Getting paid to play: why APRA AMCOS Performance Reports are basically free money.
Melbourne muso Lucy Rash calls it kinda free money – turns out APRA AMCOS Performance Reports could score quarterly royalties.
If you’re an original artist gigging around Australia and New Zealand, there’s a decent chance you’re leaving cash on the table without even realising it.
Every time you play your own songs live, whether touring your new album or a quiet Tuesday night at the local, you’re entitled to royalties. But APRA AMCOS can’t pay you what you’re owed unless you tell them what you played, where, and when. That’s where Performance Reports come in.
We chatted to five musicians; Darwin’s Alice Cotton, Perth-based Walmatjarri and Bunuba artist Kayps, LA-based Flo Chase, Sydney looper Danielle Lamb and Melbourne MD Lucy Rash, about why they bother with the admin, and honestly, their answers make a pretty compelling case.
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For Rash, it’s less a chore and more a philosophy.
“My philosophy is to report every single gig and let the system do its job,” she says.
“If you’re consistently submitting Performance Reports, you’re giving yourself the best chance of receiving the royalties you’ve earned. It’s one of those small habits that pays off over time.”
She’s also a fan of the tech behind it all: “I actually really love the APRA AMCOS portal too – it’s really well-designed!”
Cotton agrees it’s barely a blip in her post-gig routine.
“The process is really quick, it takes me about three minutes,” she says. “I just do it as part of my post-gig admin, in the same chunk that I send off invoices and pay bandmates and do a thank-you post on socials.”
So what actually needs to go into a report? Not much, really:
- WHAT songs were played
- WHERE they were played
- WHEN they were played
That’s it. Cover songs count too, and if you’re playing a promoter-run event like a major festival, you’re off the hook; it’s on the promoter to submit the setlist.
There’s no hectic deadline either, the standard claim period is 12 months so you can lodge reports whenever suits, though most artists we spoke to fold it into their post-gig routine. Lamb makes a habit of it every couple of months using the app’s setlist-saving feature.
“APRA AMCOS’ app allows you to save setlists, which makes it even quicker to complete,” she says. “I could do it after each gig on my phone, its that simple.”
And it’s not just about the process being easy; the payoff can genuinely surprise you.
Kayps says registering his full catalogue and lodging his first batch of reports was a turning point.
“I didn’t realise how much I was actually entitled to until that first royalty payment came through,” she says.
“It wasn’t just about the money, it showed me that taking a few minutes to report my performances really does make a difference.”
Royalties land quarterly – February, May, August and November – so submitting sooner rather than later means you’re not waiting around for your cut. And if you’ve been slack about it, don’t panic: reports can usually be claimed retrospectively for up to one year from the date of the performance, and in some cases up to three years with extra evidence like posters or venue letters.
Live streaming counts too. If you’ve streamed an Australian or New Zealand performance on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, there’s a Live Stream Performance Report option built into the app and Writer Portal, as long as your works are registered.
For touring and overseas-based artists like Chase, the system extends further than you’d think.
“There have been a few times where I’ve submitted a batch of overseas shows and then, months later, received a royalty payment I honestly wasn’t expecting,” he says.
“It’s easy to play a run of gigs, move on to the next project, and forget about them, so it’s always a nice surprise when those performances come back around and generate income.”
His advice for anyone still on the fence?
“Don’t leave money on the table.”
Cotton reckons the numbers speak for themselves too.
“If you gig about once a fortnight in a standard venue, you could get around a grand a year, for just three minutes admin each gig,” she says. “As Patti Smith said, it’s kinda free money.”
The consensus among all five artists? Just start.
As Kayps puts it, “Get your catalogue registered properly first, then make it part of your routine to log every show consistently.”
Lamb has similar advice: “Get the APRA AMCOS app, register your songs with APRA AMCOS and start submitting Live Performance Reports.”
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with APRA AMCOS.
