LMKN Establishes New Music Royalty Distribution Scheme for 2026 Period

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Collective Management Agency (LMKN) has established a new policy regarding the division and distribution of royalties for songs and/or music for the 2026 period to address challenges in royalty distribution, which has long faced obstacles related to music usage data.

“We want to ensure that every creator receives their rights fairly. With a data-based approach and complementary schemes such as Unlogged Performance Allocation (UPA), royalty distribution becomes more proportional and accountable,” explained LMKN Creator Chairman Andi Mulhanan Tombolotutu in an official statement received on Tuesday.

In the latest formulation, LMKN divides the distribution mechanism into two categories: based on song usage data (log sheet) and without data (non-log sheet). For users who submit data, royalties will be distributed directly according to usage. Meanwhile, for those who do not, alternative approaches such as sampling, proxy, and UPA are used.

In addition, royalty distribution is also determined based on the portion of each Collective Management Organisation (LMK), calculated from contributions of royalty tariffs from various commercial user categories.

LMKN Related Rights Owner Chairman Marcell Siahaan emphasised the importance of transparency in this new system. According to him, data quality is the primary key in determining the amount of royalties received by music industry players.

This new policy is the result of discussions between LMKN and LMKs on 15 April 2026, and refers to Law Number 28 of 2014 on Copyright and Government Regulation Number 56 of 2021.