Primary sources first (the law, the agencies, the companies' own statements), then the industry estimates, labelled as estimates. If a link dies or a number changes, the AI desk takes the correction.
Library of Congress, "Tin Pan Alley" (Performing Arts Encyclopedia): loc.gov. General history; no specific royalty figures claimed on the page.
U.S. Copyright Office, history of the compulsory mechanical license (Section 115) and the Copyright Act of 1909: copyright.gov. The 2¢ rate held until the 1976 Act's 2.75¢ took effect in 1978.
Each organization's own history page: ascap.com, sesac.com, bmi.com.
Donald Passman, All You Need to Know About the Music Business (the standard reference; chapters on royalty computation, packaging and "breakage" deductions, free goods and reserves). A book, not a link; any library has it.
Sound Recording Amendment of 1971 (Pub. L. 92-140), effective February 15, 1972; pre-1972 recordings brought under federal law by the Music Modernization Act's CLASSICS title (2018): copyright.gov/music-modernization.
Copyright Royalty Board, Phonorecords IV determination (physical and download mechanical rate 12¢ per track or 2.31¢ per minute, with later inflation adjustments): crb.gov.
U.S. Copyright Office, "Federal Copyright Protection for Pre-1972 Sound Recordings" and Section 114 of Title 17 (the performance right is limited to digital transmissions): copyright.gov/title17. Bills: Performance Rights Act (2009), Fair Play Fair Pay Act (2015, 2017), AM-FM Act (2019), American Music Fairness Act (2021, 2023): congress.gov. Broadcasters' position: NAB, Local Radio Freedom Act resolutions.
Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act (1995) and DMCA (1998), Section 114(g): 50% to the copyright owner, 45% to featured artists, 5% to non-featured performers via the AFM & SAG-AFTRA fund. SoundExchange's own explanation: soundexchange.com.
Passman (above); the 75%-of-statutory cap is standard contract language documented there and in the Copyright Office's 2015 report Copyright and the Music Marketplace: copyright.gov/policy/musiclicensingstudy.
RIAA U.S. Sales Database (inflation-adjusted revenue series): riaa.com/u-s-sales-database.
DMCA Section 512 (17 U.S.C. §512); the industry's position in IFPI's Global Music Report ("value gap") and the platforms' position in Google/YouTube public policy statements. Both are arguments and are presented as such on the page.
Spotify's own explanation of how royalties are calculated ("Loud & Clear"): loudandclear.byspotify.com; Spotify launched 2008 (Sweden), US launch July 2011 (Spotify newsroom).
Copyright Royalty Board Web II determination (2007); Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-435) and of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-36): congress.gov. The CRB itself was created by the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004.
Music Modernization Act (Pub. L. 115-264, Oct 11 2018): copyright.gov/music-modernization. The MLC's announcement of the $424,384,787 transferred by DSPs in February 2021 and its unclaimed-royalties pages, including the current total and the planned distribution: themlc.com. Check the live figure and date there; the page's "2027" comes from The MLC's published schedule as read in September 2026.
Copyright Royalty Board, Phonorecords IV (2023–2027) headline rates: crb.gov.
Spotify for Artists, "Modernizing Our Royalty System" (announced November 2023, effective 2024): artists.spotify.com.
Royalty Exchange, "How Much Streaming Platforms Pay Per Stream in 2026" (July 15, 2026; estimates worked back from distributor payouts; Qobuz's audited $0.01873 for its 2024 fiscal year; Apple's "one cent" statement): royaltyexchange.com. Cross-checked against Chartlex and PlaylistSupply 2026 comparisons. These are ESTIMATES; your statement is the truth.
Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, "Justice at Spotify" (2020): weareumaw.org.