Is your music being played at a concert or festival? Then you’re entitled to a payment. Sabam ensures that you receive what you’re due – and explains how it all works below.
A fair payment for live performances
Whenever music is performed live at a concert or festival, Sabam collects a fee from the event organiser. This fee is intended for all authors, composers and other rightsholders of the works performed. The amount you receive depends on several factors. We’ll walk you through them below.
How does Sabam calculate your payment?
- Artistic budget or income: We base our calculation on whichever is higher: the amount paid to performers or the total ticket and sponsor revenue of the event.
- Free event? You’re still entitled to a payment, based on the artistic budget.
What if there are multiple stages or acts?
Large festivals often feature several stages or programme blocks. In that case, the artistic budget is split per stage or act. Each part is then divided among the works that were performed there.
How are rights divided between the songs?
The payment per stage or performance is divided based on the duration of each work. If we don’t know the exact length, we apply a duration coefficient to ensure a fair split.
What if the organiser doesn’t share any information?
We’ll do our best to collect your rights anyway. But your help matters. By reporting your setlist and usage yourself, you help us pay you faster. The sooner we know your music was played, the sooner you’ll receive your money.
Why is the artistic budget so important?
The artistic budget is the amount reserved by the organiser to pay live performers. It reflects the musical value of the event and forms a fair basis to calculate authors’ rights.
What about co-writers or covers?
Each work’s payment is further divided among all listed co-authors and composers. Playing covers? Sabam ensures that the original rightsholders receive their fair share – even if they’re members of a foreign society.
Important: Always declare who wrote each song correctly. This avoids confusion and ensures everyone gets exactly what they’re entitled to.
Any questions?
Need help with your concert or festival payment? Or want to check whether your usage was correctly reported? Contact us at member@sabam.be. We’ll be happy to assist you.