Yes.  As of 01 June 2023, new applicants are required to pay a non-refundable, once-off application fee.

The once off-application fee is a registration fee that is paid by new applicants who wish to join SAMRO.

Composers/Authors pay a once-fee of R100. Publishers pay a once-off fee of R500.

The non-refundable application fee covers the administrative costs of processing new applications.

SAMRO has been inundated with applications for the past five years, causing delays in response times due to the high volume of emails and queries from those interested in joining the organisation. To address this issue, SAMRO has decided to implement an application fee, which will provide additional resources to effectively manage the influx of new applicants.

No, the registration fee is only applicable to applicants who wish to join the organisation for the first time.

No,there is no annual membership fee that SAMRO Members have to pay. Current SAMROMembers are exempt from paying the once-off application fee.

You have the option to pay the application fee electronically through the SAMRO online registration platform using Instant EFTor Card Payment. Alternatively, you may choose to pay manually through FNB ATMDeposit or Direct Deposit.

Members receive royalties every year through four main payouts: Grant of Payment, Radio and General, Television and Films, as well as Foreign Royalty distribution.
Click Here to view the distribution schedule.

SAMRO pays your royalties directly into your account via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
Please double-check that your bank details are correct to avoid problems with payments.

The SAMRO Communication Hub is there to help you. Give them a call for a friendly chat if you think something is not right.

Confirm that the date of the performances is within the period stated on the distribution statement and accompanying notes. If you are certain that there is an omission, please supply SAMRO with the title of work, name of programme, name of station, date of performance, and if possible, time of performance.

Probably, yes, but it may also mean that we have not been notified of a change of address. To update your contact details and personal information, Click Here

No. Works can be notified to SAMRO as manuscripts (MS) works or unpublished. Many choral and serious music works are unpublished. If these works are recorded and there is no publisher involved, you should then consider joining a society, which will look after your mechanical royalties.

To register your music with SAMRO and start earning royalties, you must notify us of your original music by filling in a form called a Notification of Works.

Notification of Work forms should be completed by the creators of the original music – the composers and authors. Please include the correct title, names of all composers and authors involved, and the type of music such as light/rock, etc, duration of the song, names or arrangers, and publisher details.

Please send your notification forms to the SAMRO Customer Service department. 
Tel:086 117 2676 or email: customerservices@samro.org.za.

Yes, contact SAMRO’s Customer Relations Department for a printout of the works.

Yes. We need a copy of the termination agreement or the termination date as specified in the original Deed of Assignment between the publisher and composer/author.

You can work under a stage name if you choose and you can register as many stage names as you like.

Yes, we have a number of members living abroad.

No, SAMRO has international partner organisations that manage and collect royalties in their countries on behalf of our members. So you enjoy worldwide protection for your music with just one membership.

SAMRO cannot distribute royalties to non-members. In these cases, we keep these royalties until the composer or author is granted membership. Once membership is approved, these royalties are paid in a supplementary payment that usually happens in June/July each year.

General Rule: Copyright protectionlasts for 50 years from the end of the year of the author's death for literary, musical, and artistic works. If a work is published after the author's death, it is protected for 50 years from the date of publication.

Joint Authorship: For works created by multiple authors, copyright lasts for 50 years after the death of the last surviving author. 

A song or an ycreative work will enter the public domain in South Africa 50 years after the death of the last surviving member of its authorship group. Therefore, if all members of a musical group have passed away, the song will become public domain 50 years after the last member's death.

Please Click Here to register your songs.

In the membership portal, please click on "sign up" and "register" and follow the instructions to gain access to the portal.

In the membership portal, you are able to update your contact details, register new titles, view and print your statements, search and update your undocumented works, submit your live performances, submit and update your beneficiaries.

Absolutely, but you need to ask your parent or guardian to sign the forms and to submit these with a copy of their ID/Passport as well as your ID/Passport and Birth Certificate.

Please click here to view our distribution schedule.