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What is Re:Sound

Posted Bydawn

Re:Sound is the Canadian not-for-profit music licensing company dedicated to obtaining fair compensation for artists and record companies for their performance rights.

Businesses are legally required to pay a licensing fee when broadcasting or playing recorded music in public. Re:Sound is authorized under the Copyright Act, to provide music users with the licence(s) they need.  We work with businesses and associations across Canada to explain copyright and ensure they have the required licenses. Examples of businesses we work with include radio stations, restaurants, bars, fitness centres, hotels and more – any business who uses recorded music for their customers to enjoy.  Royalties are fees that music users such as radio stations, music streaming services and businesses must legally pay in order to publicly play sound recordings.

We collect these royalties on behalf of two sets of music creators – Performers including recording artists, background performers, session musicians and Makers or record labels, whose recordings have been broadcast or played in public.   In order to collect any such royalties:

A Performer must register with one of our three member organisations that represent artists (ACTRA RACS, Artisti, or MROC), or directly with Re:Sound.  

A maker or record label must register with one of our two member organisations that represent record labels (CONNECT Music Licensing or SOPROQ), or directly with Re:Sound.  

If a music creator is unsure if they have royalties owing to them, they can search our database for tracks that they have performed on or own. If they see their recording in the database , there may be royalties waiting for them provided the recording is eligible and other criteria are met including signing up and submitting repertoire by the applicable deadline. Even if a recording does not appear in the database, the creator could still be entitled to royalties, so they should ensure that they sign up with one of Re:Sound’s member organisations (ACTRA RACS, Artisti or MROC representing performers and Connect and SOPROQ representing makers), or with Re:Sound directly.

Once registered, a music creator must submit their repertoire information in order to claim royalties. Information on eligibility, member organisations and distribution schedules can be found at www.resound.ca/music-creators/schedule.  Music creators must assign their rights and submit their repertoire prior to the deadlines indicated in order to receive royalties.  

As music use has changed in the recent past, royalties from public performance has grown as a revenue source for creators and has become a more significant portion of their overall compensation.  [Edit – insert Canadian stat]

The Copyright Act of Canada exists to ensure that creators are fairly compensated when their creations are used. While Re:Sound collects royalties on behalf of musicians and record companies, SOCAN collects royalties on behalf of songwriters and music publishers.

In 2017, Re:Sound’s distributable revenues were $45.9M, and we processed 9.7 million rights holder claims.

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