What royalties do you collect in addition to what the PROs/performing rights societies collect?
There are multiple royalties that Master Publishing collects including Mechanical, Print, Sync and Micro-Sync. For many songwriters nowadays, this makes up the majority of their publishing income. Some examples of this revenue include:
Mechanical
Interactive streaming (when someone chooses to listen to your song e.g. Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Deezer etc.)
Digital Downloads (from iTunes, Amazon)
Physical product such as vinyl, CDs and cassettes
Ringtones / ringbacks available from mobile phone companies
Cover versions of your songs (when someone else records your song)
Sample (when someone samples your song, you take a piece of ownership in the new song)
Karaoke (when someone makes a new recording of your song for Karaoke purposes)
Greeting Cards
On demand jukebox
Print
Physical and digital sheet music
Lyric reprints physical such as liner notes
Lyric reprints digital such as on Spotify or on MusixMatch/Instagram
Guitar tablature
Sync
TV shows
TV commercials
Films
Film trailers
TV promos
Video games
Mobile applications
DVD/Blu Ray
Micro-Sync
YouTube, TikTok, etc It is very important to note that a micro-sync revenue on a platform such as YouTube generates both mechanical and performance royalties.
Performance (publisher’s share)
Interactive streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Deezer etc.)
Radio (AM/FM)
Internet radio
Satellite radio/non-interactive streaming (such as Pandora, Sirius XM)
TV (broadcast royalties paid by the broadcaster of a television show, film or advertisement – not to be conflated with the synchronization fee which is a one-off license fee paid for the synchronization of music to moving image)
Restaurants
Bars
Gyms
Live concert venues
Supermarkets
Retail outlets
Small businesses
Samples (when someone samples your song, you take a piece of ownership in the new song)
Master Publishing Administration registers your information with global mechanical rights societies and digital sources to ensure you get paid. Master Publishing registers your works worldwide to ensure you receive the publisher’s share of mechanical royalties due to you.
In certain territories, especially in Europe and South America, synchronization fees for TV shows are licensed by mechanical rights societies under a ‘blanket agreement.’ Master Publishing would collect these fees on your behalf, but some publishers and writers may opt out of this agreement, usually reserved for well-known artists.