{"id":26110,"date":"2026-11-04T23:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T23:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/keep-a-royalty-claims-ledger-alongside-the-distribution-account\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T23:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T23:36:13","slug":"keep-a-royalty-claims-ledger-alongside-the-distribution-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/keep-a-royalty-claims-ledger-alongside-the-distribution-account\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep a Royalty Claims Ledger Alongside the Distribution Account"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian master owners have until September 1 of the fourth year after a royalty year to claim Re:Sound radio royalties; performers have until the sixth year.<\/a> Those clocks belong in a catalogue record that survives changes to a distributor account. A delivery record tells a label where a recording was sent. It does not, by itself, show who has filed each royalty claim or when a claim expires.<\/p>\n

Separate delivery from claims<\/h2>\n

A distributor can assign an International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) to a recording, but Dutch radio royalties still require a separate repertoire claim with Sena<\/a>. The identifier helps describe the recording. The claim tells the royalty administrator who seeks payment for it. Treating those as one completed task leaves a gap in the catalogue\u2019s records.<\/p>\n

The gap becomes harder to see when one person performs several jobs. A self-releasing artist may need two Sena accounts<\/a>, reflecting claims that should be tracked separately even when the artist controls the release. The useful question for each recording is therefore specific: which claim has been made, in which capacity, and against which version? Sena\u2019s identification process includes version-level audio matching<\/a>, so a catalogue entry that stops at a release title cannot answer every matching question.<\/p>\n

Keep the delivery confirmation, ISRC and society claim status in different fields. That makes an empty claim field visible. It also gives whoever administers the catalogue a way to check the recording against the society\u2019s records without assuming that store availability proves a royalty claim exists.<\/p>\n

Give each claimant a clock<\/h2>\n

Re:Sound applies different Canadian claim windows to master owners and performers<\/a>. A single reminder attached to a recording cannot represent both positions accurately. Record the royalty year and the claimant\u2019s role, then calculate the relevant deadline for that role. The master owner\u2019s September 1 deadline falls in the fourth year after the royalty year; the performer\u2019s window extends to the sixth year.<\/p>\n

That distinction matters when a label reviews an older catalogue. A recording can have a completed master-owner claim while its performer record still needs attention, or the reverse. The review should establish the status of each claim before the applicable window closes. Sena also has quarterly payments and missing-claim windows<\/a>, giving a Dutch catalogue another reason to record claim dates and review unresolved matches rather than relying on a distributor\u2019s release history.<\/p>\n

For a practical ledger, use one row per recording and version, with linked entries for each claimant. The fields should answer questions that a delivery dashboard alone cannot settle:<\/p>\n