On first impression, we often hear that the digital performance royalties that we have for artists and labels sound too good to be true. That’s completely understandable – I’m not sure we’d believe it ourselves! But, for nearly a decade now SoundExchange has been promoting the fact that we have digital performance royalties waiting for recording artists and record labels to claim. In fact, we have dedicated a team to artist and label outreach, with its main focus to get them to register with us.
Our efforts to promote these digital royalties include placing ads in print and online news outlets; targeting individuals via social media channels; attending conferences and speaking on panels; hosting informational and educational webinars; and collaborating with more than 150 organizations to match their member lists against ours. In fact, last week we announced a matching exercise that identified $2 million in royalties for BandPage members. Despite our comprehensive outreach campaigns and even face-to-face interaction with the folks we are trying to register, many have yet to act. Despite our efforts to reach many of these folks, we are often asked why the do not register. There are a number of reasons: Check them out in our top reasons why artists and top reasons why labels do not register fact sheets.
Earlier this summer, we reached the milestone of paying $1 billion in digital royalty payments to recording artists and record labels since our inception. This accomplishment is just one reflection of the tremendous growth of digital radio, including new services and increased listenership. It also reflects our mission to help the music and creative community thrive. Yet, surprisingly, there are still tens of thousands of recording artists and record labels that have not yet registered.
Today, we are taking our efforts one step further: we have posted a searchable database on our website encouraging recording artists and record labels to learn more and register to receive their share. The unclaimed royalties, ranging from $10 to more than $100,000, have been collected by SoundExchange during the past decade. Those that are not included on the list, and have not yet registered with us, are encouraged to also register to receive future digital radio royalties.
If you still have not registered, you are encouraged to do so today. Even though we’ve been holding these royalties for years, we are only obligated to keep them for three years. So, why wait? Register by October 15 and avoid risking losing royalties.
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