Distribution of entertainment and dance music events (U/UD)
Live income. Fairly distributed thanks to setlists.
Live music (U) categories – simply explained
In the U category, we distribute income from live events all over Germany. These can be live concerts, festivals, town fêtes etc. U stands for “Unterhaltungsmusik”, i.e. entertainment or dance music. That does, however, not mean that it’s just about entertainment here: The category serves to help us make a distinction with regard to your distribution. In this context, U music is everything that is not categorised as E music, also known as “ernste” or “serious” music.
We distribute the collected revenues “per programme”, that means based on the actually used works. To do this, we need a list of the titles played - the so-called music sequence or setlist - from the organizers for each performance. We receive quite a few of them: For the live sector alone, we process about 550,000 setlists per year (before COVID-19).
Live distribution at a glance
This is how the categories are divided up:
The categories are broken down into U (entertainment music – collective distribution with various segments) and into UD (U direct distribution).
In the U category, income from live events, e.g. from concerts, town fêtes, festivals or other events of any kind with live music is distributed.
Licensing income from events with collections of more than € 500 (category U, segments 9-12) and collections from special events e.g. final rehearsals, open music making, performances in hospitals (category UD) is subject to a direct distribution.
Where the revenues come from:
We receive licensing income for live events in the entertainment music sector, e.g. concerts subject to tariff U-K, as well as for live events with background music subject to tariff U-V.
Underlying usage information:
In the case of live music, a music sequence or setlist must be submitted for each performance. This is ideally done via the Online Portal under the service My setlists - by the event organiser but also by the performing musicians.
How the income is distributed:
Events with licensing income of up to € 500 are distributed collectively. To do this, we calculate a standard performance value (point value). The value of a performance of a work thus depends on various tariff-, performance- or work-dependent factors.
In the case of the direct distribution, we distribute the licensing income for an event (after deduction costs) on a 1:1 basis across the works reported to us for this event.
You can find more on the U category distribution in our Infosheet.
Important dates and deadlines for you
For usage reports, there is a submission deadline up to 31 March of the year following the usage.
More info: Registration - GEMA.de.
Annual distribution cycle:
1 June: Main distribution in the U and UD categories (together with M, E, ED, EM, BM)
1 November: Late adjustment distribution in the U and UD categories (together with M,
E, ED, EM, BM)
For the main distribution, you can submit claims in all live categories up to 9 months after distribution date. In case of late adjustment distributions, you have up to 3 months. To find out how this works and what you need to know, please go to claims.
