(Free tool)
Answer ten quick questions about how your music is registered. We show which royalty streams look set up, which have gaps, and exactly where to go to fix each one, in the order that is likely to matter most.
When a song is played, several different payments start moving: one for the performance, one for the reproduction, one for the recording, and more for video and overseas use. Each is paid by a different organisation to people who are registered with it. If you are not on the list, the money is not lost, but it does not come to you either.
That unmatched money sits in what the industry calls the black box. Some of it is eventually shared out among other members. The only reliable way to stop your share ending up there is to be registered in every place that pays, and most independent songwriters are registered in one or two.
The checker does not pretend to see your accounts. It asks how your songs are set up and works out which income streams have no one collecting them. The result is a ranked action list: the one most likely to be costing you money first, then the rest.
Each action says what usually goes wrong, what to do about it, and links to the official site where you do it. Anything that is already covered is listed too, so you can see what you do not need to touch.
Pick the country where you live.
Answer yes or no to each question. If you are not sure, answer No: that is usually where the gap is.
Read your score and the numbered list of gaps.
Follow the links to the official sites and fix the top item first.
Come back after a few months and check again.
It shows where money could be waiting, not how much. Only the societies and collectors themselves can tell you whether they hold anything for you, so the links lead you to their own search and claim pages.
The answers are based on how royalty collection normally works. Details differ by country, and societies change their rules, so treat the list as a guide and check each organisation's current instructions. We never ask for your name, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Last checked:
People find this tool by searching for
(FAQ)
(Keep going)
Every place to register a song, by country, with progress you can print.
Use the toolFind the right performing rights society for where you live.
Use the toolSelf-publishing, admin, co-publishing and full deals, side by side.
Use the toolWe register your catalogue with the societies and collectors that pay, and follow up the gaps this checker finds.
Be honest. If you are not sure, answer No: that is usually where the gap is.
Are your songs on Spotify, Apple Music or other streaming services?
Are you a member of a performing rights society (PRS, ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN…)?
The group that collects when your songs are played.
Have you registered each song with that society?
Joining is not the same as registering songs.
Are your songs registered with the group that collects mechanical royalties?
The MLC in the US, MCPS in the UK, CMRRA in Canada.
Do you own the recordings, or play on them?
Are your recordings registered for neighbouring rights?
SoundExchange in the US, PPL in the UK, Re:Sound in Canada.
Do you have a publisher, publishing company or administrator registered for your songs?
This is who collects the publisher's half.
Is your music used in YouTube, TikTok or Instagram videos?
Did anyone else help write your songs?
Have you changed your name, country, bank or society since you started?
Income streams covered
0 of 5
This counts how many of the ways you can be paid are set up. It cannot see your actual accounts, so it shows where money could be waiting, not how much.
Performance royalties from radio, TV, streaming, venues and shops are paid only to members. Until you join, money for your songs sits with the society, and after a time it is shared out to others.
Join ASCAP as a songwriter, then register every song.
Every US stream creates a mechanical royalty that streaming services pay to The MLC. Unmatched money is held for a time and then can be shared out to other members.
Join The MLC (free) and add your songs.
Publishing royalties are split into a writer's share and a publisher's share. The writer's share comes to you through your society. The publisher's share is paid only to a registered publisher or administrator, so without one that half often goes unclaimed.
Set up a publishing entity, or use a publishing administrator, and register your songs under it.
When recordings are played on digital radio, SoundExchange collects for the artist and the label. Unregistered artists are paid nothing until they sign up.
Register with SoundExchange as both the artist and the rights owner, if you own the recording.
YouTube and the social platforms pay the publishing side through publishers and administrators. If none is registered for your songs, that income is often not collected.
Register your songs with an administrator that covers YouTube and social video, or ask your distributor whether it offers this.
