SoundExchange announced today that is it has distributed $204.4 million in digital royalty payments to artists and labels in the first two quarters of 2012. In its second quarter alone, the nonprofit PRO distributed $95.8 million, the second highest quarterly distribution in the organization’s history.

SoundExchange has really been on a mission lately to get musicians and labels paid. After a recent partnership with Bandpage, and the releasing of list of unclaimed digital royalties, the organization is taking sizeable measures to raise awareness that people are owed money and people need to get paid. Since inception, SoundExchange has paid out more than $1 billion in digital royalty payouts.
“This quarter’s distribution adds to what is shaping up to be a record breaking year for SoundExchange and reflects the continued growth of digital radio listenership and services,” said SoundExchange president, Michael Huppe. “SoundExchange is proud to be part of this growing revenue stream for the creators of music. We will continue to pursue all efforts to ensure that artist and labels are properly compensated for their critical contributions to these services.”

SoundExchange represents tens of thousands of artists and labels and works with more than 1,800 digital music platforms that rely on the organization for their digital sound recording licensing rights. [Allindstrom]