Artists get paid for radio play through performance royalties collected by organizations like ASCAP and BMI. These organizations ensure artists are fairly compensated when their music is played publicly. Radio stations acquire blanket licenses from performance rights organizations (PROs). When a song plays on radio, the airplay gets reported to a PRO, which distributes royalties. Thus, the artist gets paid.
Bigger radio stations pay bigger license fees to PROs. So, a spin on a large commercial station generates more royalties than a college station. Performers – singers, musicians – don’t get radio royalties. Only songwriters do. Internet radio pays artists regardless of songwriting credit.
For a 4-minute track played 15 times over two weeks on BBC Radio 2, royalties could total over £6,000. After deductions, it’s still a large sum from just one station. More stations playing the song means more royalties.
Whenever a song plays on radio, it generates a performance royalty. Who gets paid depends on the copyright – sound recording or composition. For the recording, the artist/label receives royalties. For the composition, the songwriter does. Streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora also pay royalties to both artists and songwriters.
Who gets money for songs played on radio? The songwriter gets paid royalties when a song plays on the radio. Performers like singers and musicians don’t get radio royalties, only songwriters do. For the recording, the artist or record label receives royalties. For the composition, the songwriter receives royalties.
Streaming platforms like Spotify also pay royalties to both artists and songwriters when their songs are played. Performance rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI collect these royalties and distribute them to artists. Radio stations acquire licenses from these organizations.
When a song gets played on the radio, airplay gets reported to a performance rights organization. The organization then distributes royalties to the copyright owner. More radio stations playing a song means more royalties for the artist.
Bigger radio stations pay bigger license fees. So a spin on a large station generates more royalties than a college station. Internet radio pays artists royalties regardless of their songwriting credit.
For a song played 15 times over two weeks on BBC Radio 2, royalties could total over £6,000 even after deductions. That’s a large sum from just one station. More stations playing the song means more money for the artist.