Support acts to get paid less at APRA sponsored gigs | Music News

APRA is proposing a new distribution practice for promoted concerts, which would lift the rate of royalties passed on to the headliner, and reduce the cut earned by the support acts.

These performing rights payments are a cornerstone of APRA’s activities. APRA pays royalties from live performances to its members through collections from license fees paid by promoters

In an email to members, seen by The Music Network, the organisation is switching to a new 80/20 split in favour of the headliner, for those concerts in Australia and New Zealand that are licensed by APRA.

The new arrangement has been approved by the APRA board, and will come into effect with the November royalty distribution.

Currently, the split is roughly 66/33 in favour of the headline act vs. support act — although those guidelines aren’t carved in concrete. In scenarios with multiple support acts and various other situations, the splits can shift.

The process for determining the payouts is based on “equal weighting,” where each song performed at a concert receives an equal share of revenue — whether it’s a 60-second power punk track or a 10-minute prog-rock epic.

However, reads a message from APRA to members, the practice has come under question from both local and international headlining artists, their management and societies as it’s plausible (in some circumstances) for the headline act to receive less than 50% of the royalties.

Also, based on the current model, it’s impossible to predict the likely payouts prior to the show.

Reps for APRA point out its system “is inconsistent” with the split applied by international affiliate societies where the “overwhelming majority” of performing right organisations distribute on a basis of 90/10, based on the assumption that the vast majority of punters in the room are there to see the top billed performer, and not the curtain raisers.

It’s good to be the headliner – outside of ANZ, at least.

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Homebrewed is a radio program and podcast dedicated to supporting the Australian Music Industry. Cameron Smith and Eamonn Snow have been presenting Homebrewed since November 2017 and have received excellence awards and the admiration of local bands for their presentation of Homebrewed and their continued support of the Australian music scene. This podcast is designed so you can enjoy conversations with musicians, industry representatives and music media personalities.

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