A featured artist is an artist who is prominently featured on a track or album. Featured artists receive direct payments from SoundExchange. This is distinct from session musicians or backup singers, who are considered non-featured artists and are paid through a separate fund.
Under the law, 45% of performance royalties are paid directly to the featured artist, and 5% go to a fund for non-featured artists. The remaining 50% of performance royalties are paid to the rights owner of the sound recording, typically the record label, or an independent artist who owns their own masters.
So for example, if you're the only performer on a recording you could claim 100% of the Featured Artist shares (the full 45% Featured Artist shares).