Note: If SoundExchange has notified us that you are owed money, CD Baby will have already sent you an email. But even if you didn’t receive an email from us, you should consider signing up for SoundExchange now because internet and satellite radio royalties are a growing source of revenue for independent musicians. Get on board early!
Royalties from internet & satellite radio are starting to pile up
You would think unclaimed money wouldn’t be much of an issue for today’s musician. But, a recent matching exercise with SoundExchange revealed $1,000,000 in unclaimed royalties owed to CD Baby artists. Sounds crazy, we know. But it’s true. SoundExchange wants to pay you.
A new kind of performance rights organization
SoundExchange is an organization that is authorized by the US government to collect and distribute performance royalties on behalf of recording artists and record labels. Sound Exchange collects money anytime a song is streamed on internet radio (including Pandora, Yahoo, and AOL), satellite radio (SIRIUS-XM), and digital cable and satellite tv audio channels (like Music Choice and DirecTV). Since 2001, they’ve paid out over $800 million in digital performance royalties to artists and labels. They are still holding millions more, waiting to be claimed. CD Baby has partnered with SoundExchange to help artists claim the money that’s owed to them.
The catch is: there’s NO CATCH!
We know this sounds too good to be true, but rest assured: it’s not a scam of any kind. And once you sign up, you’ll continue to receive quarterly payments whenever you’re owed money.
We’re not promising that SoundExchange owes you a piece of the pie, but there’s no charge to sign up, so if you do start generating royalties from internet and satellite radio play, you’ll automatically start getting paid. And if nothing else, isn’t it great to know there’s organizations like SoundExchange out there, helping the cause?