When you declare your repertoire as a musician through the online portal, PlayRight asks you to answer a series of mandatory questions. This information allows the society to collect and distribute correctly the rights that you are entitled to.

When you record a piece of music, electronic devices and computer software may be used. With this programming you can make sounds that are similar to drums, bass, percussion, etc. But do you have to declare each instrument separately?

The answer is no! If the basic instrument (keyboards, computer) is the only instrument that you used when recording a song, you must declare it as such. More specifically, this means that you have to select “keyboards” as a group of instruments, and then again “keyboards” as the instrument that you used during the performance. Declaring that you used drums while you made the sounds via a computer would equal to declare a performance you have not executed.

Why is such a distinction made between the different groups of instruments?

To be able to calculate your rights correctly! We believe that the performance of a musician who plays different types of instruments must be assessed accordingly.

Explanation: When calculating your rights, the total amount allocated to the work is divided amongst the performing artists, depending on the role you play in that recording:

• Main artist,
• Conductor,
• Session musician.

Your role determines the share of rights that you are entitled to. A main artist or conductor represents 15 points, while a session musician represents 5 points per group of instruments. If you play several groups of instruments (keyboards, string instruments, wind instruments, percussion,

melodic percussion, mechanical instruments and vocals), you can accumulate points (5 points per instrument group) and earn a maximum of 15 points in total. A detailed overview of the distribution rules according to the General Regulations can be found via this page: https://playright.be/en/documents/