song recording that is actually being played) usually this is the music label
So, notice in there I said nothing about the artist performing the music? Because they don’t get paid for that. If they wrote the song, the songwriter gets paid, and the owner of the masters. No one else gets a cent from it
Payments are made on a per play basis, or are at least supposed to be paid as such, there is no ‘unlimited play’ license on radio, its pay per play.
The artist may not make any money on it. This is for the US.
Radio royalties are paid in two parts 1) to the song writer (whomever it is) 2) to the holder or the publishing rights (i.e. the master song recording that is actually being played) usually this is the music label
So, notice in there I said nothing about the artist performing the music? Because they don’t get paid for that. If they wrote the song, the songwriter gets paid, and the owner of the masters. No one else gets a cent from it
Payments are made on a per play basis, or are at least supposed to be paid as such, there is no ‘unlimited play’ license on radio, its pay per play.
The artist may not make any money on it. This is for the US.
Radio royalties are paid in two parts 1) to the song writer (whomever it is) 2) to the holder or the publishing rights (i.e. the master song recording that is actually being played) usually this is the music label
So, notice in there I said nothing about the artist performing the music? Because they don’t get paid for that. If they wrote the song, the songwriter gets paid, and the owner of the masters. No one else gets a cent from it
Payments are made on a per play basis, or are at least supposed to be paid as such, there is no ‘unlimited play’ license on radio, its pay per play.
Whoever is representing the artist has a contract with a middleman which in turn licenses the radio stations to play the song. For every play the station pays a residual (tiny fee) which ultimately makes it back to the artist but by then its a very tiny portion.
Whoever is representing the artist has a contract with a middleman which in turn licenses the radio stations to play the song. For every play the station pays a residual (tiny fee) which ultimately makes it back to the artist but by then its a very tiny portion.
Whoever is representing the artist has a contract with a middleman which in turn licenses the radio stations to play the song. For every play the station pays a residual (tiny fee) which ultimately makes it back to the artist but by then its a very tiny portion.
Hi, previous music publishing worker here ..
In Canada and USA, generally speaking, these radio royalties are collected through two sides (performing and mechanical royalties) .. the copyright law requires broadcast radio stations to pay loyalties on songs they use, and these royalties are paid to the mechanical + performing rights agencies/societies.. with that being said, these royalties are collected by the societies/agencies and are handed out to the publishers and songwriters of the song (based on their splits that were agreed upon when these songwriters and publishers sign up with the society).
If the performing artist (singer/rapper) does not have a songwriting or publishing split (aka credit) for the track then they do not get paid for it.
Hi, previous music publishing worker here ..
In Canada and USA, generally speaking, these radio royalties are collected through two sides (performing and mechanical royalties) .. the copyright law requires broadcast radio stations to pay loyalties on songs they use, and these royalties are paid to the mechanical + performing rights agencies/societies.. with that being said, these royalties are collected by the societies/agencies and are handed out to the publishers and songwriters of the song (based on their splits that were agreed upon when these songwriters and publishers sign up with the society).
If the performing artist (singer/rapper) does not have a songwriting or publishing split (aka credit) for the track then they do not get paid for it.
Hi, previous music publishing worker here ..
In Canada and USA, generally speaking, these radio royalties are collected through two sides (performing and mechanical royalties) .. the copyright law requires broadcast radio stations to pay loyalties on songs they use, and these royalties are paid to the mechanical + performing rights agencies/societies.. with that being said, these royalties are collected by the societies/agencies and are handed out to the publishers and songwriters of the song (based on their splits that were agreed upon when these songwriters and publishers sign up with the society).
If the performing artist (singer/rapper) does not have a songwriting or publishing split (aka credit) for the track then they do not get paid for it.
Radio stations pay a licensing fee to performing rights organizations (in the US there are two — BMI and ASCAP). This fee is based on the number of listeners (determined by companies such as Nielsen) and gives the radio station the right to broadcast the entire catalog of the ASCAP and BMI composers. The radio stations typically submit a log of the songs they have played to ASCAP and BMI who then tally the number of plays of each song multiplied by the audience rating and pay a share of the total royalties collected (the fee the radio station paid) to the composer and publisher of the song (but not to the artists performing the song).
This is why Paul McCartney (as both a publisher and composer) is a billionaire but Ringo is not. Note that Paul also controls the publishing of many songs by Buddy Holly, the musicals Grease and The Sound of Music and numerous other popular songs.
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