Date: January 23, 2026

Category: Music Business / Artist Tips

Happy New Year, creatives. If you write your own music, your potential earnings just went up.

As of this month, the statutory royalty rates for both streaming and physical sales have officially increased. While the percentages might look small on paper, they add up significantly across a catalog—especially if you own your masters and publishing.

Here is the breakdown of what changed on January 1st and how to make sure you actually see that extra money.

1. The Streaming Rate Hike (Phonorecords IV)

For songwriters and publishers, the "headline rate" (the chunk of revenue streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music must pay out) has ticked up again.

• New 2026 Rate: 15.3% of the service's revenue.

• Old 2025 Rate: 15.25%

What this means: The pie is getting slightly bigger. This is part of a graduated increase scheduled to top out at 15.35% next year. It ensures that as streaming giants make more money, songwriters get a guaranteed larger slice.

2. Physical & Download Rates (Inflation Adjustment)

This is the big one for artists selling vinyl, CDs, or digital downloads on Bandcamp. The Copyright Royalty Board has adjusted the mechanical rate for inflation (COLA).

• New 2026 Rate: 13.1 cents per track (or 2.52 cents per minute for songs over 5 mins).

• Old 2025 Rate: 12.7 cents

Why it matters: If you press 500 vinyl records with 10 songs each, the mechanical royalties due to the songwriters just went up. If you are the songwriter, this increases the value of your physical goods.

3. Webcasting Rates (SoundExchange)

For non-interactive streaming (like Pandora, SiriusXM, and web radio), the rates paid to artists and rights holders have also increased under the new 2026-2030 settlement.

• New 2026 Rate: $0.0028 per performance.

• Previous Rate: $0.0025