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Tell us what you do and where you live. We show which society to join, what it asks for, what it costs and where to apply.

Step 3 · your societies

Performer — living in Germany

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As a performer

Join this society in Germany

Register with your home performers' society. It pays you when the recordings you play or sing on are broadcast or played in public, and it can collect from other countries where it has agreements.

GVL

Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten · Germany

Your home society
Who can join
Performers, Record producers
Joining fee
Free for performers ('free of charge') and for producers ('it's free').
Yearly fee
Not published (GVL says signing the agreement is free and mentions no annual fee)
Processing time
Not published
Apply online
Yes. A step-by-step online form on GVL's site. After review you get access to the my.gvl artist portal (labels get label.gvl).
Members from abroad
GVL's 2016 launch notice says the online form is open to 'national and international artists'. No current residency rule is published.
Who is eligible
  • Performers sign a rights administration agreement (Wahrnehmungsvertrag). You need no evidence of your work at registration, only a valid ID.
  • You cannot sign the agreement only to get proof for Initiative Musik artist funding. GVL says to register if you expect radio or TV broadcasts.
  • Under 18: send a copy of the performer's ID and a parent's or legal guardian's ID. No power of attorney is needed.
  • Producers (labels): sign a rights agreement. Once the documents are complete, GVL allocates a label code.
What to have ready0 of 3 ready
Apply at GVL (performers) ↗
Sources and notes

You must report your participation in each production in my.gvl to get paid, normally within 4 years.

GVL manages statutory remuneration rights only, not interactive streaming (e.g. Spotify, Netflix).

You can be a GEMA member and a GVL rightsholder at the same time. Acting and music are covered by one agreement.

You choose which countries GVL manages your rights in. GVL makes no extra deduction on international payments.

Notice period is normally 6 months to year end, or 3 months to year end when moving to a sister society.

Sources — GVL's own pages, read on 2026-10-06. Fees and rules change: the society's site is the reference.

How we chose these

Your home society comes first: it is the one you join for the rights listed. The joining details come from each society's own website, read on the date shown on its card. Countries we haven't checked yet show the society from our worldwide directory, with a link to its site.

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Why join?

Songwriters

Societies pay the writers registered with them. If you write songs and aren't a member of an authors' society, your writer share of radio, TV, live and streaming plays can't reach you. It sits unidentified until it is claimed, or is shared out to others.

Performers

When a recording you are on is broadcast or played in public, performers are owed a share (neighbouring rights). It is paid through performers' societies, and registering is how it finds you.

Producers and publishers

Master owners collect their share of the same plays through producers' societies. Publishers collect the publisher share of the songs through the authors' society. Both collect through a society membership.

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