Neighbouring Rights in Canada: Re:Sound and SoundExchange
Neighbouring rights can pay eligible performers and sound-recording makers when recordings are performed publicly under the applicable law and tariff. In Canada, Re:Sound licenses uses and distributes through performer and maker channels. In the United States, SoundExchange administers statutory royalties for eligible non-interactive digital transmissions. These payments are separate from composition royalties collected by PROs.
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Use this for
Separate gross activity from the money that can actually reach you.
Watch for
Stream counts look encouraging while payable revenue is missing, delayed, or assigned to the wrong party.
Check
Rightsholders, collection societies, statement rows, splits, fees, and recoupment terms.
Result
A cleaner royalty map and a better next check before you chase payment.
Key takeaways
- Neighbouring rights pay on the recording, while a PRO pays on the composition.
- A self-releasing performer can hold both performer and recording-owner roles.
- MROC stopped operating at the end of 2024, so old mandates need a current home.
- Canadian and U.S. systems cover different uses and use different collection paths.
- An ISRC supports matching but does not establish ownership, eligibility, or payment by itself.
What are neighbouring rights in Canada?
Canada's Copyright Act provides eligible performers and makers a right to equitable remuneration for specified public performances and communications of published sound recordings. Re:Sound licenses music users and distributes royalties to creators through its member-collective system and direct registration options. Entitlement still depends on the recording, use, eligibility rules, and submitted repertoire.
| What the role means | What to verify | |
|---|---|---|
| Performer | Featured or non-featured performance on the recording | Identity, role, repertoire and eligibility |
| Maker | Party that owns or qualifies as maker of the recording | Ownership, territory, repertoire and mandate |
Re:Sound's current schedule names ACTRA RACS and Artisti as performer collectives and Panorama as a maker collective, while also referencing direct Re:Sound registration. Choose the route that matches your role and contract. If another party owns the master, do not submit the maker claim simply because you are the named artist.
What changed when MROC closed?
MROC announced that it ceased operations on December 31, 2024. That makes MROC a historical part of this URL, not a current signup destination. A former member should confirm the active collective, transfer status, repertoire, payment information, and any recordings still awaiting correction. ACTRA RACS published an invitation for affected performers to join its collective.
Do not assume a mandate moved perfectly
Log into the current portal or contact the receiving collective. Check a sample of released recordings, both performer roles, and payment details before treating the transfer as complete.
What is the difference between SoundExchange and a PRO?
They administer different copyrights. SoundExchange explains that ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC collect public-performance royalties associated with musical works, while SoundExchange collects royalties associated with sound recordings used under U.S. statutory licenses. One digital audio transmission can therefore require licenses for both the underlying song and the recording.
| SoundExchange | PRO such as SOCAN, ASCAP, or BMI | |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright | Sound recording | Musical work |
| Common payees | Featured artist and recording owner | Writer and publisher |
| U.S. scope here | Eligible non-interactive digital transmissions | Licensed public performances of compositions |
| Typical catalog key | Recording claim and ISRC data | Work, writer, publisher and share data |
SoundExchange's statutory allocation is 45% to featured artists, 5% to the non-featured performer fund, and 50% to sound-recording copyright owners. Those percentages describe the SoundExchange distribution, not the composition side and not every neighbouring-rights regime.
How should a Canadian artist choose a U.S. collection path?
SoundExchange accepts non-U.S. registrants, and Re:Sound states that it and its member collectives have international agreements that include SoundExchange. The choice depends on existing mandates, roles, territories, repertoire, administration, and tax circumstances. There is no source-backed rule that every Canadian artist must use one route.
Before signing anything new, request the exact right and territory covered by your current collective. Confirm whether it claims your featured-performer share, maker share, or both. Then search SoundExchange Direct for your recordings and resolve missing claims through the route you are authorized to use. Ask a qualified cross-border tax professional about withholding for your account.
Compare recording-side income with the rest of your royalty map
What does Velveteen's search evidence say?
This page received 60 impressions in Velveteen's Google Search Console export for June 19 through July 16, 2026, with an average position of 6.3. The exact SoundExchange-versus-PRO query family had no row. Adding the comparison to this established neighbouring-rights owner avoids a competing page. The query absence is evidence about current Velveteen visibility, not total demand.
Where do the neighbouring-rights rules come from?
Frequently asked questions
Did MROC shut down?+
Yes. MROC stated that it ceased operations on December 31, 2024. Former members should confirm where their mandate and repertoire now sit instead of assuming an old MROC account is active. ACTRA RACS invited MROC members to join its performer collective, while Artisti also communicated a transfer path. Use the current organization's own instructions for any account change.
Can a Canadian artist register directly with SoundExchange?+
Yes. SoundExchange says a person does not need to be a U.S. citizen to register and may register as a featured performer, sound-recording owner, or both. Canadian performers and makers may also have an international collection path through Re:Sound and its member collectives. Compare mandates before registering overlapping claims, and get tax advice for your own situation.
Can I receive both SoundExchange and PRO royalties?+
Yes, when you hold the relevant roles and the same use is licensed on both copyrights. SoundExchange administers the statutory digital-performance right in the sound recording. A PRO administers public-performance rights in the musical work. A self-releasing songwriter-performer may therefore have a recording claim and a composition claim, but each must be registered through its proper path.
Which roles should a self-releasing artist check?+
Check the featured-performer role and the maker or sound-recording-owner role. Re:Sound's distribution rules allocate separate performer and maker pools, and SoundExchange allocates separate featured-artist and sound-recording-owner shares. Owning the master does not automatically prove the performer claim, and appearing on the recording does not automatically prove master ownership.
Does an ISRC guarantee neighbouring-rights payment?+
No. An ISRC identifies a recording and is useful matching data, but payment also depends on eligibility, reported use, repertoire claims, ownership or performer roles, territory, distribution rules, account status, and payment details. Search the collective's catalog, claim the recording in each valid role, and correct metadata problems instead of treating the identifier alone as proof of entitlement.
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