Neighboring Rights

While Performance Royalties for musical compositions go to songwriters and publishers, Neighboring Rights are a separate stream of income specifically for the performers (e.g., the recording artist, session musicians) and the owners of the Master Recording (e.g., the record label). These royalties are generated when a sound recording is publicly performed or broadcast, such as on terrestrial radio, satellite radio, internet radio, or in public venues. Unlike composition performance royalties, which are collected by PROs, neighboring rights are typically collected by specific collection societies (e.g., SoundExchange in the U.S.).

The concept of neighboring rights varies significantly by country. In some territories, they are robust and apply to all forms of public performance, while in others, they are more limited or non-existent for certain uses (e.g., terrestrial radio in the U.S. does not pay neighboring rights to sound recording owners). For artists and labels, understanding and registering with the appropriate neighboring rights organizations is essential to collect all due income from the public use of their Master Recordings, complementing the income from Mechanical Royalties and Performance Royalties for compositions.

When your song is played on Pandora (an internet radio service), both a performance royalty for the composition (paid to the songwriter/publisher) and a neighboring right royalty for the sound recording (paid to the artist/label) are generated. SoundExchange collects the latter in the U.S.

melabel's Music Analytics can help you track the performance of your Master Recordings, and understanding Neighboring Rights is crucial for ensuring you register with the correct collection societies to maximize your Royalty income from public performances.