The electronic music world received a major wake-up call this week. A brand-new audit from Fair Play has revealed how deeply flawed the UK’s royalty distribution system really is. And the numbers are shocking.
According to the report, an estimated £5.7 million in electronic music royalties goes to the wrong place each year. Even more concerning, only 36 percent of club performance royalties ever reach the correct creators.
A Six-Month Deep Dive Into Royalty Misallocation
Fair Play, an independent watchdog group founded by former Aslice team members, spent six months analysing how royalties flow through the UK nightlife ecosystem. To get a clearer picture, they surveyed 338 industry professionals across 45 countries.
The findings exposed a system riddled with errors, outdated workflows, and missing data. Nearly two-thirds of UK electronic music sets fail to generate accurate royalty payments. As a result, artists who power the club scene barely receive compensation for their work.
Technology Is a Key Part of the Problem
One major issue is the lack of Music Recognition Technology, also known as MRT. This system works like Shazam and helps performance rights organisations identify exactly which tracks were played in a club.
Shockingly, fewer than seven percent of UK nightclubs use MRT. This forces PROs to rely on less accurate reporting methods. On top of that, only five percent of recorded DJ sets are voluntarily submitted to these organisations.
Because of these gaps, the wrong artists often receive payments that should go to someone else.
Most Artists Are Not Registered to Collect Royalties
Another challenge is the low number of electronic music creators registered with collection societies. Despite the UK electronic music sector generating an estimated $2.6 billion in 2024, only 46 percent of artists are signed up to the organisations that manage royalties.
It’s no surprise, then, that 81 percent of producers earn between zero and ten percent of their income from performance royalties. The system simply isn’t built to help them succeed.
Fair Play’s Recommended Fixes
To address the misallocation problem, Fair Play highlighted three urgent steps:
- Introduce MRT to more UK clubs
- Encourage more artists to register with collection societies
- Push collection societies to prioritise verified, data-driven sources
Right now, many venues still rely on analogue distribution methods that match nightclub playlists to radio data. This approach delivers only about 50 percent accuracy, leaving huge room for error. Switching to digital tools and audio fingerprinting could dramatically improve fairness across the industry.
Conclusion
The Fair Play report makes one thing crystal clear. The UK electronic music community is losing millions every year because of outdated systems, missing technology, and low artist participation. With simple updates, smarter tools, and better data, the industry can finally close the royalty gap and ensure artists are paid fairly for the music that fuels the nightlife scene.