How to Get Paid When You Play Live: Reporting Your Setlists to PRS
By Written by Peter McVeigh
If you write your own songs and play them live, you may be owed performance royalties, but only if you tell PRS what you played. Here is how setlist reporting works, what to include and the mistakes that cost writers money.
If you write your own songs and play them in public, you may be owed a performance royalty each time. Venues and promoters pay for music licences, and PRS for Music collects that money and passes it on to songwriters.
There is a catch. PRS cannot pay you for a gig it does not know about. For most live performances, you have to report your setlist. This guide covers how it works and how to avoid the mistakes that cost writers money. Rules and payment dates change, so check the PRS website for current details.
What you need first
You must be a PRS member as a writer, and the songs you perform must be registered with PRS. If a song is not registered, there is nothing for the performance to be matched against. Co-writers should be registered with the agreed splits, so the money is divided correctly. You also need the details of the gig: the date, the country and the venue.
Our guides on how to register with PRS for Music and on tunecodes will help you get these in place.
How setlist reporting works
PRS provides an online tool, which you can use from a phone, tablet or computer, to report live performances. In outline, you log in to your PRS account and go to the live performance reporting section, then enter the date of the gig and the country. Choose the venue from the list, and the room if there is more than one. Create the setlist by adding each song you performed, then submit it and check the status to see when it has been processed.
Report soon after the gig, while you still remember what you played. PRS recommends reporting promptly. If you play regularly, build the habit of doing it the same night.
What to put in a setlist
Each song in the setlist needs the writer's name, the title and the length. Two things catch people out. Use the length you performed it for, not the length of the studio recording, so if you played a shorter live version, report the live length. And if you played covers, include them too and list the original writers. They are owed their share, and PRS needs the information to pay them.
List every song you performed, in order, and make sure the titles match how the songs are registered.
How much will you get?
It depends on the gig. Some larger shows and festivals are licensed in a way that allows payment to be worked out for each performance. Smaller venues are often covered by a scheme where money is pooled and shared among the acts who played, rather than calculated song by song. In that case you may receive a small amount for each gig, and the value is in the habit rather than in any one payment.
Where several acts play, headline acts generally receive a larger share than support acts, so a support slot will usually earn less. Do not expect a large payment for a small gig. The reason to report every one is that small amounts add up, and without a setlist there is no payment at all.
When you get paid
PRS pays live royalties on a set schedule through the year. At the time of writing, live payments are made four times a year, in April, July, October and December. Check the PRS site for the current dates.
Gigs abroad can count too. PRS has agreements with sister societies in other countries, which allows overseas performances to be reported and royalties to be paid, so keep a record of international dates.
Keep your own records
Keep a simple log of every gig: date, venue, set order, and whether you have reported it. If a payment looks wrong, or you find you forgot to report a gig, a clear record makes it much easier to put right. A shared spreadsheet or the notes on your phone are enough. Our Setlist Creator is a good place to keep the songs and order for each gig, which makes reporting quicker.
Common mistakes
The common mistakes are not reporting at all because the gig was small, playing songs that are not registered with PRS, and reporting the studio length instead of the live length. Others are leaving covers off the setlist, choosing the wrong venue or not choosing the room, and leaving reporting for months, then forgetting what you played.
What to do next
Check that every song in your live set is registered with PRS and the splits are right. Then report your next gig the same night, and make it a routine after every show. If you are earlier in the process, our guides on getting your first gigs and what to charge for a gig cover the practical side.
To see where live money fits in with everything else you can earn from a song, read our guide on how a stream becomes money.
Disclaimer
This article is general information for independent songwriters, not legal or financial advice. PRS rules, schemes, payment dates and reporting tools change, so check prsformusic.com for current details.