Originally Posted by Everett Adams
I thought SoundExchange collected for labels and artist only, where PROs collect for writers and publishers.


That is true as a general rule of thumb, but in this digital age rules of thumb are not as reliable as they used to be.

The statuary rates used to be paid by the record labels. So, if an artist self-publish a record on iTunes, CD Baby ect, you need an aggregator in place for the record label, otherwise the streaming mechanicals monies from those indie releases may remain uncollected. In case of self-publishing (by the artist), the artist(s) will have to pay you the statuary rate themselves (streaming mechanicals), as this is the publishers job. So the regular cashflow was record label to publisher to songwriter. With both record label and publisher out of the loop, streaming mechanicals from selfpublished works are then basically down to a transaction between you and the artist.

In that case, SoundExchange can act like an aggregator on behalf of the songwriter, collecting the statuary rate. Other aggregators are companies like Tunecore and many others that are now starting to make inroads to this mrkt.

So Everett, that's my take on answering your question "...but some people don't want to release any CDs but want to put up songs on CD Baby, ITunes, etc. for downloads. How do you license someone for that?"

I may have got it wrong (never trust a source on the Internet), the new digital cashflows seems a bit more complicated because the laws don't keep up with the digital developments. But check out this ressource for more detail on cashflows in the digital domain.

https://www.royaltyexchange.com/learn/music-royalties/