IPRS registration for a lyricist or composer: what it is, who can join and what it pays

IPRS registration for a lyricist or composer: what it is, who can join and what it pays

Every stream of a ghazal pays two different people for two different things. The owner of the recording is paid for the recording. The poet and the composer are owed something else: a royalty for the public performance and communication of the song they wrote, which exists whoever sings it and whoever owns the master. In India that second royalty is collected by one society, and a writer who is not a member is not paid it.

What IPRS is

The Indian Performing Right Society is the copyright society registered under section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957, to carry on copyright business in musical works and literary works. Musical works are compositions; literary works, in this context, are lyrics. Its registration was renewed in January 2025 for five years. Its annual report for 2024 to 2025 describes the rights it administers as performance, mechanical and synchronisation rights.

In plain terms, IPRS licenses the use of songs to broadcasters, streaming services, venues, events, and film and advertising producers. It collects the fees and distributes them to the writers and publishers of the songs that were used. The society's annual report gives a membership of more than seventeen thousand, with 994 lyricists, 754 composers, 1,469 writers who are both, and 591 publishers joining in that year alone.

Who can join

The membership guide says any creator or owner of music, whether a composer, a lyricist or a publisher, can register with IPRS as a member. The two writer categories are Author, for the composer of a musical work, and Author, for the lyricist of a literary work. A person who does both joins in both roles. A publisher is the company that owns or administers the writing; an independent writer who releases their own songs can also join as their own publisher.

There is one eligibility rule to know. IPRS states that it accepts applications from authors and composers who have one or more published works. Published here means released, so a composer whose first ghazal has just come out qualifies, and a composer with a drawer full of unreleased songs does not yet. Release first, then register.

What it costs

The membership guide lists a one-time application fee for each category. The figures below are from that guide; check the current amount on the membership portal before you pay.

For most independent ghazal writers the first row is the one that applies. The publisher category matters only if you also want to collect the publisher's share of the royalty yourself rather than leave it unclaimed or with a publisher.

How it works, in order

• Release at least one song, so you meet the published work rule.
• Apply on the IPRS membership portal in the category that fits: lyricist, composer, or both.
• Pay the one-time application fee for that category.
• On acceptance, IPRS issues your membership and an IPI number, the international identifier for a writer, and emails you the format for registering works.
• Register each song with its title, its writers and their shares. The poet and the composer each register the same song from their own side, and the shares must agree.
• Keep the IPI number. Distributors such as DistroKid let you attach it to your songwriter credit, which helps the platforms and the society match the same person.

What about the singer

IPRS collects for writers, not performers. A singer who did not write the words or the music has a different right, the performer's right, and a different society. The Indian Singers' and Musicians' Rights Association, which began as the Indian Singers' Rights Association, describes itself as the copyright society for administering the rights of singers as a category of performers. Its founding documents state its object as protecting and exercising, on behalf of singers, all their rights in their performances. A singer who wants that royalty joins there.

Why it matters for a ghazal in particular

A ghazal is more likely than a pop song to be sung by someone other than its writers, and more likely to be sung again by others. Each new recording of the song pays its recording owner through the distributor, and pays the poet and the composer through IPRS, if they are members and the work is registered. A poet who registered a ghazal once is paid every time anyone records it. A poet who did not is paid by nobody, and the money sits unclaimed.

If you set the words of a living poet with permission, ask whether the poet is an IPRS member, and register the work with the agreed shares. If the poet is in the public domain, the composer registers the music alone. Either way the registration is one afternoon's work and lasts as long as the song does.