You upload your song through a distributor, check your dashboard, and assume that is your total income.
But honestly, that is only one part of the money your music generates.
Your music can also earn from:
mall and café play
FM radio
TV channels
Instagram Reels
YouTube Shorts
TikTok usage
YouTube user-generated videos
digital radio
public performances
songwriting royalties
international royalty systems
And most independent artists in India are missing a huge part of this income because they are not properly registered with the right societies.
1. Streaming Royalties
This is the royalty most artists already know.
You earn this when your song streams on:
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube Music
Amazon Music
JioSaavn
Gaana
Wynk
Most distributors already collect this basic streaming revenue automatically.
But this is only the beginning.
2. Content ID & Social Media Royalties
This is another major income source many artists ignore.
When your music is used in:
YouTube videos
YouTube Shorts
Instagram Reels
Facebook videos
TikTok videos
user-generated content
your music can generate Content ID and social media royalties.
DireNote Media’s 360 Collection explanation specifically mentions revenue from:
YouTube Content ID
Instagram Reels
Facebook
TikTok
social media rights systems
So even if another creator uses your song in their video, your music may still generate revenue.
A lot of artists upload songs to streaming platforms but completely ignore social media monetization.
3. PPL Royalties (Master Recording Royalties)
When your MASTER RECORDING plays publicly, royalties can be generated.
This includes:
shopping malls
cafés
restaurants
gyms
clubs
hotels
retail stores
FM radio
TV channels
events
So if your actual sound recording is being played publicly, organizations like Phonographic Performance Limited may collect royalties from those businesses and usages.
PPL’s own guide says it collects royalties from radio, TV, public places, and events where music is played publicly.
A lot of artists never register properly for this.
Which means money generated from public usage may never reach them.
4. IPRS Royalties (Lyrics & Composition Royalties)
Now this is where many artists get confused.
If:
your lyrics are used
your composition is used
or your song is publicly performed
then Indian Performing Right Society comes into the picture.
IPRS mainly handles:
songwriter royalties
composition royalties
publishing royalties
Indian mechanical royalties
public performance royalties related to lyrics/composition
Their own guide explains that IPRS collects both public performance and mechanical royalties.
So:
if the MASTER recording plays publicly, PPL-type royalties may apply
if the LYRICS or COMPOSITION are involved, IPRS royalties may also apply
Many independent artists completely miss this difference.
5. SoundExchange Royalties
Another royalty most Indian artists ignore is non-interactive digital radio royalties.
This is different from Spotify.
Non-interactive means listeners cannot freely choose every song on demand.
Examples:
Pandora
SiriusXM
internet radio
digital radio stations
SoundExchange collects royalties from these services. Their guide clearly says they do not collect from Spotify or Apple Music, but from digital radio and non-interactive streaming platforms.
A lot of artists are earning here without even realizing it.
6. MLC Royalties
If your music streams in the United States, another organization becomes important:
The Mechanical Licensing Collective
The MLC collects US digital mechanical royalties from streaming platforms.
Most Indian artists are not even registered there.
Which means US mechanical royalties often remain unclaimed.
The Real Problem
The royalty system is fragmented.
Artists often need:
separate registrations
multiple memberships
metadata management
publishing setup
rights registrations
international accounts
And honestly, most artists:
do not understand the process
do not know where to register
do not have time
or simply ignore it
DNM’s 360 Collection page itself says many artists may only be collecting around 30-40% of their total possible earnings.
The rest stays uncollected.
What DNM Is Trying To Solve
This is exactly why DNM built its 360 Collection system.
Instead of artists manually trying to understand:
PPL
IPRS
SoundExchange
MLC
Content ID systems
public performance systems
publishing systems
neighboring rights systems
the idea is to simplify collection in one ecosystem.
According to DireNote Media’s own explanation, the system focuses on collecting:
streaming royalties
Content ID revenue
social media revenue
radio royalties
TV royalties
mall and café performance royalties
songwriter royalties
publishing royalties
international royalties
The goal is simple:
Artists should focus on making music instead of spending months understanding royalty paperwork.
And honestly, this is one of the biggest problems independent artists face today, so we thought let's solve it :)
