When do I get paid royalties?
APRA pays domestic royalties every three months and processes overseas royalties monthly.
AMCOS processes royalties quarterly—within 60 days of the end of each calendar quarter, usually just before the 60th day. All amounts over $10 are paid.
Who gets paid for music covers on YouTube?
YouTube has a Content ID system to scan and identify copyright material. This system includes audio and audio-visual fingerprinting technology, as well as melody recognition for cover songs. The first two types of fingerprinting technologies are far more developed and accurate in identifying sound recordings and visual material (such as in films and TV programs). Melody recognition technology is less advanced and often cannot identify the large quantity of cover songs on YouTube.
Copyright owners can still claim their work manually. If a cover song went viral, it would be up to the copyright owner or music publishers to lodge a claim with YouTube.
Will I get paid for international radio or TV broadcasts of my song?
We do monitor overseas TV and radio broadcasts, as well as chart information. However if you know your music has been used overseas, you should complete an overseas broadcast notification form so we can contact the society and make sure you’re paid.
Where does the money from licences go?
For every dollar we collect, about 85 cents goes straight back to songwriters, composers and publishers as royalties. The remainder is used to administer these royalties.
As a music rights management organisation, after costs are covered the rest of the money is distributed (paid) to music creators. Our expense-to-revenue ratio compares very favourably to affiliated organisations providing the same service overseas.
What are Performance Reports?
If you play live at pubs, clubs, cafes, or other live music venues in Australia and New Zealand, you can get royalties for these performances by submitting a Performance Report.
Just tell us what songs you've performed in which venues, and you could be paid for playing your original music live. Please make sure you also tell us about any covers you perform so the original songwriters can get paid too.
You can submit your Performance Reports on-the-go via the APRA AMCOS for Music Creators App or in the Writer Portal. Download the app for free from the Apple App store, or from GooglePlay for Android.
Can I earn royalties from digital downloads and streamed music?
Yes. Remember to register your works.
Digital royalties are paid out in our quarterly distributions. Writer members do not need to do any reporting, just register your works! However, adding ISRCs to your work registrations does assist us greatly.
We have licence agreements in place with most legal digital service providers (eg: Spotify, Apple Music). Traditionally, we would expect royalties to be paid out 6 months after streaming or download in Australia or New Zealand - depending on the reporting and processing lead times. Overseas royalties do take longer, as they must first be processed by our international affiliate societies. This can take 12-24 months, depending on the territory.
The music industry is full of jargon. Use our plain-English glossary to understand what the more obscure terms mean.