Uruguay’s live songwriting royalties begin with a setlist, not a distributor’s stream report. The Asociación General de Autores del Uruguay (AGADU) gives artists 30 days after a show to file a digital performance declaration. Its 2026 payment calendar then treats concerts, other public performances and digital platforms as different royalty streams.
That distinction matters to an independent act playing Montevideo while releasing the same songs worldwide. A distributor can account for recordings delivered to streaming services. The songwriter’s claim for a live performance travels through the collecting society and depends on the works actually reported.
File the songs within 30 days
AGADU’s live declaration page says the digital setlist must be submitted within 30 days of the performance. Its FAQ also describes older web and office routes with different deadlines, so an artist using the digital form should follow the specific 30-day instruction and keep a dated submission receipt.
Before the show, make a working setlist with the registered title, each songwriter and any cover versions. Afterward, correct it to match what was performed. A promoter’s poster, a ticketing record and a DSP upload are not substitutes for a song-by-song performance declaration.
AGADU says members can register musical works online through their account, with signed forms and the commercial audio attached. The society asks registrants to verify coauthor information before submission. If a co-write’s ownership details are wrong, fix the work registration as well as the show report; the setlist cannot resolve an unidentified share by itself.
The payment date depends on the use
The calendar gives concerts their own line. For example, it schedules the October 2026 concert period for payment on 12 November 2026, while its general public-performance line groups July through September 2026 for payment on 15 December. These are society calendar dates, not a promise that every individual show will produce a payment on that day.
The qualification is explicit: AGADU describes the concert period as events paid by the organizer by month-end, and the general public-performance period as events paid by the organizer within the relevant quarter. An artist should therefore ask the venue or promoter whether the performance was licensed and paid, then compare the declared setlist with the eventual statement.
Digital platforms occupy another row: AGADU lists LATINAUTOR and says it credits those funds once the corresponding transfer arrives. There is no fixed digital payout day in that row. Budgeting a Spotify songwriting payment against the next concert date would mix two collection paths and give a misleading cash forecast.
Run two ledgers for the same song
For a self-releasing writer, the recording and the composition can generate separate statements. Keep the distributor’s recording identifier and split records beside the AGADU work registration, live setlist, organizer details and society statements. The practical audit question is not merely whether the track earned money; it is which use generated it and which organization is responsible for accounting.
If a concert payment is missing, start with the show date, digital filing receipt, registered work titles and organizer payment status. If streaming composition income is missing, ask about work matching and the LATINAUTOR transfer instead. These are different investigations, even when the repertoire is identical.
Uruguay’s split is a useful warning for the wider region. Chile’s SCD also separates club and streaming allocation, while an earlier Uruguay rights analysis explains why the recording side has its own payment obligations. Choose distribution and reporting systems that preserve clear recording splits, then keep the live composition claim visible in a separate rights calendar.
