SoundExchange
Overview
SoundExchange is the leading organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties to recording artists and rights holders — ensuring creators are paid when their music is streamed or broadcast. Despite billions in royalties flowing through its systems annually, many eligible artists remain unaware of their owed income or how to claim it.
Services
Website
Brief
SoundExchange was faced with a challenge that is common in music tech: the concept of digital performance royalties — income earned when music is played on digital platforms — is technical, nuanced, and often misunderstood. Even when creators are owed thousands of dollars, many never register to collect because the terminology feels opaque or irrelevant to their art.
The brand needed a campaign that would do three things.
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Clarify the value of digital performance royalties
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Remove intimidation from financial language
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Spark action among both emerging and established artists
Transform a complex financial concept into a culturally resonant idea that artists could relate to, and act upon.
Insight & Strategy
We identified one key tension. In creative culture, the word “royalty” more often conjures visions of crowns, red carpets, and celebrity status than it does payment transparency.
That insight became the foundation of the entire creative platform.
Not That Kind of Royalty.
Creative execution
A familiar face for an unfamiliar idea
To bring the idea to life, we partnered with Leslie Odom Jr., an artist with authentic credibility across music, theater, and culture. His presence lent the campaign both authority and relatability, redefining “royalty” from something mythical into something practical, earned, and essential. Rather than a corporate explainer, the work spoke in a creative voice to creators.
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Leslie playfully reframes the notion of royalty
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Real musicians perform throughout the spot
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Clearly explains what digital royalties are, and how artists can claim them
what we made
Deliverables
Hero Campaign Film
A narrative visual that reframes “royalty”
Social Short-Form Edits
Snackable storytelling tailored for artists on the platforms they use
Photography Gallery
A full stills library for organic social content
Royal Teas Interview
A long-form conversation featuring Leslie Odom Jr.
Landing Page
Clear paths to SoundExchange registration and tools
Cross-Platform Messaging
Cultural language balanced with practical steps
Impact
Because the campaign translated a technical subject into accessible language and leveraged a well-known, trusted voice, it achieved several key outcomes:
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Increased awareness of digital performance royalties among a broader cohort of recording artists
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Higher engagement with SoundExchange’s registration and royalty-claiming tools
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Shifted perception of royalties from abstract income to tangible, artist-owned revenue
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Strengthened brand positioning of SoundExchange as artist-centric and education-forward
why it worked
13M+
Impressions
3M+
Video Views
~4M
Social Engagements
Paid Media Performance
01
Cultural Reframing
Transformed an industry term into a universal idea anyone in music could feel.
02
Authentic Voice
Leslie Odom Jr. brought credibility and warmth that a corporate explainer never could.
03
Action-Oriented
Every message pointed back to claiming money owed, prompting artists and rights holders to check for uncollected royalties.
04
Accessible Education
Simplified without oversimplifying. It spoke to the business of music, not just the art.
Testimonial
Lighthouse Creative helped us translate a complex and often misunderstood concept into a message that resonates with artists. “Not That Kind of Royalty” simplifies digital performance royalties without oversimplifying their importance, and does so in a way that feels culturally relevant and artist first. Our mission is to ensure artists are paid what they have earned. Lighthouse Creative understood that this campaign needed to feel empowering, not instructional.
Helen Gaffgan
VP of Brand Marketing, SoundExchange
Outlook
A complex financial concept became a cultural idea artists could act on. The campaign reframed digital performance royalties as something earned and claimable, not abstract or intimidating.
The work is built to keep working, a system of film, social, photography, and education that continues to send artists back to what they are owed.
The LHC team has helped SoundExchange develop its brand identity through physical event collateral. These assets established a mood for the party and allowed the SoundExchange team to focus on event operations. Our skilled production team captured video and photos to be used as marketing materials for SoundExchange.
Team
Heather Freiser Account Lead
Yanina Ovstrosky Project Lead
Rich Tong Design and Art Direction
Guy Cimbalo Copy
Maria Cristina Sega Design