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Your music did the work. The streams were delivered. The plays happened.
Now the question is: did every play pay?
At Studio Budgets, our mantra is Every Play Pays™. That means we believe your music should generate earnings—every time it’s played—not just in theory, but in practice. This deep-dive explores how royalties are earned, who actually collects them, how contracts and recoupment can intercept payments, and how unclaimed royalties still leak value. We’ll also walk through a two-year overview of major royalty payouts to show the size of the opportunity—and the gap.
When your recording or composition is played, licensed, streamed, or performed, a chain of payment flows begins:
Recorded works (masters): Platforms pay rights-holders (labels, distributors, sometimes artists) for streams/downloads.
Publishing works (compositions): PROs, CMOs and mechanical licensing bodies collect and distribute payments to songwriters and publishers.
Performance/Neighbouring rights: When recordings are used in public settings (radio, venues), performance royalties are generated.
This infrastructure means every stream, sync, airplay or download can generate a royalty. In other words: every play has value.
It’s not enough that your music is played. You must ensure:
Your works are properly registered (with labels, distributors, PROs, mechanical licensing bodies).
Your metadata (ISRC, ISWC, splits) is correct so that rights-holders are identified.
Your contract terms allow you to receive royalties (after recoupment, deductions).
You’re monitoring whether your share is paid out, or if recoupable costs or mismatches are delaying or negating your earnings.
Recoupment: Many labels advance money to artists and then deduct recording, marketing, tour support, and production costs from your royalty share before paying you. Result: You may have streams—but no net pay-out.
Contract Traps: If you signed without audit rights or with unfavorable cost recovery terms, you might be leaving value on the table.
Unclaimed Royalties: According to Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC), global creators’ collections reached €13.1 billion in 2023—but many of those go unclaimed due to unregistered works or mismatched metadata.
Distribution Inequality: For example, Spotify reported more than $10 billion paid out in royalties in 2024. But that doesn’t mean every artist sees fair value per stream. Metadata issues, contract terms and volume-based models still create leakage.
| Year | Key Royalty/Payout Metric | Source |
| 2023 | Creators’ royalties via CISAC: €13.1 billion (+7.6% YoY) | CISAC Global Collections Report |
| 2024 | Global recorded music revenues: US $29.6 billion (+4.8% YoY) | IFPI Global Music Report |
| 2024 | Spotify paid more than US $10 billion in royalties | Variety / TechCrunch |
| 2024 | US music publishing revenue: ~US $7 billion (+13.4% YoY) | MusicBusinessWorldwide |
These numbers show that the royalty pot is real and growing. But the fact that your share may or may not land in your bank account is a separate matter.
1. Registration first: Make sure you’re properly registered as songwriter, recording artist or rights-holder.
2. Metadata audit: Check your ISRCs, ISWCs, splits, publishers—garbage in, garbage out.
3. Contract review: Understand your recoupment thresholds, audit rights and cost triggers.
4. Royalty tracking: Review statements, monitor payout platforms, use analytics.
5. Recovery mindset: If there’s a mismatch, submit audits, unclaimed claims. Every Play Pays™ only when you collect.
The streaming economy has matured and the global royalty stream has never been larger. You’ve created—now it’s time to capture. Your plays matter. Your earnings matter. And your rights deserve protection. At Studio Budgets we live by the mantra Every Play Pays™ because we believe the value of your music should be turned into financial reality—not just potential.
Let’s make sure every play of your work is accounted for, matched to your rights, and paid out. Because for creators, every stream should matter.
Royalties & Bundles: How “All-in-One” Plans Cut Payouts — and When Clarity Might Arrive When a streaming service adds audiobooks (or other media) to a music plan and calls it a bundle, U.S. mechanical royalties for songwriters can be calculated at a discounted...