vanblah

That is a very complicated system. It's based on how many times the song is played (ie. how popular the song is) and how much the radio station is worth. The song also has to be in "regular rotation" as opposed to a special slot such as "Locals Only."

To get your song in regular rotation is a nightmare of marketing, PR and MONEY. Payola isn't dead ... it's just called "Promotional Payment" now. But that's an entirely different topic.

Also, radio stations don't actually pay the artists. Artists (the musicians who played the songs) get paid through record sales (mechanicals).

But, radio stations DO pay the composers of those songs by way of a licensing organization (ASCAP, BMI etc.). A composer of a song may or may not be the musicans who played on the record. You have to be a member of one of the licensing orgs to get paid. It's also very important to maintain the publishing rights on your music. If you lose those rights then you don't get royalties on your music. A "slick" producer will come in and help you re-write your songs "to make them stronger" ... then s/he will take most of your publishing rights since they "helped write the song." Guard your publishing rights well.

It gives me a headache just thinking about it. It shouldn't be this complicated.

EDIT: One caveat, I'm NOT a lawyer. If you are at the point that you are going to collect royalties on music you have written then you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD GET A LAWYER.