How to Collect Every Music Royalty You're Owed (Canada + US)

What are the two copyrights every song has, and why does it matter?

Every song is two separate things in the eyes of the law, and that's the single fact that makes the rest of this make sense. There's the musical work, which is the composition: the melody, the chords, the lyrics, owned by the songwriter and publisher. And there's the sound recording, the actual master, owned by the recording artist, producer, or label.

Those two copyrights earn different royalties, and different organizations collect them. SOCAN handles your composition. Re:Sound handles your recording. If you only sign up on one side, you only collect half your money. That's the most common gap I see: a self-releasing artist who registered with their PRO years ago and never touched the recording side at all.

So as you read this, keep asking: is this about the song I wrote, or the recording I made? The answer tells you which organization to go to.

What are the four types of music royalties?

There are four core royalty types, and each is triggered by something different. Performance royalties come from a public play: radio, streaming, live performance, TV. They pay the songwriter and publisher, off the composition. Mechanical royalties come from reproduction: a stream, a download, a CD, a vinyl press. They also pay the songwriter and publisher, off the composition. Neighbouring rights come from broadcast or public performance of the recording itself. They pay the performer and the master owner. Sync royalties come from music paired with visual media. These are negotiated per deal and can cover both the composition and the master.

Performance and mechanical both pay the composition side, which trips people up, but they're triggered by different uses and often collected by different bodies. The full breakdown of which ones most indie artists miss is in the dedicated types of royalties guide.

The scale here is worth sitting with. Re:Sound distributed a record $43 million CAD to performers and master owners in 2024. And The MLC in the US is holding roughly $374 million in unclaimed and unmatched royalties, waiting to be matched to rights holders who haven't registered yet. That second number is the whole problem in one figure: the money exists, it's just unclaimed.

How do I collect royalties as a Canadian artist?

In Canada you register across three or four bodies depending on what roles you play. Here's the stack.

Performance royalties on your compositions go to SOCAN. SOCAN is Canada's only performing rights organization, with more than 200,000 members. Membership is free if you're a songwriter, composer, lyricist, or producer whose music has been published, recorded, or performed. There's a rule worth knowing: at least 50% of any registered composition's total share has to go to the writers, and a maximum of 50% to publishers. If you're self-published with no publisher listed, you keep 100% of the writer's performance royalty.

Mechanical royalties on your compositions go to CMRRA, or to SOCAN Reproduction Rights. CMRRA (now a SoundExchange company) covers streaming, downloads, CDs, vinyl, and broadcast mechanical use. It distributes quarterly, in March, June, September, and December, once your activity reaches CAD $15. Self-published writers can affiliate directly. As an alternative, SOCAN runs a separate Reproduction Rights service that collects both performance and mechanical under one roof. You pick one path for mechanicals, not both, or you create conflicts. The full how-to is in the mechanical royalties guide.

Neighbouring rights on your recordings go through Re:Sound. Re:Sound is the only body authorized under Canada's Copyright Act to collect neighbouring rights, the equitable remuneration performers and master owners are owed when their recordings get broadcast or publicly performed. The split is 50% to the maker (the label, or you if you own your masters) and 50% to performers, with 40% of that going to featured performers and 10% to session players.

Here's the catch that costs people money: you don't register with Re:Sound directly. As a performer you join one of its affiliated collectives. ACTRA RACS covers all genres, featured and session. Artisti is the Quebec-focused option. MROC, which used to be the third choice, formally wound down on December 31, 2024, so if anyone still tells you to join MROC, that advice is out of date. Makers (label or master-owner share) register through CONNECT Music Licensing, or SOPROQ in Quebec. The full walkthrough is in the neighbouring rights guide.

How does a Canadian artist collect their US royalties?

You mostly don't register with the US bodies directly. Reciprocal agreements pull your US money home through your Canadian societies, and in one case that path comes with a real tax advantage.

Performance: SOCAN has reciprocal agreements with more than 100 societies worldwide, including ASCAP and BMI. So SOCAN collects your US performance royalties and passes them through. A songwriter can only belong to one PRO at a time, so a Canadian writer registers with SOCAN, not ASCAP or BMI. The detailed comparison is in the PRO comparison guide.

Recording and digital performance: Re:Sound and SoundExchange have a bilateral agreement. If you're a member of ACTRA RACS or Artisti, you collect your US digital performance royalties (SiriusXM, Pandora, and the like) without registering with SoundExchange yourself. And here's the part that matters: Re:Sound got IRS Qualified Intermediary status in 2014, which lets Canadian members avoid the standard 30% US withholding tax on those royalties. Registering directly with SoundExchange does not automatically get you that treatment. For most Canadian artists, going through your Canadian collective is the better move.

Mechanical: US streaming mechanicals are administered by The MLC. You can register with The MLC directly (it's free and open to non-US citizens), or let CMRRA's International Collections or SOCAN Reproduction Rights claim on your behalf. Same rule as before: pick one path. Registering with both CMRRA and The MLC directly for the same works causes conflicts and delays.

Here are the two stacks side by side.

That last row is the big structural difference. In Canada, when your recording plays on terrestrial radio, performers and makers get paid. In the US, over-the-air radio pays the songwriter side but pays the recording side nothing. Only US digital radio triggers a SoundExchange payment.

What's the full registration checklist for a self-releasing indie artist?

If you write, perform, and own your masters, you're playing every role, so you register across the whole stack. Here's the short version. As a songwriter: SOCAN for performance, plus CMRRA or SOCAN Reproduction for mechanical. As a performer on your own recordings: ACTRA RACS or Artisti for neighbouring rights. As the owner of your masters: CONNECT, or SOPROQ in Quebec, for the maker's share.

The US side of all three is covered by the reciprocal and bilateral agreements above, so for most people there's nothing extra to set up across the border.

Two things gate all of it. First, ISRCs. Every recording needs an International Standard Recording Code, or the matching systems at SoundExchange, The MLC, SOCAN's digital side, and Re:Sound simply can't find your plays. A recording with no ISRC is invisible to them. Second, copyright registration is not the same as society registration. In Canada your copyright exists automatically the moment a song is fixed in form. Registering with CIPO is optional and only creates an official record for disputes. It does nothing to get you paid. Signing up with SOCAN, CMRRA, and Re:Sound is what actually collects money.

Once you know which societies you belong to, the question becomes what any of it is worth. Streaming royalties, splits, and recoupment all interact, and a single per-stream number won't tell you much.

Run your numbers through the free royalty calculator to see gross, your share, and your break-even before you spend on a release. →

Where do FACTOR and grants fit in?

They don't, at least not as royalties, and it's worth being clear about that so you don't confuse the two. FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) delivers the anglophone side of the Canada Music Fund, with grant maximums like up to $67,500 for a juried album, up to $25,000 for a single or EP, and smaller amounts for artist and songwriter development. Musicaction is the francophone equivalent.

That's funding, paid up front for a project, not money earned from your music being used. Royalties are the back end. You get them after the play, the stream, the broadcast. Both are real income for a Canadian artist, but they come from different places and you apply for them differently.

This page is about the royalty side. I mention FACTOR only so you don't go looking for a grant in a royalty statement. Once you've mapped which societies you belong to, the math of what it all adds up to is the next step.

Use the royalty calculator to handle the streaming side, splits and all. →