From 1 January 2027, Unisono is adjusting copyright rates for concerts and festivals in Belgium, with a 3% rise in the rate scales. That's not the real news, though: the announcement also sets out the trajectory the body expects through 2030, and what it proposes from 2031 onwards.
What happened
On 5 October 2026, the body published the announcement «Actualisering van concert- en festivaltarieven vanaf 2027»: "Vanaf 1 januari 2027 passen we de tarieven voor concerten en festivals lichtjes aan" (from 1 January 2027, we are slightly adjusting rates for concerts and festivals). Unisono presents this as a necessary correction to rate scales that had gone unchanged for a long time.
The announcement lists five changes. "De prijsschalen voor bruto-ontvangsten en artistieke budgetten worden met 3% verhoogd": the scales based on gross revenue and artistic budgets rise 3%. Minimum amounts are revised, though the announcement does not publish those euro figures. The average ticket price used in the rate is aligned with "current economic reality". The conditions for applying for the touring scheme ("concerttournees") become more flexible. And the lowest touring scale rises from 3.0% to 3.5%, the only specific rate percentage the announcement details.
The rest is a forecast: "Zo voorzien we voor 2028 een bijkomende aanpassing van 3%, gevolgd door een verhoging van 6% in 2029 en 2030" (a further 3% expected in 2028, followed by a 6% rise in 2029 and 2030).
| Year | Announced adjustment |
|---|---|
| 2027 | +3%, applicable |
| 2028 | +3% expected |
| 2029 and 2030 | +6% expected |
| From 2031 | Annual adjustment expected based on ticket revenue, "once the balance is largely restored" |
The justification looks back to 2011: "De inkomsten van concerten en festivals uit ticketverkoop stegen sinds 2011 met bijna 50%, terwijl de auteursrechten in dezelfde periode met ongeveer 37% toenamen" — box-office revenue has risen by almost 50% since 2011, while copyright fees have risen by around 37% over the same period.
Unisono licenses the use of music at events in Belgium — from concerts and festivals to parties, markets or film screenings — and its licensing page points to Sabam's repertoire.
Why it matters
What matters here isn't the 3% for 2027: it's that there are four years with a figure attached. A collecting society publishing the trajectory it expects is unusual, and it gives Belgian promoters a reference figure for budgeting several years ahead.
The second part has longer legs. From 2031, Unisono says, the scales would be adjusted annually according to ticket revenue trends, and only "once the balance is largely restored". If it happens, the cost of copyright would stop depending on the body's periodic reviews and would instead track the ticket price.
For anyone producing events in Belgium, this sits alongside the rest of the bill: VAT, resale and Sabam when selling tickets there. And it isn't the only move by a European collecting society this autumn: in Germany, GEMA has rolled out festival-by-festival distribution. Two different decisions with a common thread: live music is being priced with more granularity, and, for once, with an announced roadmap.