FAQs

Once you’ve submitted your Performance Report, it will show at the bottom of the ‘Submissions Overview’ tab of the Portal/App. The submission date is shown, along with the month in which the royalties will be paid. 

Performance Reports marked as ‘Active’ can still be edited - so if you forgot to add the songs from the encore, you still can!

The ones marked as ‘Processed’ have been locked and are being readied for payment. 

The processing of Performance Reports generally takes about six months from the date of entry to when your royalties are paid out.

During this time:

• the reports are checked for veracity,
• all works performed are matched against the work registrations database to identify the composers,
• the composers are connected to their RMO - be that APRA AMCOS or one of our foreign affiliates (or recognised as “non-members”),
• licence fees collected from live performance venues are divided amongst the number of writers to be paid
• and finally the payment for each writer is paid out in the next upcoming quarterly distribution (February, May, August & November).

If you’ve played at a Promoted Event*, the promoter will ask for your setlist and submit it to APRA AMCOS on your behalf. If the promoter doesn’t ask for your setlist, chances are your show falls into the general live performance category, and you can submit a Performance Report yourself in the App or Writer Portal.  
 
*Promoted Events generally include major festivals, international tours and special events. These events are licensed differently to standard venues (bars, clubs, restaurants, etc). 
  
Instead of going into a live performance royalty pool from venues across Australia who host live music, the licence fee for Promoted Events turns directly into royalties for those performing at the event. If in doubt, submit a Performance Report! If you haven’t been asked to provide a setlist, by the Promoter or by an APRA staff member, please submit a Performance Report for these events. This ensures you are paid for all your performances in Australia and New Zealand.

Are the earnings the same if I play at the corner pub vs a 500-capacity room? 

If you are not performing a Promoted Concert or Event (see above for an explanation), your live performance royalties will be the same if you are playing at a corner pub or a 500-capacity room. 

Let’s explore what determines the live performance royalty amount. 

Each venue (like a bar, club, restaurant, etc) that hosts live music is required by law to purchase a OneMusic licence. 

The cost of the live music licence is based on either the amount the venue pays to musical acts or a percentage of ticket sales.  
All the live music licence fees are collected in a ‘pool’ and the collective amount is distributed across all of the live performance submissions we receive. 

For more information check out our Live Performance distribution information guide. 

Major festivals, tours promoted by a National Event Promoter and other large events are directly distributed, which means the event's setlist(s) help us pay the right royalties to all the songwriters whose works were performed. Make sure you provide the Promoter with the setlist for the tour (this can be one setlist for the entire tour or can be a different setlist for each night). Other larger events and organisations also submit setlist for direct payments such as the State Symphony orchestras. If you are asked for a setlist by a promoter or event organiser, it probably means the event will be directly distributed.

If your setlist information is required by us, you'll get event setlist requests directly in your Writer Portal, App notifications, or in the submissions tab when you login and to your email inbox.

When you get a notification, just follow the prompts to submit your setlist direct.

‘Non-promoted’ shows such as a regular gig at a pub or a show booked directly by the artist. Submit your Performance Report via the app or Writer Portal.

The royalty due to the original songwriters from these events can often be higher than payments from submitting a Performance Report (previously Live Performance Return or ‘LPR’).

If you have performed in a promoted concert, watch out for setlist requests in your Portal, App and email. When you get one, just follow the prompts to submit your setlist.

If a Promoter or event organiser requests that you provide a setlist, please do! They are requesting this so we can distribute the fee directly to the works that you performed. Otherwise, you should submit a Performance Report.

If in doubt, submit a Performance Report!

If you haven’t been asked to provide a setlist, by the Promoter or by an APRA staff member, please submit a Performance Report for these events. This ensures you are paid for all your performances in Australia and New Zealand.

Whenever music is performed in public the songwriter and their publisher may be entitled to a payment or royalty. We need your setlist in order to pay the royalties to the rightsholders whose works were performed at this event. For certain events we collect setlists directly (rather than via a Performance Report) so that we can directly distribute the licence fees. These 'Directly Distributable Events' are paid out at a different rate than other OneMusic licence payments and may attract higher licence fees.

If you have performed at a promoted concert, keep an eye out for setlist requests in via the Writer Portal, Writer App notifications and email. When you get one, just follow the prompts to submit your setlist.

Submit your reports year-round, on-the-go via the Writer Portal or the APRA AMCOS for Music Creators App. Download the app for free from the Apple App store, or from GooglePlay for Android.

We collect licensing fees from venues that hold live performances on their premises. These licence fees are combined into a “distribution pool”. We allocate royalties from the distribution pool to songs performed at licensed venues using information supplied from Performance Reports.

Please do! Overseas Performance Reports are submitted almost exactly the same way as domestic performances. 

Simply log into the app or your Writer Portal online, go to the Submissions tab and when creating a New Submission choose ‘Overseas.’ 

For performances that occurred overseas you’ll need to add a few extra details such as whether the shows were one-offs or part of a tour or festival, the promoter information, along with some evidence of the show (such as ticket stubs, social media promotion, or letters from venues). This is particularly important for classical, jazz and art music performances. 

You can submit a Performance Report. This type of performance is in our normal Performance Report parameters and is treated just like any other gig.

You can submit a regular Performance Report via the app or Writer portal.

No, you only need to submit one Performance Report per band, per show.

You submit these songs just as you would any covers played. You will search by the writers’ names when creating your set list and select those works to add to those you are a writer on. You do not need to get different writers to log in and add their songs – only one member of a band should submit a Performance Report!

Yes! Please include any cover songs in your Performance Reports. This ensures the original writer/s get paid live performance royalties, just as you receive those royalties for your own work.  

See also: Performing covers

Unless you have permission from the copyright owners of the work, you cannot claim and be paid for an arrangement of another person’s work. However, you do need to enter this work on your Performance Reports as being written by the original writers so they will be allocated a royalty for your performance of their song.

You can claim Performance Report royalties for improvisations as long as the musical work is in a material or tangible format - and therefore protected by copyright. The works need to be registered so that you can submit them in your Performance Report.

Yes! There is a Performance Report form specifically designed for DJs to accommodate the large number of tracks they play in a set. Everything else about the Performance Report for DJs form is the same as the standard form. You can still pre-save set lists, add your tracks one-by-one, or easily search for and add works by other artists.

See also: How to get paid as a dance and electronic writer

While live performances in public venues in Australia and New Zealand are claimable under the Performance Report system, there are several important exceptions to note.

You cannot claim:

• Private functions: Performances at private functions such as weddings and private parties (even if held in public venues) or nursing homes, hospitals etc., are considered to be private performances in accordance with copyright law. As we cannot issue licences for private performances, we cannot distribute royalties to songs performed at private performances.
   
• Performances at worship services: We do not license religious worship services.
   
• Performances broadcast on the radio or television: Live performances broadcast over the radio or television are not considered live performances as they are a 'broadcast'. We distribute royalties for performances that are broadcast under our normal distribution for TV and radio.
   
• Dramatic Performances, ballets, musicals, operas: If your music is performed in a live stage presentation that has a storyline and more than one narrator or character, or if it's in a ballet, it is considered a performance in ‘dramatic context’. If works have been written specifically for operas, musical plays or pantomimes etc., it is considered a performance of “Dramatico-musical Works” (or ‘grand rights’ performances). Live performance royalties generated by performance in a Dramatic Context or of Dramatico-musical Works are not claimable under the Performance Report system.
   
• Busking: Live performances occurring on or after 1 July 2026 in public places such as streets, shopping centres, parks and transport hubs are not claimable under the Performance Report system.
  
  Contact us for more information.

We provide a range of licences for businesses for different kinds of music use. We can only pay a Performance Report royalty for performances at venues that hold an APRA AMCOS licence specific to hosting live performances. These venues pay licence fees that contribute to the Performance Report “distribution pool”.

The standard claim period for Performance Reports is limited to one year from the date of the performance. It may be extended to up to three years from the date of the performance, where additional evidence (e.g: copies of material advertising the performance, ticket, posters and letters from the venue) is provided in support of the claim.

The extended three-year retrospective claim period is not open to new members. A new member may only claim retrospective performances for the 12 months immediately preceding their date of application.

The App and Writer Portal automatically sets the performance dates you are eligible to claim.

Contact us for more information.

Performance Reports are paid quarterly in February, May, August, November.