Asociación Peruana de Autores y Compositores

APDAYC (Asociacion Peruana de Autores y Compositores) is Peru's performing rights organization, founded in 1939 and headquartered in the Miraflores district of Lima. It protects the rights of affiliated authors and composers by licensing public performances of their musical works and distributing the collected royalties. APDAYC also holds the rights to several historic Peruvian record labels including Iempsa, El Virrey, DIN, Disvensa, and Sonoradio.

How APDAYC Works

APDAYC issues blanket licenses to businesses and platforms that play music publicly in Peru, including radio stations, television networks, streaming services, concert venues, restaurants, hotels, and retail establishments. The organization collects licensing fees and distributes them to affiliated composers and publishers based on usage data from broadcast monitoring, live performance reports, and digital streaming data.

Composers register their works with APDAYC by submitting song titles, writer information, publisher details, and ownership splits. Once registered, APDAYC tracks public performances of those works and distributes royalties accordingly. The organization reported approximately 7,800 registered composers as of 2011, with income exceeding 18 million soles domestically and a similar amount from international collections.

As a CISAC member, APDAYC maintains reciprocal agreements with performing rights organizations worldwide. When a Peruvian composer's music is performed in another country, that country's PRO collects the royalties and forwards them to APDAYC for distribution to the composer. The reverse also applies: foreign works performed in Peru generate royalties that APDAYC collects and sends to the respective international PROs.

Real-World Example

A Peruvian composer writes a song that becomes popular on Peruvian radio in 2026. The song receives approximately 500 radio plays per month across major Lima stations, gets added to Spotify editorial playlists generating 200,000 streams from Peruvian users, and is performed live at venues in Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa.

APDAYC collects royalties from the radio stations' broadcasting licenses, from Spotify's streaming license for the Peruvian territory, and from the venues' blanket licenses. The composer receives their share based on the frequency and reach of their song's performances.

If the same song also gets airplay in neighboring countries like Ecuador or Chile, APDAYC's CISAC membership ensures that SAYCE (Ecuador) and SCD (Chile) collect those royalties and forward them to APDAYC. The composer receives both domestic and international royalties through their single APDAYC membership.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are a Peruvian songwriter or composer, joining APDAYC is the only way to collect performance royalties for your works performed publicly in Peru. The organization holds the rights to significant Peruvian musical catalogs through its ownership of historic labels, which means it has established infrastructure for royalty collection and distribution across the country.

Peruvian creators should understand that APDAYC collects performance royalties only. It does not handle mechanical royalties from physical sales or downloads, and it does not collect neighboring rights for master recording performances on digital radio. You need separate organizations for those revenue streams.

For composers whose music crosses borders, APDAYC's CISAC membership provides access to international royalty collection without requiring memberships in multiple countries. Read our guide on all the music royalties you should be collecting to understand the full spectrum of revenue streams available to you. You can also compare PROs using our PRO comparison guide or browse the full PRO directory.

Related Resources

• PRO Directory - Browse performing rights organizations worldwide
• How to Register Music with a PRO - Step-by-step registration guide
• Music Publishing Explained - Complete guide to royalties
• Publishing Royalty Split Calculator - Calculate your splits
• APDAYC Official Website - Register and manage your works