AUTODIA (Collective Management Organization of Music Authors and Rightholders, Greece)

AUTODIA (Collective Management Organization of Music Authors and Rightholders) is the certified Greek collective management organization that collects and distributes royalties for composers, songwriters, authors, and music publishers in Greece. Licensed by the Greek Ministry of Culture since 2003, AUTODIA became Greece's only functioning music CMO after the 2018 collapse of AEPI (the former Hellenic Collecting Authors Society) and is now a full CISAC member.

How AUTODIA Works

AUTODIA is a non-profit organization owned and controlled by its members (creators, songwriters, and their representatives). It collects royalties from three main sources: public performance (radio, television, venues, restaurants, retail), mechanical reproduction (physical media and digital copies), and the internet (streaming, downloads, online broadcasting). It also collects the reasonable fee for private copying.

The organization issues public performance licenses that allow businesses to use its entire represented repertoire without restrictions. License fees are distributed to members based on usage data collected from broadcasters, venues, and digital platforms.

AUTODIA replaced AEPI after CISAC suspended AEPI in June 2017 and expelled it in 2018 due to severe operational failures and transparency issues. Since then, AUTODIA has signed reciprocal agreements with multiple international societies (including GEMA, SACEM, PRS for Music, and others) to manage both domestic and foreign repertoire in the Greek market. As of 2025, AUTODIA distributed approximately 11.4 million euros in gross royalties in the first half of the year alone, a 9.9% increase over 2024.

In July 2026, AUTODIA announced a new era of growth driven by cutting-edge technology and a new social program for music creators, including a Members' Assistance Fund, healthcare, and occupational pension schemes.

Real-World Example

A composer in Athens registers 20 songs with AUTODIA. A Greek radio station plays 8 of those songs in a quarter, a streaming platform reports 100,000 streams, and five Athens bars hold AUTODIA blanket licenses for background music. AUTODIA collects from all three sources and distributes royalties to the composer based on logged airplay, streaming reports, and venue usage data.

Before AUTODIA took over, AEPI's collapse meant many Greek composers received no royalties at all for years. A songwriter whose works were regularly played on Greek radio saw payments stop entirely when AEPI failed. After joining AUTODIA and registering their catalog, that same songwriter began receiving quarterly distributions again, with AUTODIA collecting approximately 16.2 million euros in total during 2023 alone.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are a Greek composer, songwriter, or publisher, AUTODIA is your only option for collective royalty collection in Greece. AEPI no longer exists. Joining AUTODIA is the only way to receive performance and mechanical royalties for your works played on Greek radio, television, in venues, or on streaming platforms.

If you were previously an AEPI member, you need to register separately with AUTODIA. Your AEPI membership and registrations do not transfer automatically. Contact AUTODIA to begin the registration process and re-register your catalog.

For non-Greek artists, AUTODIA matters because it collects royalties for your works when they are performed in Greece. Your home PRO (ASCAP, BMI, PRS for Music, GEMA, etc.) has a reciprocal agreement with AUTODIA and will collect from Greece on your behalf. Ensure your works are registered with your home PRO so they can claim from AUTODIA.

Territory Covered

AUTODIA collects royalties across all of Greece. The organization is based in Athens at 3 Korai Street and also maintains an office in Thessaloniki. As Greece's only functioning music CMO, AUTODIA represents both the domestic Greek repertoire and the entire international repertoire through its representation agreements with 85 CMOs worldwide. The organization represents a catalog of 28 million musical works.

Membership and Fees

AUTODIA membership is open to composers, lyricists, songwriters, publishers, sub-publishers, and their successors. Prospective members must prove that their works (or their licensor's works) have been subject to use that requires prior licensing or generates rights payable by law. The organization is a non-profit Civil Limited Liability Cooperative owned and controlled by its members. Specific membership fees are not publicly listed on the AUTODIA website. Contact AUTODIA at info@autodia.gr or +30 210 3215278 for current fee information.

Overhead Rate

AUTODIA retains a percentage of collected royalties to cover operating costs. According to its Distribution Rules, the overhead rates are:

• 20% on public performance royalties
• 11% on mechanical reproduction royalties
• The same fees apply to royalties received from affiliated foreign collecting societies

These rates are set by the organization's Distribution Regulation and approved by the General Assembly. The overhead is deducted from gross collections before net royalties are distributed to members.

Royalty Distribution Schedule

AUTODIA distributes royalties twice a year:

• June: First half distribution
• December: Second half distribution

In the first half of 2024, AUTODIA distributed a gross amount of 9,619,635 euros (net: 7,684,446 euros, a 36% increase over the same period in 2023). In the second half of 2023, approximately 10,000,000 euros gross were distributed (net: 8,000,000 euros). For the first half of 2026, AUTODIA distributed over 11 million euros in net royalties, marking a 20% increase.

Reciprocal Agreements

AUTODIA has signed representation agreements with 85 CMOs around the world, including:

• GEMA (Germany)
• SACEM (France)
• PRS for Music (UK)
• ASCAP, BMI (US)

AUTODIA is a certified member of CISAC, GESAC, and BIEM. The organization collects royalties from sister societies in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, and Asia. AUTODIA also collaborates with Mint Digital Services (for streaming royalties from 50+ DSPs including Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Deezer) and The MLC (for online mechanical rights of the Greek repertoire in the USA).

Notable Members

AUTODIA represents a large catalog of Greek and international musical works. Notable represented creators include:

• Giorgos Seferis: Nobel Prize-winning poet and diplomat
• Yiannis Ritsos: One of Greece's most celebrated poets
• Nikos Gatsos: Poet and lyricist, wrote lyrics for many famous Greek songs
• Dionysis Savvopoulos: Singer-songwriter, a leading figure in Greek music since the 1960s
• Mihalis Hatzigiannis: Popular contemporary singer-songwriter
• Stamatis Spanoudakis: Composer known for symphonic and popular music
• Lefteris Papadopoulos: Prolific lyricist with thousands of songs to his name
• Yannis Markopoulos: Composer who blended Greek folk with contemporary music
• Christos Leontis: Composer of popular and art music
• Giannis Haroulis: Contemporary singer-songwriter
• Kostis Maraveyas: Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
• Akis Panou: Laiko composer and songwriter
• Giorgos Zampetas: Composer and bouzouki virtuoso

AUTODIA vs Other Organizations

Videos

Compare AUTODIA with Other PROs

• GEMA - German collective management organization
• SACEM - French society of authors, composers, and publishers
• PRS for Music - UK performing rights society
• SIAE - Italian society of authors and publishers
• Artisjus - Hungarian copyright society
• TONO - Norwegian performing rights society
• ALBAUTOR - Albanian collective management society

Related Resources

• Performing Rights Organizations (PRO) - What a PRO is and how it functions
• Performance Royalties - How performance royalties are generated and collected
• Mechanical Royalties - How mechanical royalties work
• Collective Management Organization (CMO) - How CMOs operate globally
• Copyright - The legal framework behind royalty collection
• AUTODIA Official Website - Visit AUTODIA for membership and licensing
• CISAC 2023 Report on Greece - Background on AUTODIA's growth after AEPI's collapse
• Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator to estimate your digital earnings