What Role Do Music Distributors Play in Getting Paid as a Songwriter?
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What Distributors Do
- Distribute your songs to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, etc.
- Collect master recording royalties (not composition royalties)
- Pay you based on streams, downloads, and monetized content
- Some offer publishing services (like CD Baby Pro or TuneCore Publishing), but only if you opt in
Royalties Collected by Distributors
|
Type of Royalty |
Who Gets It |
Distributor Involved? |
|
Master Streaming Income |
Artist / Label |
Yes |
|
Digital Download Sales |
Artist / Label |
Yes |
|
Publishing Royalties (Performance & Mechanical) |
Songwriter / Publisher |
No (unless you opt into a publishing service) |
What Distributors Don’t Handle (But You Must)
To get songwriter royalties, you must register with:
- PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) → Performance royalties
- The MLC → Mechanical royalties from U.S. digital services
- SoundExchange → Digital performance royalties for the sound recording (not publishing)
- Publishing Admin (e.g., Songtrust) → For global publishing collection
Pro Tips
- Don’t assume your distributor is collecting all your royalties—they’re only collecting master-side money
- Use a distributor + register with PRO and The MLC to collect everything
- If you’re an independent songwriter/artist, consider a publishing admin to simplify royalty collection
- Choose your distributor based on whether you need just distribution or full royalty support
Bottom Line:
Distributors get your music out and collect recording revenue, but they do not pay songwriter royalties unless they offer publishing add-ons. To get paid fully, you must handle the publishing side yourself or through a publishing administrator.
