When a loop you made ends up in a placed beat, the money reaches you through two separate channels that you have to set up yourself: composition income (performance and mechanical royalties, paid to registered writers and publishers) and master income (producer fees or points, paid through the artist, the label or a collecting society). Nothing is paid automatically because your name is in a chat. It is paid to whoever is registered, with the shares that are registered.
This guide walks through the timeline after the news, in order: what to confirm, what to get signed, how each stream of money actually flows, what you need registered, and the ways loop makers most often lose money. The percentages for how a beat is split between producers are in the loop maker splits guide; this one is about getting paid once the split exists.
Step one: confirm what actually happened
"My loop got placed" can mean a lot of things, and the paperwork depends on which. Before anything else, get these from your collaborator, in writing:
- The artist and the song title, exactly as they will be released
- The label or distributor, and whether it is a release, a sync or a mixtape
- The release date, or the date it is expected
- Which version of the beat was used, so you know it is yours inside it
Placements are often agreed before the song is final. The title, the writers and the shares can all still change, and every one of those changes has to reach every registration.
Step two: get on paper before the release
If you have a signed split sheet from when the beat went out, find it now and send it to the collaborator and, through them, to whoever is registering the song. If you don't have one, this is the moment, because a placement is when people are most willing to sign. For a large deal, a short collaboration agreement or a lawyer is worth it; Ari Herstand's sample split sheet says plainly that it "is NOT a legal document".
What a registration will ask of you is the same short list: your full legal name, the name you are credited under, your PRO and IPI number, and your share. If any of those is missing, the person registering the song cannot attach your money to you.
The composition side: who collects what
The composition pays through two main kinds of income, each collected by a different organisation:
- Performance royalties come from the song being played or streamed publicly. They are collected by performing rights organisations (PROs) such as ASCAP and BMI in the US and PRS for Music in the UK, and paid to writers and to their publishers. Each writer has to belong to a PRO, and each writer's share has to be registered.
- Mechanical royalties come from reproductions, which include streams and downloads. In the US, The MLC collects the digital audio mechanical royalties from streaming and download services. Its own FAQ says the only way to receive those royalties is to register your songs with it, unless you have assigned your registration and collection rights to a publisher or administrator, who then handles it. In the UK, mechanical rights are handled through MCPS, which sits alongside PRS.
Two things from The MLC's own page are worth knowing. Registering with it does not replace registering with a PRO; they are separate systems that pay separate money. And if you and a co-writer each manage your own share, each of you registers your own share separately.
A publishing administrator (Songtrust and BeatStars Publishing are examples) can do the registration work for a fee, and the administrator then collects on your behalf. Herstand's point is the one that matters either way: each songwriter needs to "register their own splits with their publishing entities". Nobody does it for you by default.
The master side: producer fee, points and the letter of direction
The master earns from the recording itself. A producer is paid on it in one of a few ways, and Herstand describes the common ones: a flat fee, usually with some royalties on the backend, and he notes the trade-off: "More money up front, less percentage on the backend." Payments are made to your collaborator under their deal with the artist or label, not to you directly.
That has a consequence for a loop maker: your master share is a share of whatever your collaborator receives, so it only reaches you if the two of you agreed it as a proportion of the production side, in writing.
There is also a collecting-society route for the US digital radio money. SoundExchange generally pays sound recording performance royalties to producers when the featured artist submits a Letter of Direction. Its own FAQ says it "will only pay performance royalties to creative participants" in that case. (The Music Modernization Act added a separate claim route for some recordings made before November 1995, which the Copyright Office page below describes; a new placement is not one of them.) The letter states the percentage the producer is entitled to, and it is not retroactive "unless that is specifically indicated on the LOD". The US Copyright Office describes the same mechanism under the Music Modernization Act. In the UK, PPL's page says only that "in some cases" studio producers are also eligible to receive royalties from PPL, and it has its own claim process, so ask PPL directly rather than assuming the US route applies.
The placement checklist
Work down this list in order. Each step depends on the one before it.
- Get the artist, title, label, release date and beat version in writing.
- Get the signed split sheet or agreement, with both the composition shares and the production-side share, each totalling 100%.
- Check your legal name, PRO and IPI on the split sheet match your PRO membership exactly.
- Join a PRO if you have not. Writers register their works with the PRO they belong to.
- Ask who is registering the song with the PRO, the MLC or an administrator, and ask to see the shares they entered.
- Check the shares match across every registration. A mismatch is the usual reason money is held back.
- Decide who administers your publishing: you, through direct registrations, or an administrator. Do not have two parties registering the same share, since duplicate claims can hold up matching.
- For the master, ask the collaborator to confirm how the producer money is paid (fee, points, or both) and that your proportion of it is on paper.
- Where the artist has a SoundExchange deal, ask whether a Letter of Direction will include the production side.
- Keep copies of everything, and put a reminder in your calendar after the release to check the registrations appear.
A worked example: who collects what
This uses shares, not money. A rapper (the artist) records over a beat built by a collaborator on your loop. You and the collaborator agreed to share the production side equally; the rapper holds the rest of the composition.
- Composition, performance: Your PRO pays you your registered share of the writer's side, and the collaborator's PRO pays theirs. If you have a publisher or administrator, they take their agreed share of what is collected on your behalf.
- Composition, mechanical: The MLC pays the registered owner of your share, which is you or your administrator.
- Master: The label pays the collaborator the producer's fee or points. You receive your agreed share of the production side from the collaborator. If a Letter of Direction names both producers, SoundExchange pays each their stated percentage directly.
Your slice is only as real as each line: where one of them is missing, the money does not arrive.
How long it takes
Do not expect money in the month of the release. PROs pay on published schedules, and income is distributed after it has been collected and matched, so there is a lag between the performance and the payment. The exact gap depends on the PRO, the kind of use and the country, and the schedules change. Read the current payment schedule on your own PRO's site (ASCAP, BMI and PRS each publish one) rather than relying on a number from a blog. For the master side, your collaborator's payment terms decide the timing, and Herstand's sample split sheet ties royalties to recoupment of the producer fee.
Where loop makers lose money
- Never registering. The most common loss, and the easiest to avoid. Unregistered shares are not paid to anyone in your name.
- Unsigned splits. If nothing is written down, the registrant enters what they remember.
- Mismatched registrations. Different shares at your PRO, the MLC and the administrator can delay payment.
- The wrong legal name. Royalties are paid to people, not producer tags.
- No IPI or PRO. Without them you cannot be found in the system.
- A master share left as a number. Agree a proportion of the production side so it survives a change in the deal.
- Assuming the US route elsewhere. The MLC, SoundExchange and the Letter of Direction are US systems. In the UK the equivalents are PRS, MCPS and PPL, with their own rules.
How it works on ColabLoop
ColabLoop does not register anything, collect royalties or check a registration, and it does not set or store your split. What it does is put the details in front of both of you early:
- The first full download in a collaboration room automatically posts both producers' credits and contact details, including legal name, PRO and IPI number where they have filled them in on their account, so the fields a split sheet and a registration ask for are already exchanged.
- When the beat goes out, the collaborator records how, and both producers attest that the loop's owner is on the split. The owner can send it back if it is not right, and the second attestation closes the collaboration.
An attestation is a record of what each of you said and when. The agreement, the signatures and the registrations are still yours. To find loops to build on, browse loops.
Questions producers ask
How do loop makers get paid from placements?
Through the composition and the master. The composition pays performance and mechanical royalties to registered writers and publishers, and the master pays the producers via the label or the artist's Letter of Direction. Both need your shares registered or written down.
Do I need a PRO to collect loop placement royalties?
To collect performance royalties as a writer, yes: they are collected through a PRO such as ASCAP, BMI or PRS. The MLC says registering with it does not replace PRO registration. The PRO guide covers when it is worth it.
Who registers the song when my loop gets placed?
Usually the collaborator or the artist's publisher, but each writer is responsible for their own share. Ask to see the shares that were entered and check they match your split sheet.
How long until I get paid?
It depends on the PRO, the type of use and the country, and the lag can be many months. Your own PRO publishes its payment schedule, so read that rather than guessing.
Sources: Ari Herstand, How do producer and songwriter splits work (Ari's Take); The MLC, Play your part FAQs; SoundExchange, What is a SoundExchange Featured Artist Letter of Direction? and I am a producer, mixer, or engineer for several big artists; U.S. Copyright Office, Allocations for Music Producers; PPL, Eligible studio producers.