A SoundExchange Featured Artist Letter of Direction (LOD) is a document (found on the How To Guides & Useful Links page here) by which a Featured Artist directs SoundExchange to pay a portion of the Featured Artist’s sound recording performance royalties to a participant involved in the creative process – producers, engineers, mixers, re-mixers, etc. (hereafter referred to as “Creative Participants”).
The term “Featured Artist” generally refers to the individual(s) or group(s) most prominently featured on a track or album. Non-featured Artists, such as session musicians or backup singers, do not receive royalties directly from SoundExchange.