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GEMA for music producers and composers

GEMA is the German music rights society for composers, lyricists and music publishers. Here is how it works for a producer or composer, as of October 2026.

By , a composer with 300+ tracks on audio stock and 12 years in production. Checked on GEMA's own pages on 26 October 2026.

Type
Rights society
How to join
Join as a member€90 admission plus €50 a year, newcomers less
AI-made music
With limitsYou confirm each work is not made only by AI

In short. GEMA is Germany's music rights society. Composers, lyricists and music publishers can join. A writer pays €90 plus VAT once and €50 a year, and newcomers up to 30 skip the admission fee. Every work you register online comes with a box to confirm it was not made only by AI. Shares must add up to 100% for each role. Without a registered work, GEMA pays nothing for it.

How to join

Who. GEMA lists "Composers", "Lyricists of lyrics set to music", "Music publishers" and their legal successors. Arrangers can join too. Membership is for people, so a band can't join, but each member who writes can. Performers who don't write can't join.

Fees, as of October 2026:

  • Writers. A one-off admission fee of €90 plus VAT, and €50 a year.
  • Newcomers. If you turn 30 in the year you apply, or are younger, there is no admission fee. The €50 a year still applies.
  • Publishers. €180 net admission and €100 a year. The first publisher name is free. Each further name costs €100 net.

When. To be a member from the current year, your application must reach GEMA by 31 October. Later applications start on 1 January of the next year.

What you give. With the Deed of Assignment you give GEMA, "as a trustee", the rights in your works for certain uses. GEMA names performing, broadcasting on radio and TV, making music available on the internet, and ringtones.

AI-generated music

Every online work registration has a box. You confirm that the work was not created only by AI. GEMA says you tick it "in cases where the work to be registered was created entirely or partially without AI." It added the box as part of an anti-fraud campaign: "We would like to prevent that money is paid out for content that did not require any creative work." More: Can you sell AI music?

Codes, Content ID and royalties

Registering a work. In the GEMA Online Portal, open Services, then Work declaration, then original work. The form has four tabs:

  • Declarant. The contract account the work goes under, if you have several.
  • Contributors. The writers and original publishers. If you enter shares, the shares for each right (GEMA's form calls them AR and VR) "must add up to 100% per role". Shares you leave empty for writers are split evenly.
  • Works. The work data, including a production title and other titles.
  • Overview. Check and submit. A provisional confirmation then appears under My communication.

Film and TV. You can register films and series that contain your works in the Online Portal, with an online form or an Excel template. GEMA points to the CISAC cue sheet template. It warns that without a work registration there are no royalties.

Codes explained: ISRC, ISWC and UPC.

What to keep in your catalog

  • The GEMA work number of each work, and its other titles and production title.
  • The shares for each right, per role, as you registered them.
  • The AI box for each work, and how the work was made.
  • Films and series you registered that use your cues.
  • The contract account a work is under, if you have more than one.

Sources