royalty collection trends

The Tennessean reports

In its last fiscal year, ASCAP reported annual royalty collections of $863 million, a 10 percent increase over the previous year, while BMI reported $839 million, a 7 percent increase.

Physical copies of albums still account for as much as 85 percent of the $10 billion retail market for music in the U.S.

By law, a songwriter is entitled to 9.1 cents for every song sold, giving him a starting point of $91,000 if an album sells a million copies. A publishing contract eats up half of that, reducing the figure to $45,500. That sum is typically split in half again because many artists won’t cut a track on their album unless they receive a co-writing credit. That money is often used to pay back the initial investment made by a record company. That now leaves the songwriter with $22,750. But included in most standard record deals is a clause that pays co-writers only 75 percent of their congressionally mandated royalties, leaving a grand total of about $17,000 in a songwriter’s pocket.