SAMPLED#royalties
17 stories
Stories tagged #royalties on Sampled — sound, style, and scenes, all in one place.
How Much Does It Cost to Join ASCAP, BMI or SESAC in 2026?
Membership fees, step-by-step ASCAP sign-up for songwriters, and what businesses pay ASCAP, BMI and SESAC for music licenses in 2026.
How Do Songwriters Get Paid From Streaming?
A plain-English guide to the two sides of every stream, mechanical and performance royalties, who collects them, and the current U.S. rates: 13.1 cents per physical copy or download and 15.3% of streaming revenue in 2026.
How Do You Submit Music to Production Music Libraries?
A step-by-step guide to getting your tracks into production music libraries: what they want, how to prepare files, exclusive vs. non-exclusive deals, and getting paid.
What Happened in the $8 Million AI Streaming Fraud Case, and What Does It Mean for Artists?
Michael Smith got 18 months in prison for using bots to stream AI-generated songs billions of times. Here's what he did, why the sentence matters and how to protect your royalties.
Is Qobuz Now Labeling AI-Generated Music, and What Does It Mean for Artists?
Qobuz began tagging AI-generated albums in its app on September 24 and says 60% of streams on those tracks are fraudulent. Here's how the label works and why independent artists should care.
UMG Is Suing DistroKid Over AI Slop: Does It Put Your Releases at Risk?
Universal sued the biggest independent distributor this week over AI-generated uploads and infringement. Here is what the filing actually says, and what independent artists should do about it.
What Is a Performing Rights Organization and Do You Need One?
PROs collect the money your songs earn when they get played in public. Here is what that covers, what it does not, and how to join.
How Spotify Royalties Work: What a Stream Really Pays
There is no fixed per-stream rate. Here is how the payout pool works, where your money gets split, and how to plan around it.
T-Pain is suing over royalties again — and the paperwork lesson is free
A roughly $500,000 claim against a label he has already sued once. The useful part for you is not the gossip; it is the audit clause.
Free Moves That Actually Make Indie Artists Money
Direct-to-fan sales, home-burned CDs, dubbed tapes, and the royalties you may already be owed — none of it costs a thing to start.
Music producer contract: every clause explained, and the numbers that count as standard
Points, splits, work for hire and the sample clause — a plain-English walk through what actually belongs in a producer agreement before anybody hits record.
Merlin bought a royalty accounting company — and that says more than most catalogue deals
The independent licensing body and an investment partner completed their acquisition of Curve Royalty Systems. Accounting infrastructure is the quiet fight in independent music.
Music metadata explained: ISRC, UPC, ISWC and the credits that get you paid
Identifiers and credits decide whether your royalties find you. A practical walkthrough of ISRC, UPC, ISWC and release credits, using the free public standards and databases you can check yourself.
Half the year is gone: the mid-year checklist every producer should run on July 1
Royalties, splits, expenses, backups, and the boring stuff that costs you money in April if you skip it now.
ASCAP vs BMI vs SESAC: Which PRO Should a Songwriter Actually Join in 2026
A no-spin breakdown of America's three performing rights organizations — what they cost, who they pay best, and the one question that decides it for most writers.
The AI music reckoning hits a new phase: a session-musicians' union sues the majors, France weighs flipping the burden of proof, and the unsealing of Suno and Udio's "training number"
The American Federation of Musicians is suing UMG and Warner over their Suno and Udio settlements. A federal judge has unsealed Udio's training data. 227 rights organizations are pressing France to legally presume AI firms trained on their work. And Deezer says 70% of "unofficial" 2026 World Cup anthems on its platform are AI. The fight over generative music just got a lot more concrete.
ISRCs on demand, The MLC re-upped, and a São Paulo verdict on fake streams: a June 2026 brief on the music industry’s back office
Three recent press releases — from IFPI and SoundExchange, from The MLC, and from IFPI’s anti-fraud Operation Authêntica — together describe how recordings get identified, how songwriters get paid, and how courts are treating paid streaming manipulation in 2026.