Sony Music Entertainment has sent a letter to signed artists detailing two payment new perks – ‘Real-Time Royalties’ and ‘Cashouts’. The new features will help artists to check and withdraw their earnings and will be available via the company’s Artist Portal in the latter half of the year.

Sony Music has announced two new payment perks for signed artists – ‘Real-Time Royalties’ and ‘Cashouts’. Both will be available via the company’s artist portal.

Sony is rolling out these new features to help keep artists in the loop with their global royalty earnings and account balances as soon as financial data is received from digital distribution services each month.

‘Real-Time Royalties’ can be checked as soon as they hit an artist’s account, rather than having to wait for periodic reporting cycles. Analytics tools within Sony’s Artist Portal will also give artists the ability to interpret their data and earning trends. ‘Cash Out’ gives artists the option to request a withdrawal of their payable balance via the Artist Portal, free from fees and charges.

Sony says these new measures aim to provide greater flexibility and freedoms and allow “artists and royalty participants to view and withdraw earnings faster than ever before”.

This announcement comes after Sony’s streaming revenue for artists reached $2.05 billion in the year leading up to March, marking a huge 15.2% increase on last year.  It is yet to be seen if other labels will follow the new precedent set by Sony Music, however, with the continual expansion of the streaming market it makes sense that signed artists will demand more control and transparency with their royalty shares.