Royalty collection and your data: what you need to know
In light of recent discussions around data and royalty collection, we want to address the areas that are central to our members' livelihood.
The data and processes that deliver royalties are at the heart of our operations and we continue to invest and innovate to get you paid faster, more accurately and efficiently.
Music has never reached more people. But the digital world that made that possible also involves an ever-growing and elaborate web of rights, platforms and territories for songwriters, composers and publishers to navigate.
We hear the frustration. Managing this multi-layered landscape, and maximising what comes back to members, is work we invest in every day.
APRA AMCOS receives almost 13,000 works registrations a day from members and our international affiliates. Music usage data from the many different music users we license locally and around the world extends into the billions of lines of data.
In 2025, with the help of our worldwide affiliates, APRA AMCOS collected over $98.8m in revenue for the use of APRA and AMCOS members’ music overseas, up 14.8% from the previous year. And due to improved ingestion and matching technologies, we were in fact able to distribute to APRA and AMCOS’ members total international royalties of $117.5m for that same period.
Our licensing partners span over 70 countries, covering everything from audio streaming services, broadcast television and radio, to live performances, retail shops and workplaces. The scale is vast, and so is the responsibility.
We are always investing in the technology and people needed to ensure royalties reach members quickly and accurately. As announced in our Year in Review, investment in data processing has delivered a three-fold increase in the speed of our international distributions, placing us among the fastest-paying music rights organisations in the world.
We are equally committed to the careful stewardship of what members have earned. That means continually working to reduce our cost-to-revenue ratio, so that more money flows directly to music creators, not administration.
Performance tracking, data processing, royalty distributions and access requests for that data do require significant resourcing, and we are committed to providing those services at the highest level possible within sensible boundaries to maximise royalty distribution to our members.
While the collection of royalties domestically and from our international partners is, of course, in APRA AMCOS’ DNA, we appreciate that sometimes the workings for these processes are not always front and centre. Below is an explainer to help clarify those processes, and important steps you can make to ensure your music is ready to earn.
Let’s start with what is ‘domestic’ versus ‘international’.
Domestic
For musical works (songs and compositions) that are publicly performed and/or reproduced in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and local territories, APRA AMCOS issues licences and collects fees from music users – ranging from major streaming services to your local café – and we distribute royalties to members and international affiliates based on data from a range of sources including music users. Further information is available in our distribution rules and practices.
Domestic royalties are paid quarterly, with major domestic live performances distributed monthly.
International
International royalties are earned when your musical work is used outside of the territories APRA AMCOS administers. To ensure that your music is being licensed in those other countries, we have agreements in place with an extensive international network of affiliates. When those affiliates license the use of your music and allocate those royalties to your works, APRA AMCOS receives that money to pass on to the relevant APRA and AMCOS members.
It’s important to note that our affiliates license music use, collect fees and allocate royalties under their own local laws and distribution rules. Of course, our staff are working diligently, usually alongside and with the help of members, to independently identify music usage occurring in overseas territories. We are in daily communication with our international partners to help identify usage of members’ music and to advocate on behalf of members in the allocation of royalties by those organisations.
Both APRA and AMCOS are members of international bodies that develop common standards for royalty flows, such as CISAC (performing rights) and BIEM (mechanical/reproduction rights).
APRA’s international royalties are distributed to writer members monthly, although royalties from specific overseas territories will vary depending on the data and payments received from our partners.
What can you do to help your music earn?
We focus on ensuring that we collect and process the best data from all various uses with the most up-to-date technology possible.
Even so, in circumstances where performance data has been collected from overseas performances of musical works, we are reliant on the information provided to us by our international affiliates – as well as the works information we receive from members. The cleaner the data, the smoother the process.
While, of course, APRA AMCOS is committed to ensuring music is being properly licensed for use internationally, and that royalties are being appropriately collected and distributed effectively, billions of works are being performed every day and rights management organisations globally are collecting and processing an ever‑increasing volume of data.
To help your works earn in global markets, there are key actions that you can take:
- Register your works with correct shares (song splits) and ISRCs if possible
- Submit Overseas Performance Reports via the App or Portal as soon as you can following a live performance
- Notify us of overseas performances – including jingles and broadcasts
- Notify us if you are manufacturing physical products (vinyl, CD, cassette etc.) with overseas suppliers
- Review tax guidelines for overseas earnings
- Make sure your ABN registration and GST status are up to date with us – here’s how
How can you get access to your own data?
As an APRA or AMCOS member, you are entitled to seek non-confidential data regarding works registrations and music usage. We are committed to transparency and we will act to identify and deliver upon any reasonable request to access that information. For detailed information on how your music earns you can simply log in to the Portal and go to the Earnings Insights tab.
We are also committed to acting in strict accordance with relevant privacy and data legislation, which would enable access to any personal information we hold about you.
Reach out to [email protected] or use the Contact Us form. It goes direct to the Membership team.
