SoundExchange Announces $11 Billion Distribution Milestone: ‘Reflective of a Healthy Digital Music Ecosystem’

SoundExchange has announced $11 billion in cumulative distributions. Photo Credit: SoundExchange

Less than one year after revealing $10 billion in cumulative distributions, SoundExchange says it’s topped $11 billion in total payouts since 2003. SoundExchange, the entity tasked with collecting and distributing royalties for the use of recordings on non-interactive digital services, just recently unveiled this latest milestone via a brief release.

For reference, SoundExchange towards the beginning of 2024 indicated that it had distributed over $1 billion during 2023, up from about $959 million in 2022. Bearing in mind this growth – and, on the other hand, reports that Universal Music Group is pushing SoundExchange aside to capitalize on Pandora royalty-calculation changes – the $12 billion milestone will presumably arrive within the next year or so.

Bringing the focus back to the present, SoundExchange said it’d hit the $11 billion mark with its 174th distribution earlier this month. Addressing the development in a statement, SoundExchange president and CEO Michael Huppe made clear his ongoing goal of pushing for “fair and equitable compensation for the use of” artists’ works.

“We continue to be driven every day by the guiding principle of putting more money into the hands of creators and rights holders,” said the 17-year SoundExchange exec Huppe. “The continuing growth in royalty distributions to a billion dollars a year is reflective of a healthy digital music ecosystem, but it’s not something we take for granted.

“Our dedication to the community of creators we serve is unshakable, and we will continue to advocate tirelessly for artists to receive fair and equitable compensation for the use of their work on all platforms,” concluded the former RIAA higher-up.Closer to 2024’s beginning, SoundExchange, which remains embroiled in an unpaid-royalties battle with SiriusXM, finalized a deal with fraud-detection business Beatdapp. Also partnered with UMG and others, Vancouver-headquartered Beatdapp that same month disclosed a $17 million funding round and doubled down on its objective of putting “an end to streaming fraud.”

January further saw SoundExchange’s CMRRA and SX Works ink a partnership agreement with Barbadian CMO COSCAP. That tie-up, SoundExchange relayed at the time, reflected “the growing influence of Caribbean music.”

Lastly, the past couple weeks have delivered “SoundExchange Hall of Fame Awards” to The Black Keys as well as Mariah Carey. “Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have redefined rock music for a generation as The Black Keys, releasing powerful hits like ‘Tighten Up,’ ‘Lonely Boy,’ and ‘Gold on the Ceiling,’” Huppe said of the former act. “We are honored to present The Black Keys with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award.”