How do music artists earn money with their songs played on radio?

Question

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

Answer 1

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.