RECOVERY GUIDE
Set up SoundExchange completely
SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties for recordings played on internet radio, SiriusXM, and Pandora — roughly a billion dollars a year that distributors do not touch. Most independent artists have never registered, and many who did registered only half their roles. If you own your masters, you are owed two shares: the featured-artist share AND the rights-owner share.
⚠ Unclaimed digital-performance royalties are released after about three years. Registration is free and takes an evening.
01
Register as a Featured Artist
The performer share — 45% of every payout for recordings you’re the featured artist on. Free account; you’ll need your legal info and payment details. register.soundexchange.com →
02
Register as a Rights Owner too (if you own your masters)
The other 50% goes to whoever owns the recording. Self-released means that’s you — but only if you register the role. Skipping this is the most common half-collected setup.
03
Submit your full recording catalog with ISRCs
SoundExchange matches plays by ISRC. Pull the codes from your distributor dashboard (DistroKid → Mixes, CD Baby → Releases, TuneCore → My Music) and submit every recording, including features and old releases.
04
Search the unclaimed lists for every name you’ve used
Stage names, misspellings, band names, collaborations. The scanner’s report page walks all four lists with your name variants pre-copied.
05
Mark it done on your royalty map
Once both roles are registered and the catalog is in, flip the SoundExchange row on the royalty map to “registered” so the rest of the hub knows this pipe is connected.