Do You Earn Royalties for Playing Cover Songs Live?

Live performance royalties follow the songwriter, not the performer. When you cover a song, the royalties for that performance flow to the people who wrote it. Playing “Khe Sanh” brilliantly earns you the gig fee, but the performance royalty belongs to its writers. That’s the whole design: performance royalties exist to pay writers when their works are performed.

• Your originals in the set.Most “cover” gigs sneak in a few originals, and those earn you royalties, but only if the performance is reported with your works in the setlist.
• It keeps the system honest.Setlist reports are how licence fees get distributed to the right writers instead of being spread by estimation. Musicians reporting each other’s covers is what makes the pool accurate for everyone, including you, when someone else covers your song.
• You may be covered both ways. If you write music and also gig covers, being in the habit of reporting means your originals never slip through the cracks.

A Performance Report for a covers gig looks the same as any other: venue, date, performer, and the setlist, listing the actual songs performed, originals and covers alike. Don’t pad or guess the setlist; report what was played. If your set is consistent, saved setlists make repeat reporting fast.

If other acts play your songs live, whether tribute sets, covers at open mics, or a band mate’s side project, those performances can earn you royalties when they’re reported. Your job is simpler: be an APRA AMCOS member, keep your works registered, and report your own shows. For digging your own gig history out of social media, start here.