SoundExchange celebrates two decades of supporting creators through tech-forward digital royalty management
WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 16, 2023 — SoundExchange, the premier music tech organization powering the future of music, is proud to announce the cumulative distribution of $10 billion in digital streaming royalties as the organization celebrates its 20th anniversary of service to the recorded music industry.
SoundExchange passed the $10 billion mark in cumulative direct payments to music creators and rights holders with its 162nd distribution in March. Since its inception in 2003, the organization has played a vital role in the growth of the digital music ecosystem, helping to ensure equitable compensation for recording artists and rights owners in the digital age.
“Crossing the $10 billion threshold and celebrating our 20th anniversary demonstrate our dedication to serving the entire music industry,” said Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange. “Over the past 20 years, we have grown into a global music tech organization distributing around $1 billion annually to a creator community of more than 650,000. I’m incredibly proud of our accomplishments and the team we’ve built and look forward to continued innovation that will power the music industry for many years to come.”
In recognition of the innovation SoundExchange continues to bring to the industry, the company has been named the recipient of the Music Business Association’s inaugural Impact Award for Technological Excellence. Huppe will accept the honor on the company’s behalf at a May 17 awards ceremony during the Music Biz 2023 conference in Nashville.
“SoundExchange is more than just a royalty collection agency. They are a vital partner in the success of the music industry,” said Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots. “Their unwavering commitment to innovation, fairness, and transparency sets them apart from the rest. With SoundExchange, I know that my hard work as an artist is being recognized and rewarded and that my rights are being fiercely protected. Their dedication to the well-being of creators is truly unparalleled, and I am proud to be a part of a community that benefits from their incredible work.”
“SoundExchange has been a game-changer since it was established 20 years ago,” said Pat Monahan, founding member and lead singer of the band Train. “When everything else in the music business is peaks and valleys, we can count on our royalties for digital streaming coming in, and that helps us make business decisions as a band. SoundExchange sticks up for artists and makes at least one part of this industry easier to navigate.”
TWENTY YEARS OF INNOVATION & GROWTH
Borne of the digital age, SoundExchange is a leader in a rapidly transforming industry. The organization was founded in 2003 with a mandate to represent the entire recorded music industry and has a Board of Directors made up of artists, artists representatives, managers, unions, and indie and major labels.
That first year, the company collected nearly $16 million in non-interactive digital streaming royalties. Two decades later, SoundExchange collects and distributes approximately $1 billion in royalties annually on behalf of a global community of more than 650,000 artists and rights owners.
Operating in the largest music market in the world across 3,600 licensees, SoundExchange processes billions of performances every month, constantly honing best-in-class, AI-enabled, and patented matching technology.
Through the development of real-time data processing, SoundExchange is the only collective rights management organization in the world to make regular, monthly payments to artists – with 90% of royalties distributed within 45 days of receipt – far ahead of most industry players that pay out on an annual or quarterly basis. Investments in ever-better technology have made SoundExchange a leader in the creation and adoption of global data standards intended to remove friction from the system.
SoundExchange is also the largest global neighboring rights organization in the world, collecting royalties in more than 50 countries on behalf of the more than 370,000 creators who trust SoundExchange to manage complex international data exchanges regarding their repertoire and collections outside the U.S. SoundExchange alone represents 42% of all global neighboring rights collections.
In recent years, SoundExchange has utilized technology to create products that bridge the gap between sound recording and music publishing, launching SX Works Global Publisher Services. Uniquely positioned to combine non-interactive streaming data via SoundExchange and interactive streaming data via the 2017 acquisition of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), this integrated administration and licensing division works with music publishers to ensure access to accurate musical works and sound recording data.
SoundExchange has continuously advocated for the rights of creators across many platforms – in Congress, at the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board, in the European Union, and, when necessary, in court. The company has also championed worldwide data standards, repertoire philosophies, and business processes that increase transparency and accountability. For the past two decades, SoundExchange has been a driving force in efforts to make the music industry fairer, simpler, and more efficient.
About SoundExchange:
SoundExchange is the premier music tech organization on a mission to power the future of music. It was independently formed in 2003 to build a fairer, simpler, and more efficient music industry through technology, data, and advocacy. The only organization designated by the U.S. government to administer the Section 114 sound recording license, SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of 650,000 music creators and growing. Through proprietary music tech solutions that turn data into accurate revenue, SoundExchange has paid more than $10 billion in distributions to date. For more information, visit soundexchange.com.