Bobby Borg

Music Royalties Explanation Part 6 - International Monies with Bobby Borg

The video explains foreign subpublishing – the mechanism that channels mechanical, performance, sync and print royalties earned outside the United States back to the songwriter’s U.S. publisher. Because foreign territories use mandatory mechanical rights agencies, royalties first go to those agencies, then to the local subpublisher, which deducts its fee and forwards the remainder to the U.S. publisher and writer. Mechanical rates abroad are calculated as a percentage of the published price to dealer (typically 8‑10 %), producing larger pools than the U.S. penny‑rate. Performance royalties are collected by local societies, but U.S. societies only handle performance, not mechanics. Bobby cites Japan’s JazzRrack and the UK’s 9.9 % PPD rate as examples, and stresses that without a subpublisher the money can sit in a “black box” for three to six years before being redistributed pro‑rata to local publishers. He also describes an “at source” clause—20 % fee on foreign earnings—that guarantees artists retain 80 % of overseas income regardless of subpublisher cuts. The takeaway for creators is to negotiate a subpublishing agreement, include at‑source language, and monitor registrations to avoid losing revenue to the black box. Properly managed foreign subpublishing can unlock significantly higher royalties and protect rights across multiple markets.