-
By:
Shaban Maxharraj
- 14 October 2025 23:20
- Share to:
If a café or restaurant with a musical atmosphere has an annual turnover of 401 thousand to 450 thousand euros per year, it will pay a fixed 5 thousand 260 euros for music. But for the artist to benefit from this, he must join the association called "Kosova Music Right Society". This is the new body that was officially launched on Tuesday at a ceremony attended by the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. He and others have described the association as the beginning of a new era, where the artist is protected and benefits from his creativity
The last day of this year will mark the end of the era of free music broadcasting at events or venues serving the public. Festivals, cafes, restaurants, shopping malls, sporting events and shops will be obliged to pay fees for the use of protected musical works from January 1, 2026. The fees will be collected by the association “Kosova Music Right Society”. Through a process that began last year, the Ministry of Culture has taken the license from the association APIK, the new association has been registered, the fees have been approved and now the obligation to pay is a done deal.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in collaboration with the “Kosova Music Rights Society”, held an information conference on the topic “Strengthening music rights through collective management”. The event also marked the official launch of the collective management organization for copyright in the field of music.
“A new chapter in collective management of copyright”
The acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, was also present at this conference. At the very beginning, he made a play on words – as he usually does – by raising questions.
"Can something that is heard be protected? We associate hearing with the soul, after all, çiftelitë were only donated until the 90s, they were never sold. Why not protect what is heard?", he said. He then went into history a bit, saying that the path of institutionalization of music in our country was paved by the composer Lorenc Antoni, at the beginning of the 20th century. According to him, with his first scientific writings on folklore and the research work he did and later the First School of Music in Prizren, they marked the institutionalization of music.
"Every initiative of ours, like today's, stands on the shoulders of spiritual mountains that have been built and continue to make Kosovo a hyper-musical country. For this reason, we have an obligation to this creativity and these creators," said Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
According to him, Tuesday marked a step that goes beyond music. According to him, at the core of this initiative of creating the "Kosova Music Rights Society" and the work that lies ahead lies a bigger idea.
"That of the right to own the fruit of our work, to also benefit the author from the public benefit. This is not only a legal issue, but also a moral, cultural and philosophical one. A society that recognizes and protects creativity is a society that believes in itself. A society that believes in its present and in its future. It is also a society that respects its artists in addition to loving them," he said. According to Kurti, the KMRS is now more than an organization of trust between creators and the state, as well as between the public and art.
"With this step, Kosovo enters a new chapter in the collective management of copyright, becoming part of global institutional traditions and the European network of cooperation with organizations such as France's SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Musicians) and potentially with cooperation with all others in the world, a partnership that testifies to the seriousness of this initiative and our openness towards international standards," he said.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Bislim Bislimi, said that this is an important moment.
"This marks an important moment, a decisive step towards protecting the rights of our creators, strengthening the foundations of the legal and institutional system infrastructure for our social, cultural and economic development, in line with the state objectives of Kosovo's association with EU standards in the field of copyright and related rights," he said. According to Bislimi, the establishment of this organization is much more than a formal institutional fulfillment. He said that first and foremost it is a sign of recognition and appreciation of the work of creators and artists.
"The new organization will serve as an authorized body for the management of copyright and related rights in the field of music, on behalf of authors, composers, performers and producers. It will manage the official licensing of musical works," said Bislimi.
Meanwhile, the president of the organization "Kosova Music Rights Society", Kaltrina Mehmeti, mentioned that music creators in Kosovo have worked for more than two decades without legal protection.
"This music industry, so powerful in Kosovo and abroad, has paradoxically functioned for more than 25 years without any legal protection and without any compensation in the name of copyright. It is time for this moral debt to be dedicated to the artistic community, to be recognized with the most basic and fundamental rights, just like every citizen of Kosovo," said Mehmeti.
A journey that began in 2012 and the transition to a new association
Kosovo has been trying since 2012 to start respecting the Law on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights through collective management organizations. But despite negotiations on fee agreements, this has not been done. After receiving the license of the APIK organization, which was managed by composer and producer Florent Boshnjaku, the new organization quickly managed to have the fees.
In July of this year, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports informed the parties and the public that the "Kosova Music Rights Society" has published draft tariffs for the use of protected musical works for the year 2026. KMRS was licensed by the MCYS in April of this year.
"The publication of these tariffs is made in accordance with Article 102 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. If, within thirty (30) days from the publication of the tariffs, no representative organization or other authorized joint representative of users of copyrighted material notifies the collective management organization and the Office that it does not accept the tariffs, it will be considered that the tariffs have been approved for the calendar year," the announcement read.
Since then, KOHA has contacted the KMRS, but its representatives have not shown any willingness to discuss this process before the tariffs are approved. They have postponed the meetings several times. Some of the music scene actors contacted by KOHA at the time were not aware of this process. And, at Tuesday's ceremony, several members of the music scene were present, such as: MC Kresha, Naim Abazi and Afrim Muçiqi.
Membership up to 350 euros, fees depending on turnover
The fees have been approved. To benefit from the collective protection of copyright, artists must register or become members of the association. For those with an annual turnover of up to 30 thousand euros, membership costs 20 euros per year, for those with a turnover of 30 thousand to 100 thousand euros per year, membership costs 200 euros, and for those exceeding this annual turnover, membership costs 350 euros.
But the core of this process is payments for music streaming.
If a café or restaurant with a musical atmosphere has an annual turnover of 401 thousand to 450 thousand euros per year, it will pay a fixed 5 thousand 260 euros for music. For concerts and musical performances, the organizers will pay 4 percent of the event's revenue and this percentage increases from year to year. Music performances will pay 17 euros for copyright if the organization's expenses are one thousand euros. This also depends on the entrance ticket. When expenses increase, the fee also increases. In sporting events, the first example is that if the entrance ticket is 5 euros and 250 people gather, 25 euros will be paid as a copyright fee. Retail chains up to 300 square meters will pay a fixed 80 euros per year, above this area from 0.10 cents per square meter per year.
Cafes and restaurants with a musical atmosphere will pay based on annual turnover. Up to 50 thousand euros, 150 euros are paid per year.
Traditional cafes and restaurants will pay the fee based on the number of inhabitants in the municipality. The scale starts at 15 euros per 10 thousand inhabitants. Sales agencies and other offices that provide services to the public will be charged based on the number of employees. From 1 to 6 employees, 60 euros are paid per year. Sports halls will have a fee of 0.40 cents per square meter, while fast food outlets will have a fee of 0.40 cents per square meter, depending on the number of chairs they have for customers. For 10 places, the fee is 50 euros per year.
From all the collected amounts, a contract is made with the artists. "Collection and distribution of income from collected fees, ensuring that artists receive their share in a transparent manner," the KMRS website states.
In March 2018, the Ministry of Culture announced the agreement between APIK and televisions and radios. The four channels of Radio and Television of Kosovo would pay an annual fee of 30 thousand euros for the right to use music for broadcasting. National frequency televisions would pay a fee of 6 thousand euros per year, regional televisions an annual fee of 1 thousand 200 euros, local TVs 600 euros, music cable channels 2 thousand 400 euros, other cable channels 1 thousand 800 euros, national radios 3 thousand 600 euros, regional ones 720 euros, local radios 480 euros, low-power TVs and radios would pay 240 and 180 euros, respectively. In Kosovo, since 2012, like the Association of Authors, Producers and Performers of Kosovo - APIK, there has also been VAPIK, which deals with the collective management of copyright and related rights in the audiovisual field.