There a numerous areas where songwriters/composers earn publishing royalties and, with the development of new technologies, additional sources of income emerge. Although there has been a global decline in record sales, live music is increasingly popular, while sales of downloads continue to rise.

However, due to the declining CD market, larger publishers can no longer rely on mechanical royalties to the same extent. In turn, this has made competition for synchs fiercer and increased the focus on production music.

Key areas of income are included in this section, but it is worth bearing in mind that as platforms which use music are developed - as has happened with ringtones, downloads and internet radio in recent years - fresh revenue streams will appear.