Most independent artists in India release music, watch the stream count climb, and never see royalty money that has their name on it sitting uncollected somewhere. That's not a scam or a technicality — it's what happens by default when you release a song without registering with the right bodies first.
In FY2024-25, IPRS collected ₹700 crore in performance rights royalties, a 42% increase over the previous year, driven mainly by growth in streaming collections (Music Ally, June 2025). That money gets distributed to registered songwriters and composers. If you're not registered, your share doesn't disappear — it goes to whoever is.
Key takeaways
- IPRS collected ₹700 crore in performance royalties in FY2024-25, up 42% year-on-year, driven largely by streaming growth (Music Ally, June 2025)
- Streaming royalties (paid by your distributor) and performance/publishing royalties (collected by IPRS) are two entirely separate systems — you need to be registered for both to get paid in full
- PPL India was reinstated as a copyright society by the Government of India in June 2026, with up to 25% of what it collects earmarked for performers via ISAMRA (Music Ally, June 2026)
- Copyright protection begins the moment you record or write your work — you don't need to register for the copyright to be legally valid, but registration gives you strong evidence of ownership if a dispute happens
- Registering with IPRS as a songwriter or composer is the single highest-leverage, lowest-cost step most independent Indian artists skip
Streaming Royalties vs. Performance Royalties: The Difference That Costs Artists Money
These are not the same system, and confusing them is the most common reason artists leave money uncollected. Streaming royalties are what your distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, and similar) pays you directly from Spotify, JioSaavn, and Apple Music plays — this is the royalty most artists already understand and receive.
Performance and publishing royalties are different. They're paid to the songwriter and composer specifically — not the performer — whenever a composition is played publicly: on radio, on TV, in a café, at a live event, or streamed. In India, these are collected by IPRS, the Indian Performing Right Society, a copyright society registered under the Copyright Act (Grootin, 2026).
If you write and perform your own songs, you're owed both. If you only perform someone else's composition, you're owed the streaming/performance royalty as a performer, but not the songwriter's share.
How to Release a Song in India in 2026
How to Register with IPRS as a Songwriter or Composer
Registering as a member with IPRS is how you become eligible to collect your share of performance and publishing royalties whenever your compositions are played publicly (Grootin, 2026). It's a one-time membership process, done through the IPRS member portal, and it applies to every song you write going forward — not just future releases if you re-register per song.
What most artists get backwards: They assume IPRS registration happens automatically when they release music through a distributor. It doesn't. Distributors handle streaming payouts. IPRS registration is a separate, manual step you have to complete yourself — and most independent artists in India never do it.
The practical sequence: register as an author/composer member with IPRS, then register each individual composition once it's released, so IPRS can match plays and public performances back to you specifically.
What PPL India's 2026 Reinstatement Means for Performers
Phonographic Performance Limited India was reinstated as a registered copyright society by the Government of India in June 2026, under Section 33(3) of the Copyright Act (Music Ally, June 2026). PPL handles a different slice of the royalty pie than IPRS — it licenses the sound recording itself (the master), rather than the underlying composition.
Under the current structure, up to 25% of what PPL India collects from public performance of recordings is earmarked for performers via ISAMRA, the body that pays out to session musicians and performers who aren't necessarily the songwriter (Music Ally, June 2026). If you performed on a recording — even one you didn't write — this is the royalty channel that's meant to reach you.
Do You Need to Register Copyright to Get Paid?
No — copyright protection in India begins automatically the moment you fix your original work in a tangible form, whether that's writing lyrics on paper or recording a song in your DAW (SwaLay, 2026). You don't need a registration certificate for the copyright to be legally valid.
What a registration certificate does give you is strong, court-admissible evidence of ownership and the date you created the work — which matters if someone else claims the song, samples it without permission, or you end up in a royalty dispute. It shifts the burden of proof onto whoever is challenging your ownership, rather than onto you.
Your kredl profile is where your credits live — the same evidence trail that helps when a royalty or ownership question comes up. kredl →
How to Register Copyright for Your Song in India
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be signed to a label to collect royalties in India?
No. Independent artists can register directly with IPRS as songwriters or composers and with a distributor for streaming royalties without any label involvement. Being unsigned doesn't disqualify you from either royalty stream — it just means you're responsible for registering yourself instead of a label doing it on your behalf.
How much does it cost to register with IPRS?
IPRS membership for authors and composers is not tied to a large upfront cost — it functions as a one-time membership registration through their official member portal. The far larger cost, in practice, is the royalty income artists lose by never registering at all.
What's the difference between IPRS and PPL India?
IPRS collects royalties for the composition — the underlying song, lyrics, and melody — owed to songwriters and composers. PPL India collects royalties for the sound recording itself, the master, and distributes a portion to performers via ISAMRA. A single song can generate royalties through both systems simultaneously.
Can I collect royalties for songs I released before I registered?
This depends on each society's specific rules and varies by registration timing, so check directly with IPRS and PPL India for retroactive claims. The safer approach is registering before your next release, since ongoing and future royalty collection is straightforward once you're a member — retroactive claims are not guaranteed.
Is copyright registration the same as IPRS registration?
No — they're separate. Copyright registration (with India's Copyright Office) establishes legal proof of ownership over your work. IPRS registration makes you eligible to collect performance and publishing royalties. Most artists benefit from doing both, but they solve different problems.
Building your credits and history publicly — through kredl — is part of the same ownership trail that protects your royalties. Join kredl free →
Royalties in India aren't hard to collect once you understand which system owes you what. The artists who lose the most money aren't victims of a broken system — they're the ones who never registered for the one that was already waiting to pay them.
Sources
- India's performance royalties grew by 42% in the last year — Music Ally, June 2025, retrieved 2026-07-29
- Indian performance rights organisation PPL reinstated as a copyright society — Music Ally, June 2026, retrieved 2026-07-29
- How to Collect Your Publishing (Songwriting) Royalties in India — Grootin, 2026, retrieved 2026-07-29
- Copyright Registration in India 2026: The Complete Guide for Independent Musicians — SwaLay, 2026, retrieved 2026-07-29