AWAL does not collect royalties related to the underlying composition (see below) of your recording. Royalties due from the underlying composition are collected by publishers and PROs/CMOs. See Mechanical Royalties to learn more about this type of royalty.
If you are the composer of your recordings as well as the recording artist, then you’ll need to register with a collections society or PRO (varies depending on the territory in which you’re based). Doing so will ensure you’re collecting all royalties due to you for your composition.
Important Note: AWAL do not register your works with these societies on your behalf, therefore the responsibility to register your compositions will lie with you.
In some cases, distributors pay AWAL royalties inclusive of the mechanicals owed to publishers/composers (e.g. US permanent downloads). Unless AWAL has specifically agreed to administer these mechanicals on your behalf, it is your responsibility to license and pay the mechanicals due to composers/publishers (including any co-writers or writers of cover songs) in these instances.
The royalties which are paid with the mechanicals still due are itemised on your monthly CSV statement.
Pro Tip: For more details to do this yourself, check out this article.
It is worth noting each track of recorded music that is distributed has two royalties associated with it:
- Musical Composition: this refers to the underlying song that is being performed, and the copyright owners are those who have written the music and lyrics. This copyright could potentially have multiple owners if multiple people contributed.
- Sound Recording: this refers to the recording itself as a tangible medium that can be played back. The copyright owners are those who performed the recording, those who produced/engineered it, or both. It is common for this copyright to have just one owner, which could be the artist or the label who is releasing the recording.
AWAL will only collect and pay out royalties associated with the Sound Recording from the digital services. These royalties will be accounted to you around the 15th of each month in your statements.