Neighbouring Rights Explained: Radio Royalties for Recordings
- 09 Nov 2026
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When your recording is played on the radio, in a shop or on TV, the songwriters are paid through their performing rights organisation. The people who made the recording, the performers and the owner of the master, can be paid too. These payments are called neighbouring rights, and many independent artists leave them uncollected.
Who earns neighbouring rights
- The master owner: the person or label that owns the recording. If you release independently, this is usually you.
- Performers: featured artists and session musicians who played on the recording.
You can be both. A self-released artist who sings and plays on their own track can collect as master owner and as performer.
Where the money comes from
- Radio and TV broadcasts.
- Public places such as bars, gyms, shops and restaurants.
- In the US, non-interactive digital radio such as internet radio and satellite radio, collected by SoundExchange.
On-demand streaming of your master is paid through your distributor, not through neighbouring rights. In the US, AM/FM radio pays nothing to performers or master owners, only to songwriters; SoundExchange covers digital radio only.
Which organisations collect them
- UK: PPL
- US: SoundExchange (for digital performance)
- Germany: GVL. France: SCPP and SPPF for producers, ADAMI and SPEDIDAM for performers. Canada: Re:Sound, directly or through a member organisation such as ACTRA RACS or Artisti for performers and CONNECT or SOPROQ for labels.
Register with the organisation in your country. Many have agreements to collect from other countries, and specialist neighbouring rights agencies can collect worldwide for a commission.
What you need to register
- Each recording's ISRC. This is the main key for matching plays to recordings.
- The recording title, artist, release date and label name.
- The line-up: who performed on the track and in what role.
- Proof that you own the master, for example as the independent releasing artist.
Keep a simple spreadsheet of your ISRCs and line-ups for every release. You can find the ISRCs for your SpaceMedia releases in your release details. See ISRC and UPC codes explained.
Is it worth it for a small artist?
If your music gets any radio play, including community, student and online radio, or is played in public spaces, yes. Registration is usually free or low cost, and it pays for every recording you release from then on. Radio play is also something you can work towards; read how to get your music on the radio.
Collect every stream of income your music earns: master royalties through SpaceMedia, publishing through your PRO and neighbouring rights through your recording rights organisation.
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Yes. In many cases you can transfer existing releases to SpaceMedia while keeping them live, as long as you submit the same metadata, audio, artwork, UPC, and ISRCs where available.
Keep the old release live until the SpaceMedia delivery is live and matched correctly. Removing the old version too early can interrupt availability or make stores treat the transfer as a new release instead of matching it to the existing one.