The two copyrights, and the two pots of money
The composition is the song itself: melody and lyrics as intellectual property. It's owned by the writers, and usually administered by a music publisher. The master is one specific recording of that song, typically owned by a label, or by the artist if they released independently.
Each copyright feeds its own pot. Master income flows through record deals and distribution: streaming royalties, physical and download sales, and the master side of sync fees. Publishing income flows through publishers and collecting societies: mechanical royalties, performance royalties, and the publishing side of sync.
One stream on Spotify triggers payments into both pots at once. The service pays the master owner through its label or distributor licence, and pays the songwriters through separate publishing licences. Two different companies, two different statements, two different timescales, for the same play.
The royalty types, one by one
UK royalties sort into four families. Each has its own trigger, its own collector, and its own route to the rights-holder.
- Mechanical royalties: earned when a song is reproduced, which includes every stream and download as well as physical pressing. In the UK these are licensed and collected for writers by MCPS.
- Performance royalties: earned when a song is performed or communicated to the public, which covers radio, TV, venues, shops and streaming. PRS collects these for writers and publishers.
- Neighbouring rights royalties: the performer's and master owner's share of broadcast and public performance income for the recording. PPL collects these in the UK. Featured performers earn them even with no ownership of the master.
- Sync fees: negotiated one-off licences to put music into film, TV, adverts or games. Every sync needs both copyrights cleared, so a fee is agreed on each side.
Who pays whom: the pipeline
Follow one month of activity for a UK artist who writes their own songs. Streaming services pay their licence share to the label or distributor, which accounts to the artist under the record deal after deducting its cut and recouping any unrecouped advance. That is the master pipeline: DSP, then label or distributor, then artist.
The same streams generate publishing income. The services pay under publishing licences, money lands at MCPS and PRS (and their overseas sister societies for foreign plays), the societies pay the publisher and the writer, and the publisher accounts to the writer for its collected share under the publishing deal.
Radio play adds a third route: PRS pays the writer's performance income, and PPL pays the performer and master owner their neighbouring rights shares. None of these pipelines can see the others, which is why a client's income arrives as a stack of unrelated statements on unrelated schedules.
Why the split matters in practice
Advising a client without separating the two pots leads to real errors. A writer who didn't perform on a hit earns publishing but no master royalties. A featured performer who wrote nothing earns master royalties and neighbouring rights but no publishing. The same person can hold different deals, different royalty rates and different recoupment positions in each pot.
The split also drives valuation and deal work. Catalogues are bought and sold pot by pot; a publishing catalogue and a master catalogue over the same songs are different assets with different buyers. When you read any music contract, the first question is always: which copyright is this deal about?
The figures below give a sense of scale, but treat them as orientation, not gospel. Rates move with each licensing round; the structure is what stays put.
Figures referred to
- Rights-holder share of streaming revenueIllustrative
- Roughly two-thirds of service revenue flows to rights-holders across both copyrightsReported DSP licensing norms (trade press) · as of 2025
- Master vs publishing share of a streamIllustrative
- The master side earns roughly 3–4× the publishing side per streamReported label and society rate cards (trade press) · as of 2025
Figures marked Illustrative show the shape of the market, not a quoted rate. The lessons keep the maintained, sourced numbers.
Common questions
What are the main types of music royalty in the UK?
Four families: mechanical royalties (collected by MCPS when a song is reproduced, including streams), performance royalties (collected by PRS when a song is broadcast or performed), neighbouring rights royalties (collected by PPL on the recording for performers and master owners), and negotiated sync fees for use in film, TV, adverts and games.
Does one stream really pay two sets of royalties?
Yes. A single stream pays the master owner through the label or distributor pipeline, and separately pays the songwriters through the publishing pipeline via the collecting societies. The two payments arrive on different statements, often months apart.
Who collects music royalties in the UK?
PRS collects performance royalties for writers and publishers, MCPS collects mechanical royalties, and PPL collects neighbouring rights income for performers and master owners. Labels, distributors and publishers pay the rest through their own accounting.
Learn this properly
The interactive lessons on this topic, with sourced figures and live simulators: