Frequently Asked Questions

There are four main royalty streams for a recorded song:

Master recording royalties are paid by distributors (DistroKid, TuneCore, etc.) based on streams and downloads. This is the money most independent artists are familiar with.

Mechanical royalties are created every time a composition is reproduced, including every single stream on Spotify or Apple Music. These are collected by organizations like The MLC in the US.

Performance royalties are collected by PROs (ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN, etc.) when a song is played on radio, TV, or in public venues like restaurants and stores.

Neighboring rights royalties pay performers and recording owners for public and broadcast use of their recordings. These are collected by organizations like SoundExchange (US) and PPL (UK).

Each stream flows through a different collection society, which is why registering with the right organizations matters. If you only have a distributor, you are likely only collecting one of these four streams.

A recorded song creates two separate copyrights, and each one generates its own royalties.

The master recording copyright covers the actual recording and belongs to whoever paid for the session, usually the artist or their label. Distributor payments from DistroKid, TuneCore, and similar services cover master royalties.

The composition copyright covers the underlying song: the melody, lyrics, and arrangement. It belongs to the songwriter(s). Publishing royalties from the composition side are collected by PROs, mechanical licensing bodies like The MLC, and publishers.

These two streams are completely independent. Having a distributor does not mean your publishing royalties are being collected. Many independent artists only collect the master side and leave the composition side on the table.

When you upload a CSV from your distributor, WavCash reads every line and matches tracks to your catalog using ISRCs.

It then compares your actual earnings against estimates based on stream counts and published per-stream rates. Any track where the actual payout is significantly different from the expected amount gets flagged.

This helps you spot missing money, underpayments, or tracks that may not be properly set up with your distributor.

Publisher statements contain composition royalties: mechanical royalties from streaming, performance royalties collected by PROs, and YouTube composition revenue.

These are publishing royalties, completely separate from your distributor payments. There is no overlap between the two. WavCash matches them to your catalog by ISRC and adds them to your total earnings. Publishing earnings show up as a separate line in your dashboard so you can see exactly how much you are earning from each side.

When earnings are distributed through a WavCash split agreement, the smart contract divides the deposited amount according to each contributor's percentage and sends each share directly to their wallet.

The exact amount each person receives is recorded on the blockchain. There is no estimation involved: what the contract sends is what you get.

Some distributors collect a portion of mechanical royalties on behalf of the master recording owner as part of their standard agreement. The WavCash split contract covers these: any mechanical royalties collected by the distributor are sent through the split along with the rest of the distributor proceeds.

However, composition-only royalties from collection societies, such as the writer's performance share or publisher's share, are not covered by the split agreement. Contributors collect those on their own through their PRO and publisher.

In short: everything your distributor pays out goes through the split. Everything your PRO or publisher pays out goes directly to you.

No. If a split agreement is active for a track and distributions have been made, your earnings for that track come from the split payouts sent to your wallet.

The split creator already received the full distributor payment and deposited it into the contract, which then paid out your share. If you also uploaded your own distributor CSV showing the same track, WavCash would ignore those lines to avoid counting the same money twice.

Your dashboard will show your split payout as your master earnings for that track.

Just your share. As the split creator, you receive the distributor payment, then deposit it into the split contract. The contract pays each contributor their percentage, including you.

Your earnings for that track are your split payout (your percentage of the total), not the full distributor payment. WavCash reads the exact amounts from the blockchain, so your dashboard shows what you actually received after the split.

Yes, and they should. PRO performance royalties, SoundExchange digital performance royalties, and neighboring rights are completely separate from the master recording split.

Each contributor should register with their own PRO and relevant collection societies to collect their writer's share and performer's share. The split agreement only covers master recording distribution and any mechanicals the distributor collects.

Important: do not set up separate master distribution with your distributor for a track that already has a split agreement. The split contract handles that. But always register separately for your publishing and performance royalties.

That is expected and correct. PROs track ownership percentages per writer. When you register a song, you declare your ownership share (for example, 50% if you co-wrote it). Each contributor registers with their own PRO and claims their own percentage.

Registering does not mean claiming 100%. It means telling the PRO what share is yours so they can pay you the right amount. All co-writers should register the same work with their respective PROs.

WavCash combines three data sources per track to give you one accurate total.

If a track has an active split agreement and distributions have been made, your master earnings for that track come from the exact amounts sent to your wallet onchain. Any distributor CSV data for the same track is excluded to avoid counting the same money twice, since the split creator already deposited those distributor proceeds into the contract.

If a track has no split, master earnings come from your uploaded distributor statements.

Publishing earnings from publisher statements are always added on top, since they represent a completely separate royalty stream that never overlaps with distributor or split payments.

If no actual data or split data exist for a track, WavCash falls back to estimates based on stream counts and per-stream rates. The dashboard shows whether your earnings are verified from real data or estimated.

Different collection societies have different time limits for holding unclaimed royalties.

SoundExchange holds unclaimed royalties for 3 years. After that, the money is redistributed to other registered members and cannot be recovered by the original rights holder. This means if your music has been playing on US digital radio or webcasting and you haven't registered, you could be losing money permanently.

PPL in the UK holds unclaimed royalties for 6 years before they become unclaimable.

Register with collection societies as soon as your music is released.

Yes. Each collection society covers a different type of royalty, and no single organization collects everything.

For full US coverage, you need at minimum: a PRO like ASCAP or BMI (performance royalties), The MLC (streaming mechanical royalties), and SoundExchange (digital performance royalties from radio and webcasting).

For full South Africa coverage: SAMRO (performance), CAPASSO (mechanical), and SAMPRA (neighboring rights).

The Reclaim audit in your WavCash dashboard analyzes your specific situation and tells you exactly which societies you need.

An IPI number (Interested Party Information) is a universal identifier for songwriters and publishers. It's a 9 to 11 digit number assigned when you join your first collection society.

Once you have an IPI number, share it with every subsequent society you register with. This helps them match your works across databases and ensures you get paid correctly.

You don't need an IPI number to start registering. You'll receive one after your first CMO approves your membership.

Yes. ASCAP, BMI, The MLC, and SoundExchange all accept international members. If your music is streamed or played in the US, you have royalties to collect regardless of where you live.

The main requirement for non-US members is completing a W-8BEN tax form. Without it, 30% of your royalties will be withheld. The W-8BEN expires at the end of the third calendar year after signing, so you'll need to renew it periodically.

Registration with all four organizations is free (except BMI, which charges $75 for writers).

When you create a split agreement in WavCash with the SoundExchange option enabled, we generate a Letter of Direction (Exhibit A) as part of your contract.

This letter instructs SoundExchange to pay each contributor's share of digital performance royalties directly to them. Instead of one person receiving the full payout and manually splitting it afterwards, SoundExchange handles the distribution automatically.

This is especially valuable for producers and featured artists who want transparent, automatic payments without accounting delays or trust issues.

Both are US PROs (performing rights organizations) that collect performance royalties when your music is played on radio, TV, in public venues, or streamed.

Key differences: ASCAP writer membership is free, while BMI charges $75. ASCAP does not deduct any fee from foreign royalties, while BMI takes 3.6% from international collections. ASCAP membership terms are 1 year, while BMI locks you in for 2 years.

For non-US songwriters, ASCAP is generally the better choice due to the free membership and no foreign royalty deduction. Both are legitimate and widely used. You can only join one US PRO at a time.

Reclaim is a guided self-registration tool that helps you collect royalties you may be leaving on the table.

It figures out which collection societies you should be registered with based on your country and catalog, prepares your registration package using data already in your WavCash profile (name, tracks, ISRCs), and gives you step-by-step instructions for submitting through each society's own website or channel. WavCash prepares everything, you review and submit.

The audit feature also looks at your uploaded statements to find gaps. For example, if your publisher is collecting from BMI on your behalf and taking a cut, Reclaim will suggest registering directly with BMI to keep the full amount.

When a composition earns royalties, the total is split 50/50 between the writer's share and the publisher's share.

PROs like ASCAP and BMI pay the writer's share directly to registered songwriters. The publisher's share goes to whoever is registered as the publisher for that work.

If you do not have a publisher and are not registered as your own publisher, that 50% either goes uncollected or gets held by the society with no clear path to you.

As an independent songwriter, you can register as your own publisher and collect both halves, receiving 100% of your composition royalties instead of just 50%.

With ASCAP, writer membership is free and publisher affiliation is also free. With BMI, writer membership is free and publisher registration requires a one-time $150 fee.

In both cases, you choose a publishing entity name. This can be anything you want followed by "Publishing" or "Music" (for example, "Sunrise Publishing").

Register as a publisher through the society's website, then register the same works under your publisher entity that you already registered as a writer. This links both the writer's share and the publisher's share to you.

The Reclaim registration wizard walks you through this process step by step for societies that support self-publishing.

No. You can only be a member of one US performing rights organization at a time. Choose either ASCAP or BMI, not both.

If you are already registered with one and want to switch, you need to resign from your current PRO first and wait for the resignation to take effect before joining the other. This typically takes effect at the end of your current membership term.

Outside the US, the same rule applies: one PRO per territory.

At minimum, every songwriter and recording artist should be registered with three types of organizations:

SoundExchange: free, collects US digital radio royalties for artists worldwide. If your music has ever played on Pandora, SiriusXM, or internet radio in the US, you have money waiting.

The MLC: free, collects US streaming mechanical royalties for songwriters worldwide. Every Spotify and Apple Music stream in the US creates a mechanical royalty that The MLC collects.

A PRO in your home country: ASCAP or BMI in the US, SOCAN in Canada, PRS in the UK, MCSN in Nigeria, SAMRO in South Africa, etc. This collects your writer's performance royalties.

PPL in the UK is also worth registering with since it collects neighboring rights royalties for performers worldwide and is free.

The Reclaim audit looks at your specific situation and tells you exactly which societies you need based on your country, catalog, and existing registrations.

When your song plays on the radio in France but you are registered with ASCAP in the US, SACEM in France collects the royalty and sends it to ASCAP through a reciprocal agreement. This works for performance royalties through the CISAC network of 228 societies across 119 countries.

However, the system has gaps: data matching failures, delays of 12 to 24 months, and some smaller societies with limited reciprocal agreements.

For digital performance royalties (SoundExchange) and streaming mechanicals (The MLC), these are US-based organizations open to international registration directly. You do not need to go through a local intermediary for these. Register directly and collect without the delay.

WavCash charges a flat 2.5% settlement fee on each split distribution.

For royalties collected through Reclaim, there is an additional 5% commission on payouts.

When you withdraw your earnings, there is a separate payout processing fee charged by our payment partner, not by WavCash. The exact amount depends on your chosen payout method and region.

USDC payouts have the lowest processing cost.

Bank transfers and local payment methods are slightly higher, and vary by region.

You will always see the exact processing fee before you confirm a payout.