Have you ever wondered who gets what when it comes to an audio royalty. To understand audio royalties it is important to know the difference between recording artists and songwriters who each earn royalties in different ways. The recording artist earns royalties from the sale of his music. For example, an artist can earn royalties from the sale of his compact discs, and internet downloads. Artists do not earn royalties when their music is played in public. This is known as a performance royalty and is received by publishers and songwriters. In some cases a publisher can earn royalties from the sale of the music. At the moment there is only one instance where an artist can earn performance royalties. As a result of the Digital Performance Rights of 1995 an artist can receive payments from music played in digital form such as a webcast. This includes satellite radio and other subscriber services.