Neighboring rights are the royalty almost every independent artist is missing — and they are sitting on real money. While most artists know about streaming payouts and performance royalties, neighboring rights pay the owners and performers of a recording when it is played publicly: on radio, in TV broadcasts, in businesses, and on certain digital services. If your music gets airplay anywhere, there is money with your name on it.
Here is the distinction that trips people up: performance royalties (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) pay the songwriter and publisher. Neighboring rights pay the other side — the master owner (usually you, the indie artist) and the featured performers on the recording. Same radio spin, two different royalty streams, two different collection societies.
How to collect them
In the US, SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for non-interactive streaming (Pandora, SiriusXM, web radio) — register as both the rights owner and the performer, because those are separate accounts and separate payments. For international airplay and public performance of recordings, you need a neighboring rights administrator or reciprocal agreements, since the US has no general neighboring rights society for terrestrial radio. SoundExchange also pays featured performers directly, so session singers and instrumentalists on your records should register too.
Register with SoundExchange today if you have not — it is free, and unclaimed royalties eventually expire. Then look into a neighboring rights admin to chase international plays. Two registrations, money you would otherwise never see.
About the Author – Ruben Burgos: Ruben Burgos brings over 25 years of music expertise and more than 15 years of model guidance to the table. He is the indie major pinnacle to retaining credits for musicians and helping them navigate this wicked industry without the fuckery.