And so we meet again…
I’m registered with a website that publishes my music to different digital distribution sites. Today I got an e-mail from them in partnership with, well, I’m just going to have to assume Satan.
It’s the law: If your music sells over non-terrestrial radio (Internet radio stations, XM/Sirius webcasters, Internet Radio and digital cable/satellite television music services like Music Choice and Muzak), you are owed money, and they have to pay. The money is held for you at a government-sanctioned non-profit company called SoundExchange (find them at www.soundexchange.com). But you can’t get your money if you don’t register with them!
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve written about SoundExchange before. Once about how they helped to kill webcasting, and once about how they collect money for artists who don’t even like them—and get to keep the money collected for artists who don’t register with them.
And now one of the people I depend on to distribute my music is sending out messages on their behalf. Yay.
And I love how SoundExchange has gone from being an non-incorporated subsidiary of the RIAA to being a “government-sanctioned non-profit company.” Hey! Maybe that means they’re playing fair, now. Let me check that e-mail again…
Time is of the essence—if recording artists or their heirs do not come forward and register with SoundExchange soon, they may forfeit their rights to all or a portion of their royalties.
YES. Consistency can be gloriously painful.