Recording artists make 1/3 of their income from royalties earned through radio airplay of their sound recordings.

Recording artists make 1/3 of their income from royalties earned through radio airplay of their sound recordings.

• A. False
• B. True
• C. Only in the first year
• D. They earn all income from radio

Answer: (A)

The main idea is how royalties are split between the composition (the song) and the recording (the sound recording). When a song gets radio airplay, the performance royalties are paid to the songwriters and publishers for the musical work, not to the singer or the owner of the recording. In the U.S. for traditional over-the-air radio, performers generally don’t receive royalties for radio airplay of their recordings. Royalties tied to the sound recording itself come from other channels (like digital platforms) and, even there, the amount isn’t a fixed one-third and depends on specific arrangements and the platform (e.g., SoundExchange handles digital/ satellite royalties for the recording, separate from the composer’s royalties). So saying recording artists earn one-third of their income from radio airplay of their sound recordings isn’t correct; radio airplay royalties mostly go to the songwriters/publishers, not to the recording artists in the standard terrestrial radio context.

The main idea is how royalties are split between the composition (the song) and the recording (the sound recording). When a song gets radio airplay, the performance royalties are paid to the songwriters and publishers for the musical work, not to the singer or the owner of the recording. In the U.S. for traditional over-the-air radio, performers generally don’t receive royalties for radio airplay of their recordings. Royalties tied to the sound recording itself come from other channels (like digital platforms) and, even there, the amount isn’t a fixed one-third and depends on specific arrangements and the platform (e.g., SoundExchange handles digital/ satellite royalties for the recording, separate from the composer’s royalties). So saying recording artists earn one-third of their income from radio airplay of their sound recordings isn’t correct; radio airplay royalties mostly go to the songwriters/publishers, not to the recording artists in the standard terrestrial radio context.