Where the money actually goes
Each streaming platform pays a different desk. Use this map, then file at the official portal. Latch does not hold funds and does not take a commission.
On-demand DSPs pay the label or distributor. Unclaimed profiles and old accounts leak this.
On-demand streams pay the distributor or label, not this portal. The portal is how you claim the profile, access analytics, and catch miscredited uploads.
Unclaimed artist profiles, duplicate pages, and user-uploaded bootlegs siphon streams away from the official recording. The money still paid the uploader's distro.
Profile claim is usually days. Bootleg takedowns depend on the distributor.
Spotify for ArtistsSame pattern as Spotify: master royalties via the distributor. This portal is claim, data, and catalog control.
Unclaimed profiles and wrong artist linkages hide shows, credits, and sometimes payments routed to the wrong party.
Claim via distributor or Apple's artist portal, typically days to a couple of weeks.
Apple Music for ArtistsMaster share via distributor. Amazon also reports mechanicals into The MLC for US interactive streams.
Same profile-claim and distro-account issues as other DSPs, plus Amazon-only uploads from old CD-on-demand deals.
Claim through the artist program. Check old CD Baby / Amazon on-demand accounts separately.
Amazon Music for ArtistsMonetized streams and some UGC, depending on Premier / distro setup.
Old profiles, forgotten Premier accounts, and reposts of beats without Content ID-style matching.
Payouts follow the account's monetization setup. Check abandoned emails.
SoundCloud for ArtistsThe actual Spotify / Apple / YouTube master money. It lands at the distributor first.
Abandoned emails, failed tax forms, closed bank accounts, and old CD Baby / TuneCore logins are some of the largest 'missing' streaming checks. The DSP already paid.
Balances often sit until tax info is complete. Some distros hold funds for years.
Your distributor loginInteractive streams pay composition owners through The MLC and other mechanical societies.
US mechanical royalties on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, Tidal, Deezer, and other interactive services. This is the composition share, not the master.
The MLC can only pay matched works. Missing IPI, wrong splits, missing ISWC, or a name that does not match the recording credit leaves money in the unmatched pool.
Member signup is free. Historical unmatched from the 2018–2021 transition is still being claimed.
MLC public searchUS mechanical licenses outside the MLC blanket (physical, downloads, and older digital). Pre-MLC streaming mechanicals may still sit here.
Older catalogs that never moved to The MLC still have unmatched HFA balances.
Publisher accounts. Songfile is the public license counter.
SongfileCanadian mechanical royalties on reproductions and many digital uses.
US-registered works with Canadian streams often skip CMRRA entirely.
Publisher affiliation. Writers typically collect through a publisher or admin.
CMRRAPublic performance of the song: radio, venues, TV, and some DSP reporting to PROs.
Public performance of compositions: radio, TV, venues, and digital performance reported to BMI. Not master royalties.
Unaffiliated writers earn nothing. Works not registered, or registered under a different name, sit unmatched. Co-writes where one writer never joined a PRO are common.
Affiliation is free. Royalties pay quarterly after works are registered and performed.
BMI RepertoirePublic performance of compositions across radio, TV, venues, and digital, for ASCAP members.
You can only collect at one US PRO at a time. Unregistered works and name mismatches are the usual leaks.
Affiliation has a one-time fee. Distributions are quarterly.
ASCAP ACE RepertoryPublic performance of compositions for SESAC affiliates.
If a co-writer is SESAC and you are not registered anywhere, your share of performances can stall. Check the repertory even if you never applied.
By invitation. Repertory search is public.
SESAC RepertoryUK and international performing rights, often with MCPS for UK mechanicals.
US writers with UK plays still need a PRO that has a reciprocal agreement, and the work must be registered. UK-only aliases are a frequent miss.
Usually collected via your home PRO. Direct membership if the UK is your territory.
PRS for MusicCanadian performing rights. Mechanicals in Canada often run through CMRRA or SODRAC.
Cross-border catalogs with Canadian radio and streaming often never get a SOCAN registration.
Reciprocal via home PRO, or join if Canada is home.
SOCANGerman performing and mechanical rights, a large pool for any catalog that charted or streamed in DE.
International plays in Germany are routinely unmatched when IPI and ISWC are missing.
Usually via home PRO reciprocal. Direct claim if you have a German publisher.
GEMANon-interactive radio, SiriusXM, Pandora, and webcasters pay SoundExchange, not Spotify.
Statutory royalties from SiriusXM, Pandora (non-interactive), Music Choice, and thousands of webcasters. Interactive Spotify and Apple do not pay here.
Recordings must be registered with ISRCs. Unregistered plays sit in unmatched and unclaimed pools. Heirs and featured artists who never enrolled are the most common misses.
Enrollment is free. First matched payout usually lands in one to two payment cycles after recordings are ingested.
SoundExchangePerformer and master-owner royalties when a recording plays on radio and TV outside the US.
UK radio, TV, and public communication of sound recordings. Featured performers and master owners both have a claim.
US artists with BBC, UK radio, and UK TV play often never join PPL or appoint an administrator. Line-up credits must match.
Membership is free for performers. Recordings need to be registered before matches pay.
PPL Repertoire SearchNeighboring rights in the UK, EU, Japan, Canada, Latin America, and dozens of other territories. The US has no general terrestrial-radio neighboring right, which is why this is easy to ignore.
Indies almost never join 15 societies one by one. Without an admin (or PPL + a network), international radio money never moves.
Admins often take a commission. Retro claims can reach several years depending on the society.
How neighboring rights workYouTube, TikTok, and Meta pay when a recording or composition is claimed on user video.
Art Tracks, official uploads, and user videos that Content ID matches. Publishing is paid to publishers / The MLC / YouTube's publishing partners.
If nobody delivered the recording into a CMS, UGC using your beat or song generates nothing for you. Cover songs without a publishing claim miss the composition share.
Content ID requires a distributor or CMS partner. Once delivered, matches can be retroactive within policy windows.
YouTube StudioUser video using your recording or composition, via commercial music library deals, not per-stream like Spotify.
If your distributor never delivered to TikTok, the track is either missing or user-ripped, and you are out of the licensed pool.
Delivery is through the label/distro. Analytics appear after the catalog is ingested.
TikTok for ArtistsNon-featured performers collect through union intellectual property funds, often never claimed.
Non-featured performer share of SoundExchange statutory royalties, plus other union IP distributions. Separate from featured-artist SoundExchange.
Session players rarely know this fund exists. Payments require a claim against recordings you played on, often years later.
The fund publishes unclaimed lists. Claims can be filed years after the session.
AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund