AGICOA

Name: Tools 4 Music
Address: US
Price range: Free

Switzerland • GenevaFounded 1984

AGICOA is a non-profit organization that negotiates, collects, and distributes royalties for secondary rights in audiovisual works (e.g., cable and similar distributions) for entitled rights holders.

Contact & HQ

Headquarters

Geneva, Switzerland

Territories

Worldwide

Royalty Rates

No royalty rate information available.

Affiliated Societies

CISAC
AGICOA Alliance

AGICOA (Association of International Collective Management of Audiovisual Works) is a Geneva-based non-profit organization that negotiates, collects, and distributes royalties for secondary rights in audiovisual works. It represents approximately 20,000 rightsholders worldwide and manages over 1.76 million declared works and rights across more than 306 TV channels.

How AGICOA Works

AGICOA operates through two types of mandates. The General Mandate is mandatory and covers retransmission of audiovisual works in television programs intended for public reception. The Voluntary Mandate is discretionary and covers time-shifted viewing services (catch-up TV, pause and resume, network PVR) and in-home or out-of-home linear services.

The organization uses its proprietary IRRIS (International Rights Royalties Information System) technology to match broadcasts against its database. In 2024, AGICOA matched 1.6 million works and rights against more than 2.5 million broadcasts. In 2025, AGICOA deployed an AI-driven identification tool developed in collaboration with IDIAP (a Swiss research institute affiliated with EPFL) that achieved a fivefold increase in processing speed and a 20% improvement in auto-identification rates.

Registration with AGICOA is free. The organization deducts management fees from collected royalties before payment. In 2026, the General Mandate fee is 8.93%, the Voluntary Mandate fee is 7%, and the NPVR fee is 10%. These fees are reviewed and approved annually by the General Assembly.

Real-World Example

In 2024, AGICOA collected EUR 161.4 million in total royalties, ranking among the top three collection years in its history. For 2025, AGICOA put a record-breaking EUR 171.1 million into distribution, with EUR 156.2 million in first distributions and EUR 14.9 million in final distributions.

A producer who registers their audiovisual work with AGICOA in 2025 would have their work matched against broadcast data across 306+ TV channels. If their work was broadcast in Germany, France, and Spain in 2025, AGICOA would collect royalties from operators in those countries and distribute payment in 2026, deducting the 8.93% management fee from the total amount.

Rightsholders must declare their works within three years following the broadcast year. For example, to claim royalties for works broadcast in 2026, declarations must be submitted before 31 December 2029.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

AGICOA handles secondary rights for audiovisual producers, not musical performance royalties. However, if you produce music for film, television, or streaming content, your audiovisual works may qualify for secondary rights royalties through AGICOA. Many independent producers leave this money uncollected because they are unaware that retransmission and time-shifted viewing generate separate royalty streams beyond their initial licensing deals.

If you produce audiovisual content that airs on television in any of the countries where AGICOA operates, you should register your works. One single registration can ensure worldwide coverage through AGICOA's network of partner organizations. The three-year claim window means you can still register works that were broadcast up to three years ago.

For songwriters and composers, AGICOA does not replace your PRO membership. It covers a different rights category. You still need a performing rights organization for your performance royalties and a mechanical society for your mechanical royalties. Learn more in our complete guide to all the music royalties you should be collecting.