All About the Revenue Puzzle: Navigating Royalty Streams in the Modern Music Economy

As the music industry continues to evolve, understanding how royalties flow has never been more critical. This episode brings together experts from The MLC and SoundExchange, live from Mondo.NYC, to break down today’s key royalty streams for songwriters, artists, and rightsholders. 

From digital audio mechanicals and performance royalties to neighboring rights and unclaimed income, you’ll gain insights into how royalties are generated, matched, and paid—and what professionals and creatives alike can do to ensure no money is left on the table. 

Whether you’re a music creator or work in management, publishing, label operations, or other parts of the industry, this conversation will help you better support your clients and navigate the increasingly complex world of music royalties. 

Watch all our full episodes on YouTube here and learn more about The MLC and our mission to ensure songwriters and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the U.S. accurately and on time here. 

Transcript

[00:00:00] intro :

Welcome to Taking Care of Your Music Business, brought to you by the Mechanical Licensing Collective, also known as the MLC. In this podcast, we’ll dive deep into the heart of the music industry, exploring how to get paid as a creative, making sure that you’re receiving all the royalties you deserve.

[00:00:00] intro:

We’ll also dive into building a sustainable career, sharing strategies and best practices that creators can use to achieve long-term success. Join us as we bring you interviews with top songwriters and music executives who share their personal journeys and professional wisdom on thriving in the business, all while making a living.

[00:00:00] intro:

So get ready for some real talk about navigating the music industry. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and be sure to catch all of our full episodes on YouTube.

[00:00:44] HOST (JAMIE):

Welcome back to The MLC’s podcast, Taking Care of Your Music Business. I’m Jamie Dominguez from The MLC, and today’s episode is all about navigating the revenue puzzle in today’s music economy.

[00:00:44] HOST (JAMIE):

I recently joined Brad Akin from FBMM Entertainment Business Management and Shawn Glover from SoundExchange for a conversation all about how royalties flow—from digital audio, mechanicals, and performance royalties to neighboring rights and even unclaimed income.

[00:00:44] HOST (JAMIE):

We break down the major royalty streams for songwriters, artists, and rights holders, and share practical insights to help you make sure no money is left on the table. Whether you’re a creator or work in management, publishing, labels, or anywhere in our industry, this discussion will help demystify how royalties are generated, matched, and paid in today’s landscape.

[00:00:44] HOST (JAMIE):

I am—yeah—Jamie Dominguez, as he said. I’m National Director of Industry Relations at the Mechanical Licensing Collective, the MLC.

[00:01:55] HOST (JAMIE):

My role is really to amplify the MLC’s mission, which is of course to make sure that songwriters and rights holders are paid streaming royalties. And as you know, we were born out of the Music Modernization Act—I’ll get into that a little bit more later.

[00:01:55] HOST (JAMIE):

It’s my job to come out here and educate and empower our creator community—specifically songwriters—but also rights holders and stakeholders in general: managers, attorneys, publishers, administrators—everybody involved in our ecosystem.

[00:02:34] HOST (JAMIE):

Because this is the foundation for how we generate income and how our artists can thrive. It’s super important to encourage more engagement within the community and make sure everybody’s playing their part—doing what they need to do to claim their earnings, claim their royalties, and pay it forward. So that’s what I do.

[00:03:04] GUEST (SHAWN GLOVER):

I’m Shawn Glover, Director of Industry Relations at SoundExchange. We collect and distribute all the non-interactive digital streaming royalties for artists and labels.

[00:03:04] GUEST (SHAWN):

In my department, I call myself the anti–bill collector—so if I call you, there’s usually money for you.

[00:03:04] GUEST (SHAWN):

We collect royalties from the DSPs monthly, and we pay them out—directly, that is the operative word—to the performing artist and the rights owner, label, or master owner. They use all these words to confuse you, but it’s whoever owns the copyright master for the song.

[00:03:04] GUEST (SHAWN):

If you had a dollar, 50 cents goes to the performing artist and 50 cents goes to the label.

[00:03:04] GUEST (SHAWN):

We’re based in Washington, D.C. People are like, “Why the hell are you in Washington, D.C.?” But we were born there, and we often have to go to Congress to humanize creators. Believe it or not, they think because you created a song or you have a hit record that you’re rich—couldn’t be further from the truth.

[00:03:04] GUEST (SHAWN):

So we spend a lot of time advocating—fighting for artist rights, artist rates, and making sure you get every penny you’re owed.

[00:04:09] GUEST (BRAD AKIN):

And with that—by the way—I’ll say, I’m a business manager, so we handle the finances for our clients. I’m very familiar with SoundExchange. Been on your platform for countless hours—have my login for all my clients, claim things, everything.

[00:04:09] GUEST (BRAD):

I even remember when I dabbled in artist management before realizing it was not for me. One of the first things I had was—Nita Ragawansi, who used to be at SoundExchange a long time ago… I remember she came by and talked about this newfound money.

[00:04:09] GUEST (BRAD):

Now, as a business manager, I cringe at the thought of a manager entering bank info and setting everything up for their client. But my point is: very familiar with SoundExchange.

[00:04:09] GUEST (BRAD):

I’m not actually all that familiar with the MLC. I know what you do, but most of the artists I work with have publishing deals, so I don’t end up using your portal or reviewing statements. So—educate me, and anyone else here.

[00:05:51] GUEST (BRAD):

I will say: I checked out your song registry database today, and that’s actually a very useful tool. I usually default to using the PROs when I’m trying to search something, and I bookmarked it. I’ll absolutely use it in the future.

[00:05:51] HOST (JAMIE):

Our public works database is the secret sauce, if nobody is using it yet. It’s a game changer.

[00:06:22] HOST (JAMIE):

Let me go back a little bit. We were born out of the Music Modernization Act. The MMA was passed in 2018, we were officially formed in 2020, and our first operational year was 2021—when we made our first distributions.

[00:06:45] HOST (JAMIE):

The MMA was a game changer because it updated old, antiquated copyright law that hadn’t been updated for the streaming era.

[00:07:06] HOST (JAMIE):

Once the MMA passed, the U.S. Copyright Office designated the MLC to administer blanket licenses to the streaming platforms—collect those royalties and distribute them to songwriters, composers, lyricists, and/or their rights holders: publishers and administrators.

[00:07:06] HOST (JAMIE):

Before that, streaming services were tasked with handling their own administration and finding rights holders to pay them—why there was a “black box” of money not being distributed, particularly to independents.

[00:08:26] GUEST (BRAD):

I have a question. What happens to the “black box” if you can’t locate someone? Do you have rules around what happens to that money?

[00:09:18] HOST (JAMIE):

Once the MLC was created, streaming services were mandated to send us these royalties. It was about $397 million in unpaid, unmatched historical royalties that we received.

[00:09:38] HOST (JAMIE):

Over the last five years, we’ve been matching the data from streaming services with the data in our public database to match sound recordings with those historical royalties—and paying it out. We’re still paying it out.

[00:10:12] HOST (JAMIE):

That’s why we’re constantly encouraging songwriters to register—especially if you’re self-administered and don’t have a publisher or administrator—so we can pay you.

[00:10:12] GUEST (BRAD):

But if they do have a publisher, theoretically someone is fighting for them. What should they do to make sure everything is set up properly?

[00:11:00] HOST (JAMIE):

First of all: never assume. You are running your own business as a creator—you are the CEO of your own startup. Always oversee your team.

[00:11:22] HOST (JAMIE):

If you have a publisher or administrator, yes—they should be collecting MLC money on your behalf and forwarding it to you. That’s their job.

[00:11:22] HOST (JAMIE):

But you still have to maintain your catalog—make sure your metadata is current. If there’s a misspelling, conflicting splits, unregistered works at your PRO—those things can inhibit you from getting paid. You know the writers and percentages; you still have to provide that info.

[00:12:04] GUEST (BRAD):

One key takeaway: people think someone else has it, and then metadata isn’t shared. Having a shared database is helpful. I tell my clients: assume good intentions—but verify everything.

[00:12:04] HOST (JAMIE):

Trust is important—but trust must be earned.

[00:14:06] GUEST (SHAWN):

On the SoundExchange side—we were born because of streaming. Congress said: this new type of “internet radio” transmission is subject to royalties.

[00:14:56] GUEST (SHAWN):

They didn’t want artists and labels to have to chase every service—so our board is half artist reps and half label reps. Every month, services give us three things: a log of what they played, a statement of account, and the money.

[00:16:14] GUEST (SHAWN):

There’s also “unpayable” money when we can’t locate people. Our job is to locate and pay. But artists move around—change managers, attorneys—so a lot of time is spent finding them and getting correct payout info.

[00:17:55] GUEST (SHAWN):

Under the law, after three years of trying to distribute, unclaimed funds can be released to the pool—sometimes you’ll see “pool release.”

[00:22:43] GUEST (SHAWN):

If you don’t remember anything else today: label your music. Put a name tag on your song—so we know who to pay.

[00:23:45] GUEST (SHAWN):

It doesn’t sound sexy, but making money is sexy—making money in your sleep is extra sexy.

[00:23:59] HOST (JAMIE):

On the MLC side: we have not redistributed historical unmatched earnings by market share yet—but it will happen eventually. If you think you have music streaming from 2007 to 2020 that you haven’t been paid for, register with the MLC or check with your publisher/administrator to make sure everything is covered. Claim it before redistribution happens.

[00:24:45] GUEST (BRAD):

Practically, what should teams do in your databases? I differentiate between independent artists and teams with business managers and publishers.

[00:25:39] GUEST (SHAWN):

What Brad is talking about is SoundExchange Direct—like online banking. You can log in, review your statements, and do search and claim. If you see tracks that are yours, claim them. If something isn’t yours, flag it.

[00:26:21] GUEST (SHAWN):

Sometimes the same name causes confusion—like “Andre Young.” Dr. Dre’s legal name is Andre Young—and there’s another Andre Young from Young MC. Search and claim helps correct that.

[00:28:36] GUEST (SHAWN):

If two parties claim the same track, it triggers our system. We turn the water off and tell them to work it out—then we pay correctly once splits are confirmed.

[00:29:21] GUEST (SHAWN):

Letters of Direction help us pay producers at the direction of the featured artist.

[00:30:50] HOST (JAMIE):

On the MLC side, we have a member portal for registered members to administer catalog. If you’re a songwriter represented by a publisher/administrator, you typically can’t make catalog changes directly—but we created a Songwriter Hub so represented songwriters can see their catalog under the hood and suggest changes.

[00:31:48] HOST (JAMIE):

And our public works database is powerful: you can find cover versions, recordings you didn’t know existed, and lots of identifiers. Publishers can also identify unclaimed works and earnings—so it’s a useful business tool too.

[00:34:13] GUEST (BRAD):

I recommend everyone have their own login—artist, manager, lawyer, business manager—so multiple people can help check. It’s a complicated puzzle.

[00:35:26] HOST (JAMIE):

There are huge songs—Billboard charting hits—sometimes represented by major publishers and labels, still floating around unmatched. It’s a checks-and-balances issue. Everybody has to do their part. You can’t assume everything is being handled.

[00:38:43] GUEST (BRAD):

What advocacy efforts are you participating in for creators?

[00:38:43] GUEST (SHAWN):

SoundExchange is based in Washington, D.C., so we’re often on Capitol Hill. One big effort is the American Music Fairness Act—addressing the historic wrong around AM/FM terrestrial radio and sound recording royalties.

[00:41:04] GUEST (SHAWN):

Most other countries pay artists for radio play. The U.S. does not—so it blocks reciprocal payments coming back to U.S. artists from abroad. The bill is bipartisan, and we’re pushing to right this wrong.

[00:43:22] GUEST (SHAWN):

We’re also focused on the NO FAKES Act and guardrails around AI—making sure human creativity and IP are protected as technology evolves.

[00:44:12] GUEST (SHAWN):

Call your members of Congress. Support these causes where you can.

[00:44:12] GUEST (BRAD):

To summarize: check your data, have good logins—and if you can have a member of the mob on your team, that might help too.

[00:44:12] HOST (JAMIE):

That’s it.

[00:44:12] HOST (JAMIE):

Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Shawn. Thank you all.

[00:44:12] HOST (JAMIE):

Thanks so much for listening to Taking Care of Your Music Business. Don’t forget: you can watch full video episodes on our YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.