The streaming rate paid to songwriters and publishers increases by 44%

NOTE: The CD Baby Pro Publishing service was discontinued as of August 8th, 2023. Any paid release which was signed up for CD Baby Pro Publishing prior to August 8th, 2023 is considered a Legacy Pro release and will continue to receive Pro Publishing services. CD Baby now offers a new expanded suite of revenue amplifiers called “CDB Boost” instead.

Songwriters win a big victory: The royalty rate for interactive streams will rise by 44% over the next five years.

Right now streaming services pay about 10.5% of their revenue to songwriters for the usage of composition copyrights (the right to the underlying songs, as opposed to specific master recordings of those songs).

The Copyright Royalty Board has announced an exciting ruling for songwriters and publishers: That payout rate must increase to 15.1% over the next five years.

This is the largest rate increase in the history of the Copyright Royalty Board, and means that songwriters would see a 44% boost in their revenue from on-demand streaming via services like Apple Music and Spotify.

Here’s how gradual rate increases will unfold…

Streaming services in the US must pay to songwriters and publishers:

  • 11.4% of revenue in 2018
  • 12.3% of revenue in 2019
  • 13.3% of revenue in 2020
  • 14.2% of revenue in 2021
  • 15.1% of revenue in 2022

As streaming adoption AND royalty rates increase, are you set up to collect your publishing royalties?

To repeat, these are publishing royalties (owed to the publisher or songwriter) generated from the usage of the underlying song, NOT the recorded track being streamed. As such, this money is accounted for and paid separately from the royalties you earn when your master recordings are streamed.

$$ for streaming your master recordings is paid to you through your distributor (hopefully CD Baby!), but publishing royalties are almost impossible to collect on your own. That’s where CD Baby Pro Publishing comes in.

With CD Baby Pro Publishing, we’ll act as your publishing rights administrator, register your songs with collection societies worldwide, and make sure you’re earning EVERYTHING you’re owed. This includes publishing royalties from streaming activity, which are about to significantly increase.

Sign up or upgrade any title to CD Baby Pro Publishing today!