site.btaMusicautor Distributes Royalties to 210,000 Copyright Holders in 2023

In 2023, Musicautor, an organization of composers, authors and music publishers for collective management of copyright, distributed BGN 12.3 million in royalties to 210,000 Bulgarian and foreign copyright holders whose music was used in Bulgaria, the organization says in its annual report adopted by its general meeting on April 1. The amount was generated from music presented on television or radio, at tourist and commercial sites, concerts, film screenings, digital platforms or websites, among other vehicles.

About 83% of the money was for foreign repertoire and 17% for Bulgarian repertoire. The numbers reflect a lasting tendency of predominant use of foreign music in Bulgaria.

Musicautor is working to boost the number of registered music works by publishers, composers and authors, so that they can be correctly identified. This is the only way for copyright holders to earn revenues from the use of their music, particularly in the digital sector, which remains one of the most promising in the music industry. In 2023, the Musicautor catalogue included 32 million music titles, including 116,000 Bulgarian compositions.

Musicautor's annual revenues have been growing steadily over the last seven years. In 2023, they reached BGN 15.6 million, growing by 23% from 2022. Revenues from concerts reached a record-high BGN 2.4 million as a result of a growing number of licensed events organized by professional promoters, music clubs, municipalities, opera houses or philharmonic orchestra companies. Another particularly successful sector was trade and tourism, where music-use revenues grew by 41% year on year to BGN 2.3 million in 2023.