Do Rappers Get Paid For Radio Play

An interesting question was emailed to us today asking if rappers get paid for radio play. Interesting because it shows that there are a lot of people out there that don’t know how the back end of things work. Meaning they know that a rap artist gets paid for shows and album sales, but don’t really have an idea of the Multiple Ways Rappers Get Paid.

This article will break down how rappers get paid from radio spins, and even though it is a couple of cents per dollar, it they are playing all around the world, these sense add up.

Related: Do Rappers Get Paid Off Youtube

How Radio Play Works

If a record label wants to get their artists on radio they can not go directly to a radio and pay them to play their artists. This is called Payola and it is Illegal.

Payola simply is the illegal act of payment from the record company to radio stations in exchange for song spins.

This is unfair because record labels have deep pockets and can pay all day for their artists to be on the radio, but it puts the indie artist at a disadvantage because he/she doesn’t have enough funds to compete with the majors.

Radio Payola Loophole

Major record labels had a short run of a loophole in paying payola. This was done by being able to pay a third party or independent record promoters who will then go and “promote” those songs to radio stations. Offering the radio stations “promotion payments,” the independents get the songs that their clients, record companies, want on the playlists of radio stations around the country.

But this didn’t last long and major labels such as Sony, UMG, and Warner Music Group, and also Media Companies such as Clear Channel, CBS Radio and Entercom have all been charged and persecuted for using this loophole. As a result they’ve ended up paying millions of dollars for violating the law!

Getting Played On Radio

When a program director and their staff chooses a song to play the song they will add it to their program playlist. But before they can play it they have to purchase a Performance Rights License from the publisher the artist is signed to. This is because radio play is considered a “Public Performance”.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 states you need to get permission from the copyright holder to ‘perform’ music in public – and a music license grants you this permission.

What radio stations do is purchase a blanket license because it covers playing the songs for a year for one flat fee.

Radio Airplay Royalty Rate

So how much do rappers get paid when their songs are played on the radio? Well it all depends. Royalties are based on the license fees that are collected from the radio stations playing the songs, so royalty payments will vary. The Copyright Board of your country sets what is called a tariff rate that dictates how much the license fee for songs are. You will have to check with your country’s copyright board in order to view and determine what the rate is set at.