How Music Royalties Actually Work in India (and Who Gets Paid)

A song has three separate rights — composition, lyrics and the sound recording — and each earns money differently.

The 2012 Copyright Amendment gives lyricists and composers a 50% royalty share that cannot be signed away or waived.

IPRS pays authors and publishers; PPL/RMPL pay labels; ISRA pays the singers who performed the track.

Streaming pays the recording owner via your distributor, but society royalties for composing and writing are a separate cheque.

Indie artists who skip IPRS/ISRA membership leave broadcast, public-performance and streaming author royalties uncollected.