Előadóművészi Jogvédő Iroda Egyesület (EJI) will this year pay 10 percent more in royalties than last year: it is transferring HUF 2.3 billion to roughly 160,000 Hungarian and foreign performers, the EJI told MTI.
Reasons behind the increase
The EJI said the double-digit increase is driven by several factors: inflation, retroactive settlement of previously unpaid fees by some users, and cost reductions achieved through digitising processing. Those savings have been redirected into royalty payouts.
Data processed for identification
This year the EJI processed the following datasets to identify entitled performers:
- data from 100 radio and television sources,
- more than 13 million plays of 600,000 distinct recordings,
- 8 billion plays of about 400,000 distinct recordings from Spotify and Deezer,
- 200,000 distinct background-music recordings played across 300 commercial and accommodation venues.
Based on recordings archived by Magyar Rádió — this year including data from Szakcsi Rádió – Jazzrádió and Csukás Meserádió for the first time — the EJI identified 8,600 performers.
Breakdown of payments
According to the statement:
- radio and television plays generated more than HUF 1.3 billion; the largest combined payment in this category exceeds HUF 40 million and includes six Hungarian performers;
- payments based on Spotify and Deezer plays totalled nearly HUF 600 million; among the ten largest recipients eight are Hungarian;
- background music played at the 300 commercial venues, with 200,000 plays, accounts for almost HUF 130 million in payouts;
- using Magyar Rádió data the EJI is transferring HUF 230 million to 8,500 performers.
Across the distribution, almost 150 performers received more than HUF 1 million each, while around 150,000 rights-holders can expect less than HUF 50,000.
AI screening of recordings
To improve accuracy in royalty attribution, the EJI this year began screening recordings for the presence of artificial intelligence in their creation. They are using Deezer’s AI Detector Solution, an AI-based music recognition tool. In the initial phase, 10,000 recordings were subjected to the screening.
The EJI reported that within the examined sample they identified numerous recordings that contained no human performance at all; those pieces were excluded from the distribution and will not receive royalties.
Significance
Detailed play and usage data processing, cost savings from digitalisation, and AI-based screening together shape how much rights-holders receive. These measures may continue to affect future settlements, particularly for streaming and background-music uses.
