Why Registering Your Song with a PRO Is Not Enough: Maximizing Your Music Royalties

Introduction

Many independent artists, music producers, and songwriters believe that registering their songs with a Performance Rights Organization (PRO) like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC is all they need to do to collect royalties. However, this is only a small part of the process. To fully maximize your earnings from music, you must register with various pay sources and mechanical rights organizations. Needing to register their songs with many pay sources, many musicians partner with a publishing company to assist in the registration process. Failing to do so can result in lost income and uncollected royalties.

Understanding the Different Types of Royalties

Music generates multiple types of royalties, including:

1. Performance Royalties – Earned when your song is played on radio, TV, streaming services, live performances, or public venues. Collected by PROs.

2. Mechanical Royalties – Generated from physical sales, digital downloads, and streams. Collected by mechanical rights organizations and publishers.

3. Sync Royalties – Paid when your music is used in film, TV, commercials, and video games.

4. Neighboring Rights Royalties – Collected for the performance of recorded music in public places.

While PROs only handle performance royalties, there are other vital revenue streams that require additional registrations.

Where Else You Need to Register Your Music

To ensure you collect all possible earnings, you should register your songs with the following:

1. Mechanical Rights Organizations – Organizations like The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) in the U.S. or MCPS in the UK collect mechanical royalties from digital platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon.

2. YouTube Content ID – Registering with YouTube’s Content ID system allows you to claim revenue when your music is used in YouTube videos.

3. Sync Licensing Agencies – Partnering with sync libraries ensures you receive placements in film, TV, and commercials, earning sync fees and backend royalties.

4. Global Royalty Collection Services – International markets generate additional royalties that may not be collected by your local PRO.

Different countries have different organizations, laws and regulations, and processes to register your songs. This process can become difficult for musicians.

Why You Should Partner with a Publishing Administration Company

Managing registrations across multiple platforms can be time-consuming and complex. This is where a publishing administration company like Elizabeth Music Group (EMG) can help:

1. Global Royalty Collection – EMG ensures your music is properly registered worldwide, collecting royalties you may not even know exist.

2. Mechanical and Performance Royalty Administration – Instead of handling multiple registrations yourself, EMG collects both performance and mechanical royalties for you.

3. Sync Licensing Opportunities – EMG helps pitch your music for film, TV, and commercial placements, increasing revenue potential.

4. Faster and More Accurate Payments – A publishing admin company ensures your earnings reach you without delays or misallocations.

5. Transparency and Reporting – EMG provides detailed royalty reports, so you always know where your income is coming from.

At Elizabeth Music Group, we provide a transparent and artist-friendly publishing administration agreement designed to empower our roster. With this agreement, you retain 100% ownership of your music, ensuring that your creative rights remain fully in your hands. Our role is to handle the collection and administration of your publishing royalties, ensuring you receive all the revenue you're entitled to from global sources. In return for our services, we take only a 15% commission on the publishing royalties we successfully collect on your behalf, allowing you to maximize your earnings while we handle the business side of things.

Conclusion

Simply registering your song with a PRO is not enough to ensure you collect all the royalties you are owed. To maximize your earnings, you must register with mechanical rights organizations, neighboring rights societies, and digital platforms. Partnering with a publishing administration company like Elizabeth Music Group takes the stress out of music registration, ensuring you get paid properly and on time. If you're serious about your career, partnering with professional publishing administration is a must.