South Korea pays performers and labels whenever radio, cafes or webcasts play their recordings, but only the webcast line is open to every foreign rightsholder.
Neighbouring rights means the rights of performers and record producers, as distinct from songwriters. In Korea they arrive as statutory compensation, collected by two bodies designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST): FKMP, the Federation of Korean Music Performers, and KPIA, the Korea Popmusic Industry Association, which represents master owners.
Three lines, one statute
The Copyright Act splits the money by use, with separate performer and producer articles:
- Broadcast: radio and TV use of commercial recordings, since a 1987 revision (Articles 75 and 82).
- Digital audio transmission: non-interactive internet radio and webcasting, added in 2007 (Articles 76 and 83).
- Public performance: recordings played in venues, added in 2009 (Articles 76-2 and 83-2).
None of these is a licence you can refuse. As KPIA notes, producers cannot stop broadcasters or venues using a record, only claim the fee.
What the lines are worth
FKMP’s 2025 results put the three domestic lines at 11.16 billion won collected for performers:
- Broadcast: 7.81 billion won collected, 4.71 billion distributed
- Public performance: 2.20 billion collected, 1.52 billion distributed
- Webcasting: 1.15 billion collected, 1.07 billion distributed
Streaming brought FKMP 53.10 billion won that year. Compensation is smaller, but it needs no streaming service.
FKMP’s published rates charge a 50 to 100 square-metre cafe or bar 4,000 won a month: 2,000 to songwriters, 1,000 to performers and 1,000 to producers. A gym that size pays 11,400 won. Premises under 50 square metres pay nothing, which the MCST estimated in 2018 covered about 40 percent of cafes and bars.
The reciprocity switch
The broadcast and performance articles share one proviso: if a foreign rightsholder’s country does not grant Korean nationals the same compensation, Korea does not pay. The webcasting articles carry no such proviso.
That sorts foreign catalogue three ways:
- US performers and labels. US law gives sound recordings a public performance right only “by means of a digital audio transmission” (17 U.S.C. 106(6)). No American radio or in-store royalty means no Korean broadcast or venue compensation. The webcast line stays open.
- Countries that pay recording royalties for radio and venues. Eligible in principle on all three lines. For performers, the money travels through reciprocal contracts FKMP has signed since joining SCAPR, the Societies’ Council for the Collective Management of Performers’ Rights, in 2010.
- Companies based in Korea. The Act treats a foreign company with its principal office in Korea as Korean, so a Seoul-headquartered label clears the test.
When it pays, and when it expires
KPIA, formerly the Korea Music Content Association, was designated on 6 February 2026 and has run producer compensation since 1 April. Its calendar pays venue money about four months after each quarter closes, broadcast money five and webcast money three.
In practice it runs longer. The producers’ July to December 2025 venue pool went out from 30 July 2026, per the MCST distribution notice: seven months after the period closed.
Money undistributed ten years after the distribution notice can fund public-interest projects with MCST approval under Article 25(10). A March 2025 amendment requires a reserve for rightsholders identified later.
What to do with this
If you own masters
- Check your company’s home country before budgeting Korean radio or venue income. The test attaches to the producer, not the song.
- You do not have to be a member. Article 25(8) bars a designated body from refusing a rightsholder who applies.
- Watch KPIA’s unmatched-usage notices, published before each settlement. Unmatched plays are what end up undistributed.
If you perform
- Ask your performer society whether it has an FKMP contract. That is the pipe.
- Session players count. FKMP’s distribution model splits a track’s money 60 percent to featured and 40 percent to non-featured performers by default.
None of this runs through your distributor; it runs on metadata. ISRC means International Standard Recording Code, and an ISRC delivered with full performer credits is what lets a Korean radio log find its owner.
Related reading: Korea’s ministry-set streaming split, Jamaica’s performer radio gap, and Japan’s new performance right for recordings.
