Royalty
Payment per use or sale — not a salary
Related
A royalty is money paid to a rights holder per use or sale: mechanical royalties per reproduction, performance royalties per public play, sync royalties per audio-visual licence, master royalties per record sale or stream. It is not a salary but a share that moves with usage.
Keep clear who is paid: writers and publishers receive composition royalties, the master owner (often a label) receives master royalties, performers may have a separate share. The usual mistake is to assume a fixed income per stream — platform, contract, advances and recoupment all shape what actually arrives. When you see a "royalty rate", ask: on what base, after what costs, to whom.
Read deeper → mechanical licence
Sources
- 音乐版税的类型与结算，参通行音乐产业教材与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Royalty"；本文为通识说明，不构成法律意见
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.