Hi there.
Just want to clarify some thoughts on music royalties collection.
Is it allowed to be registered with both PRO and Songtrust?
And the same question about Soundexchange?
As the type of royalties differs, so various organizations collecting different types of royalties, right?
Won’t be any issues or confusion with collecting royalties worldwide with these three types of organizations?
To use Songtrust you need to be affiliated with a PRO because Songtrust is a publishing administrator and collects royalties on behalf of songwriters from PRO. Soundexchange collects royalties for sound recording copyright owner and featured artist while PRO collects for the songwriter, composer and publisher.
I hope that helps.
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So PRO collecting royalties and Songtrust collecting royalties on behalf of songwriters from PRO.
Won’t they collect the same royalties? Won’t be there any mess? For example: when I register a track with PRS and then upload to Soundmouse there is a point where I have to choose territory and I surely choose Worldwide. So, won’t it be any matches with Songtrust matches?
My PRO told me to stay far away from Songtrust, unless you are a US composer who can’t collect mechanical royalties for yourself.
Songtrust is just a way to earn 15% less. 
They won’t do any extra searches (like manual matches etc. for missed TV ads etc.). They have way too many clients to be able to help you with small personal issues.
If you’re looking for a publishing administrator, it is probably much bettter to find a smaller one that you can have personal contact with, that will actively work to find missing royalties, because their cut will be significant for them.
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…by the way. Please call your PRO on the phone and ask all these questions. That is the only way to get real answers.
Don’t just go by what random people on forums (like me) tell you. 99% here have no idea how any of this stuff works.
The same goes for YouTube. The information you find there is incredibly limited and often completely wrong. People with very little knowledge just post the last thing they read, without understanding anything.
And obviously, videos/information from companies like Songtrust are just marketing. Their business is to take 15% from independent artists, for work you can do yourself.
Content ID is different, because they provide a service you CANNOT do yourself as a small independent composer, which is why it’s worth 20-25%.
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Yes, I wait reply from my PRO.
As jack44 explained, your PRO is the best way to get correct answers and also may share their own experience with Songtrust which will be a lot bigger than anyone here can have.
If you registered your titles at PRS and uploaded your music to SOUNDMOUSE, you have already done your job. Songtrust is a company that does this registration work for people who do not want to do the work themselves, but of course they want a commission for their efforts. I agree with Jackk44’s comments.
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Not always. If you are registered with a PRO other than the very top like BMI, ASCAP, PRS, their answers regarding foreign royalties and new technologies like CID may be very misleading xD I’ve been there.
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Sorry to hear that, was that the Polish PRO?
I think they are all behind on things like Content ID (even the very top, BMI etc.), but I have still gotten answers from my PRO about how things work in other areas that weren’t available anywhere else.
It’s remarkable how little information is out there. On almost any other topic, it’s possible to go to YouTube and get REAL information that is correct. But not this one. Very few videos exist, and unfortunately, the ones that do provide misinformation. Very annoying.
I guess a combination of puzzling together forum posts and direct contact with the PROs would be the best way to go about it then.
…and years of waiting to see how things work out.
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