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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.

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Songwriter — living in Germany

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As a songwriter

Join this society in Germany

Writers generally join one authors' society for a given territory and right. That society collects your writer share from other countries through its agreements with sister societies, so you don't join a second one for the same rights.

GEMA

Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte · Germany

Your home society
Who can join
Songwriters, Publishers
Joining fee
One-off admission fee. Creators €90 + 19% VAT (€107.10). Waived for creators who turn 30 or younger in the year they apply. Publishers €180 + VAT (€214.20).
Yearly fee
Creators €50/year; publishers €100/year. The first publisher edition name is free; each additional one is €100 net.
Processing time
'It usually takes a few weeks' to process an application.
Apply online
Yes. Apply in the GEMA Online Portal. The Deed of Assignment is e-signed and GEMA countersigns digitally.
Members from abroad
No residency rule published. GEMA says you can belong to several music CMOs worldwide if they don't overlap in territories, rights and period of representation.
Who is eligible
  • Open to composers, lyricists of lyrics set to music, music publishers, and their legal successors.
  • Arrangers and lyric translators can join if the arrangement is a personal intellectual creation and they have the original rights holder's authorisation.
  • Membership is individual: a band cannot join; each member who writes must apply. Performers who don't write cannot join (that's GVL).
  • If you only produce or make sound recordings, you cannot become a publisher member.
What to have ready0 of 2 ready
Apply at GEMA ↗
Sources and notes

To start membership this calendar year, your application must reach GEMA by 31 October. Applications from 1 November start on 1 January.

Two forms of membership: associate (außerordentlich), which usually applies first, and full (ordentlich), after 5 years as associate plus a minimum income.

Membership is created by signing the Deed of Assignment, which hands GEMA your exploitation rights to manage as trustee.

Sources — GEMA'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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