Yes, you can claim royalties for songs released before you joined a PRO or a publisher, but you are racing against the clock. Most mechanical royalties (from streaming) are held in a “waiting room” for 2 to 3 years before being redistributed to other artists. At Audiobulb, we specialize in “Catalog Harvesting”—submitting your old songs to global databases to catch every cent that hasn’t yet expired.
1. The “Historical Match”: How it Works
When a song is streamed on Spotify or Apple Music, but the songwriter is unknown, the money doesn’t disappear immediately. It enters a holding state.
- Mechanical Royalties (The MLC): In the US, The MLC holds “unmatched” royalties. If you released a song in 2023 but didn’t join a publisher until 2025, those 2023 royalties are likely sitting in a database waiting for a “valid claim.”
- Performance Royalties (ASCAP/BMI): These are trickier. PROs generally only pay for performances that happened after you became a member. However, there are “Survey Years” where they may allow limited retroactive credits if you can prove the performances were logged.
2. The “Black Box” Threat (The Redistribution)
Why is there a rush? Because of the Black Box.
Societies cannot hold “unclaimed” money forever.5 Every territory has its own rules, but the standard cycle is:
- Year 1-2: Money is held in the “Unmatched” pool.
- Year 3: The society makes a final push to find the owner.
- Year 3+: If unclaimed, the money is taken out of the Black Box and distributed to the top-earning members of that society based on market share.
The Harsh Reality: If you wait 5 years to register your songs, your 2020 royalties have likely already been paid out to the Taylor Swifts and Drakes of the world. Once that money is redistributed, it is legally impossible to get back.
3. How Audiobulb “Harvests” Your Back-Catalog
When you join Audiobulb and submit your old catalog, we don’t just register for the future. We initiate a Historical Audit:
- Linking ISRCs to ISWCs: We take your old distributor data and link it to your new publishing registrations. This “wakes up” the stagnant money at The MLC and international societies.
- Retroactive Claims: We file formal “Back Claims” with societies like PRS (UK) or GEMA (Germany), which sometimes allow for up to 3–6 years of retroactive collection for recorded media.
- Data Cleanup: Often, your old royalties are sitting there, but they are “orphaned” because of a typo in your name. We fix the data, which triggers an automatic release of the held funds.
Comparison: DIY vs. Publisher Back-Claims
| Feature | DIY Artist (Solo) | Published Artist (Audiobulb) |
| Mechanical Claims | Manual search on The MLC (US only). | Automated global search. |
| International Reach | Almost impossible to claim alone. | Direct claims in 100+ countries. |
| Historical Window | Limited by your membership date. | Expanded by our corporate status. |
| Success Rate | High risk of missing “Black Box” dates. | Maximum recovery of available funds. |
FAQ: Old Songs & New Royalties
How far back can I actually go?
For Mechanical Royalties (Streaming), the window is usually 2–3 years. For Sync Royalties (TV/Film), if a cue sheet was filed but you weren’t paid, we can often go back even further if the money is still sitting in “Copyright Control.”
What if I was with a different publisher before?
If you had a previous publisher, you can only claim back-royalties for the period after your contract with them ended. However, if they failed to collect your money during their term, we can sometimes help you “audit” those periods to see if there are missing funds they left behind.
Do I get paid for my music on YouTube from 5 years ago?
YouTube’s Content ID system is very effective at retroactive collection. If we apply Content ID to an old video that has millions of views, we can often claim the advertising revenue from the last few years, provided no one else has already claimed it.
Summary
Your old songs are not “dead” assets, they are potential bank accounts that haven’t been opened yet. But the longer you wait, the more likely it is that the music industry will give your money to someone else.
Your Next Step: Do you have a catalog of music that’s been out for 1, 2, or 3 years? Upload your back-catalog to Audiobulb today. Our team will perform a “Historical Audit” to see how much of your “Black Box” money we can rescue before it expires.