How South African Musicians Get Paid From Radio Airplay

Anga Hackula
Nov 23
3 min read

If you’re a South African musician trying to figure out exactly how money flows from radio stations to your pocket, you’re not alone. Radio royalties can feel confusing, but once you understand the system, it becomes much easier to make sure you’re collecting what you’re owed.

In this post, I’m breaking down how radio royalties work, what SAMRO actually does, and what YOU must do as a musician to get paid.

1. Radio Stations Must Buy a Music Licence

Just like DJs need a licence to play other people’s music, radio stations must also pay for the right to broadcast songs.In South Africa, this licence is primarily issued by SAMRO.

The cost of this licence depends on the station’s type (commercial or non-commercial) and how much revenue it generates. For example, a commercial station may pay something like R100,000 per year (example number) for a blanket licence to use copyrighted music.

That money doesn’t just sit at SAMRO—it becomes the pot used to pay musicians.

2. Radio Stations Submit Their “Cue Sheets” to SAMRO

Every year, radio stations send SAMRO a list of all the songs they’ve played. This list is called a cue sheet or track log.

It includes details like:

Song title
Artist
Composer
How many times it was played

SAMRO takes this playlist information and uses it to divide the licence money among all the creators whose music was played.

3. SAMRO Distributes Royalties to Registered Musicians

Once SAMRO has:

The licence money from the radio station
The cue sheets of what was played

…it can pay out royalties to its members.

But here’s a key detail: SAMRO takes an administration fee before distributing the money. The exact percentage isn’t openly published, but it covers their operational costs.

After this deduction, the remainder gets split among the composers and publishers of the songs that were broadcast.

4. If You're Not Registered With SAMRO, You Can’t Get Paid

This is where many artists fall short.

Even if your song is blasted on radio 50 times a week, you will not receive a cent unless:

You’re registered with SAMRO
Your work is properly declared to SAMRO

Registration is step one. But there’s another step artists often forget…

5. You Must Submit a Notification of Works (NOW)

SAMRO can’t magically know who wrote and composed your music. You must tell them.

A Notification of Works (NOW) includes:

Song title
Composer(s)
Publisher
Royalty splits

If SAMRO doesn’t have this information, they cannot pay you, even if radio stations list your track on their cue sheets.

If you don’t have a split sheet yet, I’ve made templates you can download on my website.

6. Sometimes You Won’t Get All the Royalties—Here’s Why

It’s common industry knowledge that:

Radio stations don’t always report every song
Playlists sometimes have missing or incorrect data
Incorrect metadata from artists delays payouts

If the information is incomplete on either side (radio or musician), SAMRO can only distribute what it can verify.

7. Track Your Airplay Using Radio Monitor or WARM Music

If radio is a big part of your strategy, you should never rely solely on cue sheets.

Tools like Radio Monitor and WARM Music help you track:

How many times your song was played
Which stations played it
What time it was aired
Which city/country it played in

This gives you evidence in case of disputes and helps you estimate potential royalty earnings.

8. What YOU Must Do to Make Sure You Get Paid

To summarise, here’s the checklist every South African musician should follow:

✔️ 1. Register with SAMRO

No registration = no royalties.

✔️ 2. Complete a split sheet

Agree on composer percentages with everyone involved.

✔️ 3. Submit your Notification of Works

Tell SAMRO who must get paid for the song.

✔️ 4. Track your radio plays

Use Radio Monitor or WARM to verify when and where your songs are spinning.

If you skip any of these steps, you’ll either lose money or not get paid at all.

Final Thoughts

Radio royalties are one of the most powerful income streams for South African musicians—if you understand the system and set yourself up correctly. Make sure your works are registered, your splits are sorted, and your radio plays are tracked.

If this was helpful, follow my YouTube or subscribe for more content that helps you grow your music career and understand your music business better.

Until next time!

Skill