There is a category of royalty that pays the artist directly, costs nothing to register for, and sits uncollected in more independent catalogs than almost any other. It comes from your recordings playing on satellite and internet radio, it is called a digital performance royalty, and the organization holding it is SoundExchange.

SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for sound recordings played on non-interactive digital radio, satellite services like SiriusXM, internet radio, webcasters, and music channels in some cable TV. These are called neighbouring rights or digital performance royalties, and they are separate from the streaming royalties your distributor pays and from the composition royalties a performing rights organization collects. Registration is free, and SoundExchange pays the featured artist and the rights owner directly, on a split of 45 percent to the featured artist, 50 percent to the rights owner, and 5 percent to non-featured performers. Most independent artists never sign up, which leaves meaningful money unclaimed, sometimes for years. Register once, and it pays for the life of the catalog.

Fifteen years around the business taught me that SoundExchange royalties are among the most consistently missed, because they live outside the two systems artists already know. This guide covers what SoundExchange collects, how its money differs from everything else, how to register, and how to claim what you may already be owed. It is general information rather than legal advice; terms and splits are set by statute and policy and can change, so confirm current details with SoundExchange.

What Is SoundExchange?

SoundExchange is the US organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties for sound recordings, paying recording artists and rights owners directly. When your recording plays on certain digital radio services, the law requires those services to pay a royalty for using the recording, and SoundExchange is the body designated to collect that money and pay it out.

The services it covers are the non-interactive ones, meaning radio-style services where the listener does not choose the exact song on demand. That includes satellite radio like SoundExchange's largest payers such as SiriusXM, internet radio and webcasters, and music channels delivered through some cable and satellite TV. The distinction matters: these are services that play music at you, like a radio station, rather than letting you pick a track, like Spotify on demand.

The reason SoundExchange exists as its own organization is that this royalty is unique in US law. For most of history, US radio paid songwriters but not the performers or owners of the recording. Digital radio changed that, creating a performance right in the sound recording itself, and SoundExchange was set up to administer it. That history is why the money sits in a separate place from every other royalty, and why so many artists never find it.

How Is SoundExchange Different From Other Royalties?

SoundExchange money is different because it pays for the recording rather than the composition, and it comes from digital radio rather than the streaming or performance channels artists already use. Placing it correctly against the royalties you know is the key to understanding why it gets missed.

A map placing SoundExchange among the royalty collectors. A song splits into composition and sound recording. The composition side shows performance royalties via a performing rights organization and mechanical royalties via The MLC. The sound recording side shows streaming royalties via your distributor and, highlighted, digital performance royalties from satellite and internet radio via SoundExchange. A caption reads: SoundExchange is the recording's radio royalty, and it has its own door.

Here is how it sits against the royalties you already collect:

• Not your distributor's streaming royalties. Your distributor pays you for on-demand streams of your recording on Spotify, Apple, and similar services. SoundExchange pays for your recording on non-interactive digital radio, which is a different use through a different door.

• Not your performing rights organization's money. A performing rights organization collects performance royalties on the composition, the songwriting. SoundExchange collects performance royalties on the recording, the master. Different copyright, different collector.

• Not your mechanical royalties. Your mechanical royalties come from reproducing the composition. SoundExchange has nothing to do with mechanicals.

The clean way to hold it: SoundExchange is the recording's performance royalty from digital radio, and it is the one slot in the four types of music royalties that has no overlap with the others. An artist can be fully set up with a distributor, a performing rights organization, and the mechanical collective, and still collect zero from SoundExchange, because it is a fourth door they never opened.

How Much Does SoundExchange Pay, and Who Gets It?

SoundExchange pays the money directly to the people who made and own the recording, on a fixed statutory split, which is unusual and valuable because the artist's share comes straight to them. The split sends the money to three places.

The 45 / 50 / 5 split and the services covered are set by statute and SoundExchange policy and can change; these figures reflect SoundExchange's published model as of October 2026. Confirm current terms on their site.

The feature worth noticing is the 45 percent that goes straight to the featured artist. Most royalties flow through the chain, a label or a distributor sits in the middle. The SoundExchange artist share is paid to the artist directly, which means even an artist signed to a label still collects their performer share from SoundExchange themselves. For an independent artist who owns their own masters, the math is even better: you collect both the 45 percent featured-artist share and the 50 percent rights-owner share, because you are both.

That is why registration is worth the afternoon. The money is a meaningful slice of what digital radio generates, it is paid directly rather than filtered through anyone, and for a self-owning independent it adds up to most of the royalty. The only thing standing between an artist and it is a free registration most never complete.

How Do You Sign Up and Claim What You're Owed?

You sign up with SoundExchange for free, register as the recording artist and the rights owner, and then you can also claim royalties that may have accumulated before you registered. The setup is a one-time task that opens an income stream for the whole catalog.

The steps:

1. Register as an artist and rights owner. Sign up on the SoundExchange site, and if you own your masters, register in both capacities so you collect both shares.

2. Add your recordings. Provide your catalog information so SoundExchange can match digital-radio plays to your recordings and pay you.

3. Keep your details current. Accurate contact and payment information is what gets the money to you, so keep it updated.

4. Check for unclaimed royalties. SoundExchange holds royalties for artists who have not yet registered, so look into whether money has been accruing against your recordings and claim what you can.

5. Let it run. Once registered, your digital-radio performance royalties collect on their own, and you are paid on SoundExchange's schedule.

A shape for how this goes. An artist whose tracks have been getting steady spins on internet radio and a satellite station for two years has collected none of it, because she only ever set up a distributor and a performing rights organization. She registers with SoundExchange as both artist and rights owner, adds her catalog, and finds royalties that had been accruing with no one to pay. The recordings did not change. She opened the fourth door, and the back royalties were a one-time catch-up on money she had already earned.

Knowing which collectors you are registered with, and which royalties are accruing with no one to claim them, is exactly the kind of read the artist business partner prepares. PopHatch helps you understand your rights and maps your income against every organization that pays a piece, so a stream like SoundExchange does not sit uncollected because you never knew it existed. It prepares the checklist. You complete the registration, because the account is yours.

___

It pays the artist directly, it is free to register for, and it sits uncollected in most independent catalogs. PopHatch is the artist business partner that maps every royalty to its collector so none of it hides. Join the waitlist at pophatch.com.