Music Authors' Copyright Protection (MACP)

MACP (Music Authors' Copyright Protection Berhad) is Malaysia's non-profit performing rights organization, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. It administers public performance, broadcasting, communication, and digital streaming rights for composers, lyricists, and music publishers. MACP collaborates with over 77 international affiliated organizations across 200 countries to track, collect, and distribute royalties for over 3 million songwriters worldwide.

How MACP Works

MACP operates under the Malaysia Copyright Act 1987, which grants creators exclusive rights to control how their music is publicly performed, broadcast, and streamed. The organization functions as a collective management body that licenses businesses, broadcast stations, and individuals to use copyrighted music, then distributes the collected fees to rights holders.

MACP issues several types of licenses:

• Business licenses: For live and recorded background music in restaurants, lounges, retail stores, gyms, and other commercial settings. Renewed annually.
• Event licenses: For concerts, carnivals, dinners, weddings, and other live music events.
• Online licenses: For websites, social media, streaming services, downloading services, user-generated content platforms, and over-the-top entertainment services.
• Broadcast licenses: For terrestrial and satellite radio and television stations.

Royalty distributions follow three main cycles each year. General performance royalties (from businesses, TV, and radio) collected January through December are distributed in Quarter 3 of the following year. Concert and major event royalties are distributed quarterly. Digital royalties (streaming, downloads, ringtones) are distributed in Quarter 1 and Quarter 4. MACP does not deduct operating costs from royalties received from affiliated organizations.

The minimum payment threshold is RM100 for MACP members and RM1,000 for affiliated organizations. If accumulated royalties fall below the threshold, payment rolls over to the next distribution cycle. Net distributable royalties are calculated after deducting administrative costs, income tax, and SST from gross revenue, as verified by external auditors.

MACP represents over 3 million songwriters globally through its affiliate network. In 2024, MACP reported a nearly twofold increase in public performance licensing revenue, driven by pent-up demand for major live events following the pandemic. The organization revised its membership criteria in April 2024, reducing the requirement from five works to just one work, making it easier for new creators to join and earn royalties from platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok.

In 2025 and 2026, MACP introduced AI guidelines emphasizing that copyright protection applies only to human-created works. The organization has been proactive in aligning with the Malaysian government's position on AI and copyright, as reinforced by the Communications Minister in March 2026. MACP also faced a Copyright Tribunal decision (Case CTMR2024001) in September 2025 that affirmed its existing standard operating procedures.

Real-World Example

A Malaysian songwriter registers 15 songs with MACP. A Kuala Lumpur radio station plays 8 of those songs in a given year, Spotify reports 300,000 streams of 10 songs, and three Penang restaurants hold annual blanket licenses covering background music. MACP collects royalties from all three sources.

The songwriter receives an annual distribution based on radio airplay logs and streaming usage data. If the same songs are played on radio in Singapore, MACP's affiliate society COMPASS collects those royalties and remits them to MACP, which then distributes them to the songwriter in the next distribution cycle.

A songwriter with 50 songs receiving regular airplay across licensed Malaysian radio stations and streaming platforms might earn anywhere from RM2,000 to RM15,000 annually in performance royalties, depending on the frequency and type of use. Digital royalties from streaming platforms are distributed twice yearly (Q1 and Q4), while radio and general performance royalties are distributed once yearly in Q3.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are a Malaysian songwriter, composer, or publisher, MACP membership is the primary way to collect performance royalties for your works. The 2024 membership criteria change means you only need one registered work to join, lowering the barrier significantly for new creators.

Once registered, submit your song registrations with correct split shares and ISRC codes so your works can be matched to usage data. MACP tracks music from radio, television, streaming platforms, live venues, and businesses playing background music. Without MACP, you would need to individually license every entity that plays your music, which is not practical.

For non-Malaysian artists, your home PRO collects from MACP through reciprocal agreements when your music is played in Malaysia. Malaysia has an active music market with growing streaming adoption and a strong live events sector. Ensuring your works are properly registered with ISWC and IPI codes through your local PRO means MACP can identify and pay you for that usage.

MACP's AI guidelines also matter for artists concerned about generative AI. The organization has taken a clear stance that copyright protection applies only to human-created works, aligning with growing international consensus on AI-generated content.

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 alongside performance royalties
• Blanket License - The licensing model used by MACP
• CISAC - The international confederation coordinating global royalty collection
• MACP Official Website - Visit MACP for membership and licensing information
• Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator to estimate your digital earnings