What Is SoundExchange?

SoundExchange is a US non-profit performance rights organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties specifically for master sound recordings — not compositions. It was established by the Copyright Royalty Board and is the sole organization designated to collect these royalties in the United States.

SoundExchange collects royalties from non-interactive digital radio services — platforms where listeners cannot choose specific songs or control what plays next. This includes SiriusXM, Pandora (free tier), iHeartRadio, and webcasting/internet radio stations. It does not cover on-demand streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, which have separate royalty systems.

Unlike PROs (which collect performance royalties for the composition), SoundExchange collects performance royalties for the master recording. This means both the copyright owner of the master (typically the label or artist) and the featured artist on the recording are entitled to separate royalty payments from SoundExchange — even if the artist signed away master ownership to a label.

By law, the royalties collected by SoundExchange are split 45% to the copyright owner of the master, 45% to the featured artist, and 5% each to a fund for non-featured session musicians and vocalists. The featured artist's 45% is paid directly to them, regardless of what their record deal says.

To collect your SoundExchange royalties, you must register directly with SoundExchange at soundexchange.com — this is separate from your distribution deal with SoSouth.