Global Royalties: How to Collect Internationally

You might be crushing it on Spotify, YouTube, or TikTok from your home studio in Chicago, but did you know your music can be earning royalties in Germany, Japan, or Brazil—right now? Global royalties aren’t just a bonus for touring artists or those on major labels. In 2025, with streaming and sync placements crossing borders instantly, every songwriter, producer, and artist needs to understand how to collect international music income. So, let’s untangle how global PROs, publishing partners, and royalty collection worldwide actually work—and how you can make sure your money doesn’t get lost in translation.

Understanding the Maze: Types of Global Music Royalties

There isn’t just “one” kind of royalty. International music income can come from:

• Performance Royalties: Paid when your music is played in public (radio, streams, TV, live venues, etc.).
• Mechanical Royalties: Earned from reproduction—think streams, downloads, CDs, vinyl, or even international cover versions.
• Sync Royalties: When your tracks are used in film, TV, or ads worldwide.
• Neighboring Rights: For performers and master owners when their sound recordings are broadcast in other countries.

The catch? These royalties are tracked and paid differently in every corner of the globe.

The Role of Global PROs and Collection Societies

What Are PROs and CMOs?

Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) and Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) do the heavy lifting of tracking public performances of songs, collecting fees from broadcasters, venues, and streaming platforms, and distributing royalties. But, no single PRO reaches every territory.

• Examples: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC (US); PRS (UK); GEMA (Germany); SACEM (France); JASRAC (Japan).

How Do They Work Internationally?

PROs often have reciprocal agreements—agreements to represent each other’s members and swap data and money across borders. For example:

• If you’re an ASCAP writer in the US and your song is played on TV in France, SACEM (France’s PRO) collects the royalties, then sends them to ASCAP, who pays you.
• This works in theory, but it’s often slower, less transparent, and some money never finds its way home without extra support.

Publishing Administration: The Key to Worldwide Collection

Here’s where it gets real: Many royalties never get collected because international societies either don’t know how to find you, or your songs aren’t correctly registered. This is where music publishing administrators shine.

• A good admin publisher (like Songtrust, Sentric, or Kobalt’s AWAL) directly registers your songs with as many international PROs and mechanical right societies as possible.
• This means less money stuck in foreign banks, more accurate royalty tracking, and often faster payments.

Think of them as global fixers—filling out paperwork in every country’s language, handling data quirks, and chasing down those hard-to-track international uses.

Navigating Mechanical and Neighboring Rights Collecting

Mechanical Royalties Abroad

Not every country treats mechanicals the same way. In the US, streaming mechanicals are handled by The MLC; in the UK, it’s MCPS; in Germany, GEMA covers both performances and mechanicals. In Japan and South Korea, multiple societies split the job.

Pro tip: If you self-distribute or work outside the US, consider a publisher or agent that covers foreign mechanical collections, or you may miss out on significant international music income.

Neighboring Rights: Money for Master Owners and Performers

Neighboring rights agencies collect when sound recordings are broadcast publicly—think radio, TV, background music in a mall. The US lags here, but in most of Europe (France, Germany, Spain), Latin America, and Asia, this is real money.

• Registering with a global agency (e.g. SoundExchange, PPL, or Re:Sound) means you can claim royalties for both your performance and your recordings—an overlooked income stream for independent musicians.

Practical Steps to Collect Global Royalties

1. Register ALL Your Works, Correctly and Completely

Half the battle is metadata. Incomplete song registrations means your tracks are invisible overseas. Use ISRCs for recordings, ISWCs for compositions, and make sure your publisher, PRO, and distributor details match across databases.

2. Choose Your Collection Partners Wisely

• Use a global publishing admin with a track record in direct registration (not just sub-publishing).
• For neighboring rights, work with an agency that has direct deals in multiple territories.
• Scrutinize your agreements: check for “reciprocal deduction” clauses and double-dipping.

3. Monitor and Audit Your International Income

• Regularly check reports from PROs, publishers, and digital platforms. Look for weird gaps by territory.
• Use tools like Songtrust’s royalty dashboards or SoundExchange’s reporting to spot missing payments.
• If you spot missing income, reach out to your PRO or publisher with specifics—don’t just wait and hope.

4. Consider Direct or Dual Membership

Some territories allow writers and publishers to join their societies directly (or as a “dual member”). This can help if you have significant activity in one country outside your home territory.

Examples:

• European writers with US radio play often join ASCAP or BMI as foreign members.
• Americans with strong followings in Japan might join JASRAC to collect performance royalties at the source.

Hidden Pitfalls and Power Moves

• Unpaid Black Box Royalties: Societies often collect “unmatched” royalties and hold them for a few years before allocating them to their biggest members. The more accurate your registrations, the more you claim.
• Digital Globalization: Streaming platforms report in bulk, but the data can be messy. Direct registrations help cut through the noise.
• Sync and YouTube: PROs are slowest at paying global sync and video royalties. Registering your tracks with YouTube Content ID, Facebook Rights Manager, or working with a sync agent can close these gaps.

Make Your Music Work Globally

Global royalties are real money, and in 2025, ignoring your international income is a missed shot at building a stable, long-term artist income. The process isn’t hands-off, but tools, publishing admins, and careful registration can have your tracks earning around the world even when you’re asleep. Track your works, audit your income by territory, and treat your music business with the same seriousness—no matter the country.

Your music deserves a global stage, but it also deserves global royalties. Get organized, get registered, and don’t settle for less than every dollar your art earns.