Publishing royalties are payments made to songwriters and music publishers for the use of their compositions. In the context of streaming, publishing royalties are generated when songs are streamed on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
When a song is streamed, the streaming service pays out royalties for two different things: The sound recording and the composition. Publishing royalties are related to the composition (the underlying body of work separate from, but related to, the sound recording). Mechanical royalties (a type of publishing royalty) are paid to the songwriter and publisher for the reproduction and distribution of the musical composition. Performance royalties are paid for the public performance or broadcast of the song.
Streaming platforms obtain licenses from music publishers to stream their catalog of songs. These licenses include agreements on how much the streaming service will pay for each stream, typically based on a fraction of a cent per play. The streaming service then tracks the usage of each song and reports this data to collection societies or publishing administrators, who distribute the royalties to the appropriate rights holders.
Publishing royalties play a crucial role in compensating songwriters and publishers for the use of their music on streaming platforms, ensuring that they receive fair compensation for their creative work.
