Société d'Auteurs Belge – Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij

SABAM (Société d'Auteurs Belge / Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij) is a Belgian collective management organization founded in 1922 that represents over 45,000 authors, composers, and publishers across music, literature, visual arts, theatre, and audiovisual works. It collects royalties for the public performance, broadcasting, streaming, and reproduction of its members' works in Belgium and distributes them based on usage data.

Quick Comparison: SABAM vs Other European PROs

SABAM has the lowest online commission rate among major European PROs at 8%. It is also the only PRO in this comparison that charges no annual fee. The one-off administrative cost of EUR 75 plus a cooperative share (EUR 31 or EUR 124) is your total lifetime membership cost.

How SABAM Works

SABAM operates as a cooperative company (CVBA), meaning it is owned and governed by its members rather than by outside investors. This is unusual among European collecting societies. Members include songwriters, composers, publishers, novelists, poets, playwrights, choreographers, filmmakers, photographers, sculptors, painters, and architects. This multidisciplinary scope makes SABAM virtually unique worldwide, as most PROs handle only music rights.

SABAM issues blanket licenses to radio stations, television networks, streaming platforms, concert venues, restaurants, retail stores, cinemas, and any business that plays music or displays copyrighted works publicly. License fees are collected and distributed to members based on performance data gathered through airplay monitoring, cue sheets, streaming usage reports, and direct usage declarations.

The organization takes a management commission on the royalties it collects to cover operating costs. Commission percentages vary by rights type and are determined annually by the governing body or established through international agreements. SABAM also withholds a solidarity deduction from royalties to fund social, cultural, and educational programs for members.

SABAM distributes royalties on a regular schedule. Royalties that cannot be assigned to a specific rights holder within 36 months after the end of the financial year in which invoicing occurred are redistributed pro rata to all rights holders in that distribution category. This prevents revenue from being lost to the system.

Through reciprocal agreements with sister organizations worldwide (such as GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, BUMA/Stemra in the Netherlands, ASCAP and BMI in the United States), SABAM collects royalties for its members when their works are performed abroad. Foreign societies invoice locally and transfer the collected rights back to SABAM for distribution.

In 2025, SABAM supported more than 1,000 local cultural initiatives in Belgium, reinvesting in the creative community through grants and funding programs.

Membership Fees and How to Join

SABAM charges a one-off administrative fee of EUR 75 for authors. There is no annual membership fee. You must also subscribe to a share in the SABAM cooperative, which makes you a shareholder:

• Partial share (EUR 31): You may attend general meetings but cannot vote.
• Full share (EUR 124): You may vote at general meetings and stand for decision-making bodies.

Total upfront cost: EUR 106 (partial share) or EUR 199 (full share). No recurring fees.

Publishers pay a one-off administrative fee of EUR 200 plus the same cooperative share options.

Joining Process

1. Have at least one work that has been publicly performed, broadcast, or distributed. SABAM notes that joining is not useful until your works are actually being used.
2. You can deposit works for free via OnlineDepot before joining. This establishes the date of creation and authorship.
3. Start your membership application on the SABAM website.
4. Document each work with complete metadata: title, writers, publishers, ownership splits, ISRC codes, and ISWC numbers.
5. Contact SABAM at affiliation@sabam.be or +32 2 286 84 84 with questions.

Territory and Reciprocal Agreements

SABAM collects royalties directly in Belgium. For online rights, SABAM partners with ICE (International Copyright Enterprise) to track music across 205+ streaming platforms in 245 territories. Online royalties are collected globally, not just in Belgium.

For offline rights (public performance, broadcasting, mechanical), SABAM has reciprocal agreements with over 100 foreign collecting societies. These include:

• GEMA (Germany)
• SACEM (France)
• BUMA/Stemra (Netherlands)
• ASCAP (United States)
• BMI (United States)
• PRS for Music (United Kingdom)
• SIAE (Italy)
• SOCAN (Canada)

Foreign societies collect royalties locally and transfer them to SABAM for distribution to members. The foreign society determines its own rates, so international royalties may differ from domestic distributions.

Royalty Distribution Schedule

SABAM operates multiple distribution cycles depending on the rights type:

• Online royalties: Paid monthly. SABAM processes streaming data through ICE and pays out every month. Within 6 months of each stream, you receive 95% of your rights. This is faster than most European societies.
• Belgian performing rights: Paid in two phases. An advance payment of 80% is distributed in June. The final settlement follows in October.
• Concerts reported via MyPlaylist: Processed quarterly. If you register your setlists through MyPlaylist, you receive payments every three months instead of waiting for the annual cycle.
• Unassigned royalties: Royalties that cannot be matched to a rights holder within 36 months are redistributed pro rata to all rights holders in that distribution category.

The full 2026 distribution schedule is published on the SABAM website and covers all 12 months with specific distribution dates for each rights type.

Notable Members

SABAM represents many prominent Belgian creators across disciplines:

• Will Tura: The most successful Flemish-speaking singer of the 20th century. Received the SABAM Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. His song "Mooi, 't leven is mooi" was the most frequently played song of 1989 according to SABAM data.
• Raymond van het Groenewoud: Belgian musician and songwriter known for hits like "Meisjes" and "Liefde voor Muziek." Received the SABAM Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
• Stefaan Fernande: Prolific songwriter who wrote hundreds of hits for Flemish artists including Clouseau, Yasmine, and Will Tura. Inducted into the SABAM and Radio 2 Hall of Fame in 2018.
• Willy Albimoor: Belgian composer and pianist, SABAM member since 1948. Wrote "Jungle Fever" for The Chakachas, which reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.
• David Linx: Brussels-born jazz singer and composer. Received the SABAM Jazz Award in 2013. Knighted by the King of Belgium in 2008.
• Clouseau: One of Belgium's most successful pop bands. Their song "Anne" was the second most frequently played song of 1989 according to SABAM data.

Video: SABAM and Authors' Rights Explained

This video features a SABAM representative explaining how authors' rights work, where the money comes from, and how to become a member. It is in Dutch but YouTube auto-translate captions are available in English and other languages.

Real-World Example

A Belgian songwriter joins SABAM and registers 30 songs. A Brussels radio station plays 8 of those songs in a given quarter, Spotify reports 200,000 streams of 12 songs, and three cafes hold SABAM blanket licenses that cover background music. SABAM collects royalties from all three sources.

The songwriter receives a distribution based on the radio airplay logs and streaming usage data. If the same songs are played on radio in France, SABAM's reciprocal agreement with SACEM means SACEM collects those royalties locally and transfers them to SABAM, which distributes them to the songwriter in the next international distribution cycle.

Because SABAM is a cooperative, the songwriter also has voting rights in the organization's governance. They can participate in general assemblies and elect the board of directors. This gives members direct influence over how the organization operates and how commission rates are set.

A Belgian composer with 50 registered works receiving regular airplay on national radio and moderate streaming activity might earn anywhere from EUR 2,000 to EUR 40,000 annually in SABAM royalties, depending on the scale of usage and the applicable commission rates.

Why It Matters for Independent Artists

If you are a Belgian creator in any discipline (music, literature, visual arts, audiovisual, or performing arts), SABAM is the primary organization for collecting your royalties in Belgium. Unlike most PROs that handle only music, SABAM covers the full spectrum of creative works, which is an advantage if you work across multiple disciplines.

Membership requires that you have at least one work that has been publicly performed, broadcast, or distributed. You can join online through the SABAM website. Once accepted, register every work with complete metadata: title, writers, publishers, ownership splits, ISRC codes, and ISWC numbers. Unregistered works earn zero royalties, even if they receive thousands of plays.

If your music is performed internationally, SABAM's reciprocal agreements with over 100 foreign societies mean those royalties flow back to you. You do not need to join a separate PRO in each country. However, the foreign society determines its own rates, so international royalties may differ from domestic distributions.

SABAM also offers social support programs, legal advice, and cultural project funding for members. The solidarity fund provides assistance to members facing financial hardship, and the cultural action program funds creation, production, and distribution projects across Belgium.

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
• Blanket License - The licensing model used by SABAM
• Collective Management Organization (CMO) - How CMOs operate globally
• SABAM Official Website - Visit SABAM for membership and licensing information
• Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator to estimate your digital earnings

Compare SABAM With Other PROs

• SIAE - Italy's collecting society (13.7% average commission, quarterly distributions)
• SACEM - France's collecting society (7% online commission, quarterly distributions)
• GEMA - Germany's collecting society (9% online commission, dropping to 7% in 2027)
• BUMA/Stemra - Netherlands collecting society (9% online commission, free to join)
• ASCAP - US-based PRO with global reach
• PRS for Music - UK collecting society
• Browse all PROs - Full directory of performing rights organizations worldwide