SoundExchange, explained: the US digital radio royalty you only get if you register

Most artists know there is money in streams and some in radio. Fewer know about the third pot: the royalty paid when a recording plays on a US digital radio service. That money is collected by SoundExchange, a non-profit that pays it to recording artists and to whoever owns the recording. It said in March 2026 that it had paid out more than $13 billion since 2003, with $991.5 million (unaudited) in 2025 alone. None of it reaches you automatically. You have to register.

What does SoundExchange actually collect?

It collects under a statutory licence for non-interactive digital plays: the listener doesn't pick the track. Its FAQ lists satellite radio, webcasters and digital cable music channels, and says more than 3,600 services pay it. The services it names in its 2026 results are Pandora, SiriusXM and iHeartRadio.

Just as useful is what it doesn't collect. It doesn't handle video, including YouTube and Vevo. It doesn't pay songwriters or publishers: the song is a separate copyright with separate royalties. And it collects nothing for AM/FM airplay, because US law exempts non-subscription terrestrial broadcasts from the sound recording performance right. SoundExchange's FAQ says it backs the American Music Fairness Act to change that.

Who gets paid, and how much?

The split is written into the statute, in 17 U.S.C. § 114(g)(2). After SoundExchange deducts its reasonable costs:

• 50% goes to the owner of the sound recording copyright (usually the label);
• 45% goes to the featured recording artist or artists, per recording;
• 2.5% goes to non-featured musicians and 2.5% to non-featured vocalists, through escrow accounts run by an independent administrator.

SoundExchange puts its own administrative fee at 4-6%. The statute sends the 45% artist share to the artist, not to the label. In our view that makes SoundExchange matter even to signed artists who are still unrecouped, because this money doesn't pass through the label's account.

Its key terms page separates three roles. An Artist is the name on the release. A Performer is an individual in that act, who can claim a share once the Artist is registered. A Sound Recording Owner owns the master, which SoundExchange is careful to distinguish from the owner of the song.

Session players don't register with SoundExchange at all. The FAQ says non-featured artists are covered by AFM and SAG-AFTRA, and the 5% flows through the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund. Local 802 reported in 2021 that there is no membership or registration requirement for a non-featured performer to be paid.

Producers, mixers and engineers have no statutory share. They are paid only if a registered artist or owner files a Letter of Direction for specific recordings, and the FAQ says these aren't retroactive unless the letter says so.

Can non-US artists register?

Yes. Registration is free and online, and the FAQ covers foreign registrants directly. You need a W-8BEN tax form, or 30% is withheld, and registrants in eligible countries who give a tax ID may get a lower rate. Direct deposit in local currency is available for listed countries, including Canada, the UK and the eurozone.

Registering is what you need to claim US money. Becoming a "member" gives SoundExchange a mandate to collect for you abroad as well, through more than 50 agreements in 35 countries, the FAQ says. Artists who already belong to a home society for neighbouring rights should check which body collects which territory before signing both mandates.

The three-year clock

This is the part that costs artists money. SoundExchange's FAQ says it collects royalties going back up to three years, and that unclaimed royalties expire after three years and may be released under regulation. The Copyright Royalty Board's rules back this up. For example, 37 CFR § 380.44, which covers webcasting by commercial broadcasters, requires SoundExchange to hold money for unlocated owners and performers in a segregated trust account for three years from the first distribution. After that, "no claim to distribution shall be valid", and the money can be used to cover SoundExchange's costs.

On payments, the FAQ says most royalties are paid within 45 days of receipt. Direct deposit pays monthly once $100 has accrued, or quarterly from $10.

What we think

The most important number here for self-releasing artists is 50, not 45. If you put out your own recordings, you are both the featured artist and the sound recording owner. Register only as an artist, and the owner's half of every play has nowhere to go. That is more than the artist share itself. Out of every $100 left after costs, the statute sends $50 to the owner and $45 to the artist. An independent artist who registers in one role and not the other is claiming less than half of what their plays earned. Register both roles, and check whether your distributor or label already claims the owner share on your masters before you do. Two people claiming the same recording just holds up payment.

The three-year expiry is the system's real weakness. SoundExchange has to try to find unregistered payees. But the rule that lets expired money cover its costs means it also benefits, indirectly, when they stay unregistered. We don't think SoundExchange is acting in bad faith, and it says its fee is among the lowest of the major collecting societies. Still, an expiry date that lowers everyone else's costs isn't designed with the absent artist in mind. A longer window, or a requirement for distributors to tell artists the registration exists, would help the artists who are now missing out. We suspect most of them are independent artists outside the US who have never heard of SoundExchange.

The rest of the picture is also less than a growth story. Distributions fell 5.9% in 2025, and SoundExchange's own release blames fewer settlements and lower SiriusXM revenue, including the underpayment behind its 2023 lawsuit against the satellite broadcaster. Even so, a smaller pot is no reason to wait. Registration is free, and every quarter you put it off, more of your older royalties move closer to expiry.

Sources

• 17 U.S.C. § 114, Legal Information Institute
• 37 CFR § 380.44, Distributing royalty fees, Legal Information Institute
• Frequently asked questions, SoundExchange
• Key terms, SoundExchange
• SoundExchange tops $13B distribution milestone, SoundExchange, 18 Mar 2026
• Registration, SoundExchange
• AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund, Local 802 AFM, May 2021