HDS ZAMP (Croatian Composers' Society)

HDS ZAMP is the collective management service of the Croatian Composers' Society (Hrvatsko drustvo skladatelja), founded in 1945. It is the only professional collective management organization for musical creators in Croatia, administering and protecting authors' rights for over 15,000 directly represented members and more than 150,000 foreign rights holders through partner societies. In 2025, HDS celebrated its 80th anniversary with record business results across all categories of music usage.

How HDS ZAMP Works

HDS ZAMP collects royalties from several categories of music usage. Public communication accounts for 77.2% of total revenue, including live music events, concerts, background music in venues, and broadcasting. Online revenues from streaming, video-on-demand, and user-generated content platforms reached a record 15% of total revenue in 2025. Revenues from domestic authors abroad account for 5.7%, while mechanical rights from physical sales and related uses maintain approximately 1%.

In 2025, ZAMP collected EUR 32.7 million, an increase of nearly EUR 4 million (13%) from 2024. The organization recorded and processed 46,915 music events in Croatia during the year, averaging 128.5 events per day. This included 11,477 pop music concerts (up 19.25% from 2024) and 2,931 classical music concerts (up 5.58%).

ZAMP added 648 new members in 2025, a record number. Members registered 13,988 new musical works during the year. The organization distributes royalties based on logged usage data from radio and television broadcasts, live performance setlists, streaming reports, and public performance licenses.

HDS ZAMP is a CISAC member and operates reciprocal agreements with copyright societies worldwide. Foreign rights holders whose music is performed in Croatia receive royalties through these partnerships, and Croatian authors receive international royalties when their works are performed abroad.

Membership is open to songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers. Members can register works and manage their rights through ZAMP's online portal.

Real-World Example

A Croatian songwriter registers a pop song with HDS ZAMP. The song receives regular airplay on Croatian radio stations and is performed at 20 concerts during the summer festival season. ZAMP logs the radio plays through its monitoring system and processes the concert setlists submitted by event organizers.

The songwriter receives a distribution based on the frequency of radio airplay and the number of live performances. If the same song is also streamed on Spotify in Croatia, ZAMP collects royalties from the streaming platform through its licensing agreements. The 15% online revenue share in 2025 means streaming income is a growing portion of the distribution pool.

If the songwriter's music is performed in neighboring countries like Slovenia or Serbia, ZAMP's reciprocal agreements with those societies ensure royalties flow back to the Croatian author. The 5.7% international revenue share reflects this cross-border collection.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are a songwriter, composer, or publisher based in Croatia, HDS ZAMP membership is the only way to collect performance royalties for the public use of your musical works. Without registration, you earn nothing from radio airplay, television broadcasts, live performances, or streaming of your compositions.

Register every composition with ZAMP as soon as it is commercially released. Include accurate metadata: title, writers, publishers, and ownership splits. ZAMP processes tens of thousands of music events annually, so accurate registrations directly impact how quickly and completely you get paid.

Croatia's live music scene is growing rapidly. With 46,915 music events recorded in 2025 (up 11.66% from 2024), live performance royalties are a significant income source. Submit setlists for your own concerts and ensure event organizers report performances to ZAMP.

If your music is performed internationally, ZAMP's CISAC membership and bilateral agreements ensure those royalties flow back to you. However, you must register your works with ZAMP first. Unregistered works earn zero royalties regardless of how often they are performed.

Territory Covered

HDS ZAMP administers performing rights, mechanical rights, and online rights for musical works within the territory of Croatia. Through reciprocal agreements with foreign collecting societies, ZAMP also collects royalties for Croatian authors whose works are performed abroad, and distributes foreign royalties to rights holders within Croatia. The organization represents over 150,000 foreign rights holders through its partner society network in addition to its 15,000+ directly represented domestic members.

How to Join and Membership Fees

HDS ZAMP offers two types of membership:

• Regular membership: Open to composers, musicologists, and music writers who meet professional criteria set by the Assembly of Representatives. Regular members participate in the governance of the Croatian Composers' Society. There are approximately 360 regular members.
• Associate membership: Open to any individual or legal entity that holds copyright on a musical work and authorizes HDS ZAMP to protect those rights. This includes composers, arrangers, lyricists, adaptors, their heirs, and music publishers. There are approximately 11,500 associate members.

There is no membership fee to join HDS ZAMP as an associate member. To join, you must submit an application form along with documentation proving your authorship or rights ownership, and sign a power of attorney authorizing ZAMP to manage your performing and mechanical rights. Members can register works and manage their rights through ZAMP's online portal.

Under EU law, rights holders can authorize any collective management organization within the European Union to manage their rights, regardless of nationality or country of residence. You can terminate the authorization with a notice period of up to 6 months, effective at the end of the financial year.

Overhead Rate

In 2024, HDS ZAMP's operating costs amounted to 20.75% of total revenue, a decrease of 1 percentage point from 2023 (21.74%). In addition to operating costs, ZAMP deducts approximately 10% of revenue for cultural and promotional purposes (the HDS fund for culture and promotion of authorship). The net amount available for distribution to rights holders was 72.15% of total revenue in 2024.

The overhead rate varies by revenue category. Concerts carry the lowest overhead at 18%, while HoReCa (hotels, restaurants, catering) and live music venues carry the highest at approximately 24.5%. Revenue from abroad is charged only 10% overhead, as it passes through from sister societies.

Royalty Distribution Schedule

HDS ZAMP makes four royalty payments per year, split across two rights categories:

• April and October: Mechanical rights royalties, digital service royalties, foreign-collected royalties, and private copying levies. April payments cover collections from the second half of the prior year. October payments cover collections from the first half of the current year.
• June and December: Public performance royalties (small rights) and private copying levies. June payments cover collections from the second half of the prior year. December payments cover collections from the first half of the current year.

The minimum payment threshold is EUR 20 net. Amounts below this threshold are carried forward to the next distribution period. In 2024, ZAMP distributed EUR 15.5 million out of a net distributable amount of EUR 20.9 million, with EUR 5.4 million carried as balance and EUR 678,983 unallocated due to missing concert setlists.

Reciprocal Agreements

HDS ZAMP is a member of CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) and BIEM. The organization has bilateral reciprocal agreements with copyright societies worldwide, protecting rights for nearly 3 million foreign authors whose works are performed in Croatia. Croatian authors receive international royalties when their works are performed abroad through these same partnerships.

In 2024, foreign sister societies sent EUR 1.76 million in royalties for Croatian authors. ZAMP also distributed EUR 3.79 million to foreign sister societies for usage of their members' works in Croatia. Major partner societies include GEMA (Germany), SACEM (France), SIAE (Italy), PRS for Music (UK), and others across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa.

Notable Members

• Zlatan Stipišić (Gibonni) - Singer-songwriter and composer, one of Croatia's most commercially successful artists. His song "Cesarica" became a major pop hit, and his album "20th Century Man" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.
• Đelo Jusić Jr. - Composer, arranger, and producer with approximately 500 registered works in the ZAMP database. Composed music for over 2,500 minutes of documentary, animated, and children's films broadcast on national television.
• Duško Mandić - Composer known for television music, including themes for Dora (Croatian Eurovision selection), the quiz show "Potjera," and the animated film "Čudnovate zgode Šegrta Hlapića."
• Ivan Zečić - Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer whose commercial music has been used in over 60 countries. Performs under the artist name ZETZ and won the CMC Festival award for most broadcast song.

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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 differ from performance royalties
• Collective Management Organization (CMO) - How CMOs operate globally
• HDS ZAMP Official Website - Visit HDS ZAMP for membership and licensing information
• Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator to estimate your digital earnings