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June 2, 2025

Jeff Ponchick and Bo Liebman

Collecting all of Your Royalties as a Producer, a Songwriter, or a Singer-Songwriter

All too often royalties are only associated with the recording artists we hear on tracks. But, they are not the only ones that can collect royalties on the songs we hear; the track’s producers and songwriters are able to collect different revenue streams on songs, and should know where they can expect these streams to come from. And for those that are singer-songwriters, it’s equally as important to be aware of all of the various types of royalties due to you.

In this article, we will show producers, songwriters and singer-songwriters what the different types of royalties are, which ones they are each eligible for and how to collect them.

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Artist Types:
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Producers

The role of the producer has changed over time. While originally thought of as the person who helps the artists record their songs and get the sound they are looking for, over time the role has evolved, with producers today often an integral part of the songwriting team. More often than not, it’s the producer that creates the beats and melodies in modern pop and rap songs. Whatever type of producer you are, the royalties you receive will depend on what level you’re at, the deal you make, and what your contributions to the records and songs are.

Most commonly, producers will be offered one of the three below deals:

Receiving a percentage of the artist’s royalty share (3% - 7%)
- The artist’s royalty share, which includes both the recording and publishing royalties, is usually between 10% and 25% of an album’s retail price.
- The producer’s 3% - 7% would be from the artist’s 10% - 25%. So if an artist received 25% from a $10 album ($2.50), and the producer was getting 5 points (5%), then the producer would earn $0.125 for each album sold.
- If the album were to sell one million copies, the producer would earn $125,000.
Receiving a percentage of the record’s sale price (3% - 5%)
Receiving a flat fee for their work.

The more seasoned and accomplished the producer, the greater percentage (or “points”) they are likely to get in their deal.

As mentioned above, modern producers are likely to contribute to the music and/or lyrics of a song from the very beginning, working with the artists from the start of songwriting through to the finished album. If you are receiving songwriting credit as a producer, you’re eligible to collect the following royalties.

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What Royalties Do I Need to Collect as a Producer?

Mechanical Royalties

Mechanical Royalties are paid when a song and/or album is copied and sold. This covers formats like vinyl records, CDs, digital copies of songs (iTunes, etc), sheet music, and on-demand streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). Payments for these royalties are made to the songwriters, composers/producers, and people that contributed to the final song.

Each time an album is sold, a song is streamed, or used in a reel or video on Instagram or TikTok, a mechanical royalty is earned. What this amount is can vary depending on where the sale or stream was made.

To collect mechanical royalties generated in the United States, songwriters (including producers receiving songwriting credit) and/or publishers can register with the Mechanical License Collective (MLC). The MLC is a non-profit that collects and distributes mechanical royalties. The good news for songwriters is that you do not have to have a publisher in order to register, but if you are working with a publisher or publisher administrator, they can also collect these royalties for you.

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Here are the steps for registering music with the MLC:

Go to the MLC’s membership page and join
One a member, log-in to the MLC membership portal
Click on Work Registration from the side menu
Click Individual Work Registration from the drop-down menu

For producers looking to streamline this process, services like Mogul will own the royalty monitoring and registration process. Mogul receives all data from the MLC and will monitor and identify all the missing mechanical registrations, including other issues with the MLC like “unmatched tracks”. Mogul will resolve all of these issues on your behalf to ensure you are receiving all of the royalties you are entitled to
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Public Performance Royalties

Whenever a song you produced and helped write is performed live, whether in a concert venue, or in a broadcast performance (including digital streams), the songwriter(s) can collect Performance Royalties. That means these royalties are split between:

The Writer’s Share - The parties responsible for composing the music and writing the lyrics for the song, including contributing producers.
The Publisher’s Share - The company responsible for publishing the music. If you are independent, you will actually collect both shares yourself. This is a very common royalty for songwriters to miss out on because they are unaware they need to collect the publisher’s share as well.

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Please know publisher share/writer share only applies to the United States. If you're working with PROs outside of the U.S., they will collect both shares. Only the songwriters and composers (meaning most modern producers who help write the music or beats) of the song are paid for performance royalties (not necessarily the artist doing the performance, unless they are also a writer).

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Streaming services like Spotify will generate both mechanical royalties and performance royalties while non-interactive digital platforms (ie: online radio stations like Pandora) generate a different royalty type we’ll cover later in this article.

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To collect public performance royalties, it’s essential to register with a PRO (Performing Rights Organization). PROs will collect the data reports from the broadcasting parties (whether a live venue, radio or TV station, or digital platform like Spotify) and use that data to calculate royalty payments.

In the U.S., the three major PROs are:

ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers)
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)
SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers)

While the general steps will depend on the organization, the general process to register with a PRO is:

Choose a PRO and create an account.
Provide your personal and music details, including song titles, writers, and publishers.
Upload supporting material, such as lyrics or recordings (varies by PRO).
Review and submit your application.

As mentioned at the top, platforms like Mogul can help complete the registration for artists and producers. One of the major benefits of a service like Mogul over registering the music yourself is that you can do it all from a single portal. As opposed to needing to input the information at ASCAP, the MLC, SoundExchange, etc., you enter it once to Mogul and Mogul will take care of all the registrations on your behalf. Additionally, you have the benefit of knowing it was done correctly. Once registered, the PRO tracks your song’s performance and collects royalties on your behalf, ensuring you receive the money you’re owed.
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3. Neighbouring Rights Royalties

Neighbouring rights are the royalties collected for public performance of a song, but unlike Public Performance royalties which pay out on the composition (e.g. the songwriters and composers), Neighboring rights are paid to the record side of the song, e.g. the artists and the “master” owner (either the artist or label depending upon the setup). It could be earned from play on satellite radio stations like SiriusXM, or from being on a playlist coming from the speakers in your local coffee shop. These rights benefit the party that owns the recording, generally a label and the recording artist on the track. For these rights, the royalties are split between two parties:

Rightsholder’s Share - This is the portion paid to the owner of the recording, including producers who have been given points on the master recording.
Featured Artist’s Share - This is the portion paid to the performer(s) on the recording. Artists can give a piece of this to a producer, but it requires some paperwork to do so.

Neighboring Rights Organizations like SoundExchange in the U.S., or PPL and Re:Sound internationally, collect these royalties and then distribute them to the rights holders and artists. Here are steps for registering with one of these organizations:

Identify the appropriate organization in your country
Go to their website and find their online registration portal
Input all of the relevant details about the recording (artist(s) name, song titles, release date, etc)

For information on how to register with SoundExchange, go to their online registration page.

As with Mechanical and Public Performance Royalties, services like Mogul can help producers by owning the royalty monitoring and registration process. Mogul will monitor and identify all missing registrations and then complete them on your behalf so you can focus on your music and growth. They can complete registrations for any Neighboring Rights organization in the world on your behalf.
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4. Sync Royalties

When a song is used in a movie, television show, video game, podcast or commercials, the fees paid for this usage are sync (or synchronization) royalties, and producers can negotiate for a share of these royalties as part of the artist’s share or points on the master recording.

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Sync fees are generally a lump sum fee paid upfront, with potential smaller royalties paid down the line based on the agreement and the medium (ie: if an episode of a show using your song is picked up for syndication or put on a DVD for sale, you could be entitled to further royalties). How the royalties are split for these syncs is generally negotiated in advance between the various rights holders. The royalties for syncs are split between:

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Recording Rightsholder Share - The owner of the specific recording used in the sync. If the producer is receiving points on the record, then this is where they would receive their portion of the sync royalties.
Featured Artist Share - The artist performing the song in the synced recording. If a producer is getting a percentage of the artist’s share, then they would receive a piece from these royalties.
Composition Rightsholder Share - The songwriter/composer of the song used in the sync. If a producer is also credited as one of the songwriters/composers on a track, they would also receive a portion from this share.

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The fees paid for syncs can vary greatly, and are also generally negotiated up front. As royalties are collected for both the Recording Rightsholder and Composition Rightsholder, the collection of these fees are split between:

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PROs - A PRO will collect the royalties on behalf of the composition rightsholder.
Sync Licensing Agency/Record Label - The royalties for the recording rightsholder will be collected either by a sync licensing agency, or by the record label itself. The label will then distribute the share to the recording artist.

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Platforms like Mogul can help songwriters track their sync earnings and report these earnings with their other royalties.

Songwriters

Songwriters collect fees on the publishing of their songs, and therefore generally have deals with a publisher that collects and distributes the songwriter’s royalty share to them. Not all performing artists are songwriters, just as not all songwriters are performing artists. For those songwriters who solely work on the music and lyrics but do not perform on a song’s recording, there are still multiple royalty streams they can collect.

What Royalties Do I Need to Collect as a Songwriter?
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Mechanical

As stated above, Mechanical Royalties are paid when a songwriter’s work is copied and sold. This includes vinyl records, CDs, digital copies of songs, sheet music, and on-demand streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). Payments for these royalties are made to the composition rightsholder, and collected by the MLC for mechanical royalties generated in the United States.To collect international mechanical royalties you will need to have a publishing deal or be part of a publishing administrator that is collecting them on your behalf for a fee.

Public Performance Royalties

These are the royalties paid whenever a song is performed live, whether in a venue like a club or stadium, or in a broadcast performance (including digital streams). They are collected by the PRO that the songwriter and/or publisher is registered with.

Print Royalties

While less common today, Print Royalties are the fees collected from the sales of a songwriter’s sheet music, guitar tablatures or lyrics on paper (print) or digitally. If the books are selling the work of the songwriter, and are not based on a specific recording, the fees are paid to:

Composition Rightsholder Share - The songwriter(s) who wrote the transcribed song.
Publisher’s Share - The publisher of the rightsholder’s song

The fees for these royalties are collected and distributed by the PRO that the rightsholder is registered with.

Sync Royalties

Sync (or synchronization) royalties can be a huge source of income for songwriters.

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As mentioned above, these fees are generally a lump sum fee paid upfront, with potential smaller royalties paid down the line based on the agreement and the medium.

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Singer-Songwriters

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Songwriters who also perform and record their own music are both composition and recording rightsholders, and as such, they are eligible to collect all of the royalties due to both parties. As described above, these include:

Mechanical Royalties
Public Performance Royalties
Neighbouring Rights Royalties
Sync Royalties
Print Royalties
Streaming Royalties

One of the most important revenue streams from the list above that singer-songwriters should be aware of are Streaming Royalties. Everytime your song gets streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer,Tidal, or any of the other streaming services (DSPs) out there, you’re earning money.

In the modern music industry, streaming royalties are the most common sources of music revenue that artists and labels earn. These are also the easiest to keep track of, as they are paid out to the artists on the track directly by labels or distributors.

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As with producers and songwriters, Mogul can be a great partner for singer-songwriters. Whether it’s helping ensure they are properly registered with all of the organizations that help collect royalties, or making it easy for the artist to track all of their revenue streams in one place, Mogul gives singer-songwriters peace of mind that they are getting all of the money they are due from royalties.
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Conclusion

As shown above, producers and songwriters have numerous sources of revenue they can collect in royalties, so it’s important for both groups to understand which ones they are eligible for, and what organizations they should be registered with to collect these funds. And if you are a recording artist on top of being a songwriter, there are even more sources of royalties for you to collect, so be sure to be on top of all of them.

And if you need help ensuring all of your works are registered and your royalties are being tracked, visit the Mogul website and learn more about how the platform can help you get all of the money you’ve earned.

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