Copyright Registration

SoundExchange is the only performance rights organization that includes collecting statutory licensing fees from digital downloads and digital streams via internet radio sites, cable radio, satellite radio, etc. through the RIAA's fee collection-distribution.  

If your material is currently being aired on internet stations (Youtube, Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, SiriusXM, etc...) that meet certain criteria may be entitled to obtain a statutory (compulsory) license, which is a license that the recording owner is required to grant.  Such sites pay blanket fees to SoundExchange, which in turn is responsible for collecting & paying those royalties to the record companies that own the recordings.  The statutory license is billed as a more efficient way to pay for music if the site is streaming a lot of it: the site pays one blanket fee to one organization rather than separate fees to all the different recording owners.

If you're ready to start receiving royalties from SoundExchange, you have to have your material registered properly, so that your metadata (digital fingerprint) is identified on all digital platforms.

Our staff is ready to get your material registered properly, this way you can start receiving royalties when your material is being aired over digital airwaves.

(During checkout make sure you include a contact number & email located in the contact information section)  

Most stations in major markets are monitored by either a company called:

· BDS that uses a computer to track airplay 

· MediaBase made up of humans that listen to the music played

Playing music on radio establish public performance because these are broadcast transmissions to the public

For Example, the Dolphins Stadium needs a public performance license to play songs embodied in the Will Smith recording of "Miami" before Dolphins ball games. Radio Stations need a public performance license to broadcast copyrighted songs as well.

As a songwriter, you're entitled to performance royalties whenever one of your original compositions is performed publicly example: played over the radio or in a bar or Restaurant. ASCAP, BMI, and Sesac are the three performing rights organizations (Pros) that collect and distribute those royalties, TEG can get you registered with One of them.

If you self administer the publishing rights to your songs then you should also ensure that your PRO is paying both "songwriters share" and the "publisher share" of your performance royalties, As those royalties are automatically divided and paid separately

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, better known as BDS (Broadcast Data System) is a service that monitors and tracks the sale of music and video releases, airplay from majority radio stations, television and internet airplay of songs based on the number of spins and detections across the country. 

This Data is the technology utilized by Billboard and CMN (Canadian Music Network) magazines to catch each spin of a recording on radio in cities where Broadcast data has installed a computer to monitor airplay. As the spins are revealed, the computers transfer the number of detections to a primary database that is used to create the weekly airplay charts.

BDS scans broadcast waves and recognizes music aired by radio and TV stations. Records have to be played into the system’s computer, this is how it creates a digital fingerprint of that information (metadata encoded). The fingerprint is uploaded to BDS monitors in each market. These monitors can identify that fingerprint/pattern, when the song is broadcast on one of the monitored stations. 

In order for BDS being able to detect your airplay it has to be encoded and submitted into the BDS system and after that when radio stations plays it, you will get your music tracked.

This will be your credit report to the labels and radio station to negotiate more airplay or for them just to consider to play your record. The more spins you get the more likely more station will consider you to add them, then labels potentially take a look at you and your music will also get listed in the Billboard charts if it performs well.

"Using a patented digital pattern recognition technology, Nielsen BDS captures in excess of 100 million song detections annually on more than 1,600 radio stations in over 140 U.S. markets (including Puerto Rico), 30 Canadian markets and the 3 major markets in Mexico. Nielsen BDS also uses the service to track monitored airplay at satellite radio (Sirius XM), internet services (like Yahoo! and AOL) and audio networks (like Dial Global, Music Choice and Radio Disney), as well as on TV (12 U.S. music video channels and 9 Canadian video channels)."

"Since its 1992 debut, BDS has become the standard for the radio and music industry because of its accuracy of detecting, tracking and monitoring songs needed thus eliminating the use of reporting and call-outs to trades and record labels when it comes to adding and testing tracks. The method has also helped tracks that only received airplay (songs that are not released as singles) become major hits, especially in Billboard's Hot 100 chart, where several radio-only tracks have reached the top spot."

“Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) is the world-leading provider of off-the-air music recognition for the record and radio industries. Employing pattern recognition technology, BDS identifies songs played on over 1100 radio stations in the US and Canada in real-time.  Radio stations use BDS Radio to program their stations, while record companies use BDS ENcore and BDSexpress.com to enhance their promotion, sales and marketing efforts. Performing rights organizations like SESAC, ASCAP, and BMI use BDS information to calculate music royalty payments.” –BDS

 (During checkout make sure you include a contact number & email located in the contact information section)