Aotearoa recording artists who perform on a recording but may not be Master Rights Holders of that recording may, subject to certain conditions, elect to register in the Direct-to-Recording Artist Scheme, renamed in 2025 as the Aotearoa Registered Artists Scheme.
Artists are eligible to register if they:
- Are a featured (i.e. principal or named) artist on a recording (not a session or contract musician, producer or DJ), either as a soloist or part of a band
- Are a New Zealand citizen or resident; and
- Have performed on a recording which is the subject of a Master Rights Agreement with Recorded Music NZ
Provided the relevant Master Rights Holder has granted the requisite permission to Recorded Music NZ, and the registration form is completed (see below), we can then distribute up to 50% of the income from recordings directly to the recording artist(s) via their nominated claimant.
The default position is that Recorded Music NZ pays 50% of revenues from a recording to the registered recording artist(s) and 50% to the Master Rights Holders (i.e. the owner or licensee of copyright). Recording Artists need to declare one “nominated claimant” to receive their share. The percentage split can be varied by agreement between the recording artist and Master Rights Holder but this must be notified to Recorded Music NZ via an amended distribution payment percentage form which must be completed, signed and agreed on by both the Recording Artist and Master Rights Holder.
When do I need to register?
A Recording Artists’ repertoire or tracks, need to be registered with us by 30 April each year to be included in the annual royalty distribution.
To register, please download and complete the Recording Artist Registration Form
NB: If you are not the Master Rights Holder of your recordings, the Artist Registration form will also need to be signed by the relevant Master Rights Holder, who may be your record label. Additionally, if a third party (e.g. a manager) is acting on your behalf as the nominated claimant this must also be signed by both the Recording Artist and Master Rights Holder.
If a Recording Artist chooses not to register, then all income received by Recorded Music NZ will be paid to the relevant Master Rights Holder. The Master Rights Holder may then agree separately to share the income with the recording artist – but this would be outside the scope of Recorded Music NZ’s activities.
What if you own your recordings?
If you are both the recording artist and the Master Rights Holder, then you would receive 100% of the income payable. If this is the case you will need to complete, sign and return the Recorded Music NZ Master Rights Agreement acceptance form
As the owner of your sound recordings, once you complete, sign and return the Master Rights Agreement acceptance form you will also have the option to elect to become an independent shareholder in Recorded Music NZ. More information on this is included here
What happens next?
Once your registration has been received your account will be created and a login issued. You can then maintain your account/recording details and manage any royalty distributions accordingly.
If you are an existing Registrant please log-in using your registered email address and password. If you have forgotten or wish to reset your password, please enter your email address and click reset password
Performers’ Rights on Sound Recordings
With respect to recordings made on or after 30 December 2018, the Copyright Act grants certain rights to performers. Performers are entitled to give or withhold their consent when recordings they have performed on are:
- Copied;
- Communicated to the public; or
- Issued to the public as copies.
Performers can assign their rights to a third party by agreement in writing, or they can give a consent that covers specific recordings, a category of recordings, or recordings generally.
New Zealand law does not give performers a right to remuneration or payment in respect of their performances. As a result, Recorded Music NZ does not collect on behalf of, or make payments to, performers on the basis of performers’ rights.
Eligible performers are entitled to register for the Direct to Recording Artist Scheme under which performers can receive up to 50% of the revenues collected on behalf of Master Rights Holders.
This is a Recorded Music NZ contractual arrangement with Master Rights Holders that recognises and rewards local content and artists, and not a consequence of the law.
For more information about performers’ rights see HERE