The Background
Anyone who has a part to play in writing a song automatically shares part of the copyright ownership of that musical work (unless agreed otherwise). This means that whenever the song is ‘exploited’ (used) in any way, for example in a public performance, songwriters are entitled to some of the revenue generated.
Performing Rights Organisations (PROs) are responsible for collecting royalties from exploitation of the composition (song) copyright and paying earnings songwriters and publishers. All songwriters should be signed to a PRO in their home country; in the UK, the PRS is our PRO. For more information on the role of PROs, read our article on An Introduction to Performing Rights Organisations (PROs).
It’s important to remember that gig registration and PROs concern compositional or publishing copyright, not the master (recording) copyright. To find out more about the two sides of every song….
What Is Gig Registration?
Gig registration is the process of registering your live performances with a PRO or publisher to receive royalties. This links income from the public performance of registered musical works (songs) with the copyright holders.
For independent artists, in order to register your gigs, you will still be required to report your setlist to a PRO or associated body (eg a publisher) to make sure that you are collecting royalties owed for your live performances.
In the UK, PRS is where you will register your live performances. In order to do this, you will need to go onto your account, select ‘Report Live Performances’ and then either create or re-use a setlist that is in line of the performance you’re reporting.
How Does It Work?
The PRS collects royalties from live gigs by licensing venues, which pay fees based on revenue or set rates, and then distributes money to songwriters/publishers based on reported setlists. The exact amount varies based on the size of the venue and how long the performances were, with smaller venues often paying a fixed fee whereas larger venues require PRS to take a cut of the box office sales to pay rightsholders.
When you register live performances on PRS, the money collected will be distributed between the performers based on set times, role (headline/support act) and other factors.
It’s important to remember that payments can take a few months before you receive them, and this will only work correctly if the individual songs are registered properly (including full writer names, CAE numbers, royalty splits, publishers etc.).
Why Should You Register Your Gigs?
In short, correct gig registration ensures that you’re collecting money owed to songwriters for the performance of work that they have written or composed. With many artists also writing their own music, not registering gigs results in them as well as other co-writers missing out on earnings.
Alongside the immediate financial benefits, registering gigs also include:
- Tracking your live shows and any momentum surrounding particular releases
- Demonstrate an active performance history
- Credit and increase exposure for songwriters involved
- Maintain professional admin standards for your music
Things to remember…
Depending on the terms of the PRO, you may only be able to claim for live performances that you were already signed up to PRO as a songwriter for (so make sure you register as soon as you’ve written your first song and before you play live)
Different venues have different time frames on how long you can register a performance and claim royalties from (usually these can be backdated 2-3 years, but check the specific terms of each venue to be sure)
