Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen – Bibliotekspenge for musik og lyd (registration for payout)

Denmark pays artists when libraries lend their work, and this is the scheme that covers recorded music rather than books. If you have CDs, vinyl or other sound carriers released in Denmark that can be borrowed from Danish public and school libraries, you can register for an annual share. It is not a project grant and there is nothing to spend it on — it is money for work already out in the world, paid once a year by the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces.

Three groups qualify: creators, meaning composers, lyricists and translators of song lyrics; performers, meaning musicians, soloists, conductors, bands, choirs and orchestras; and narrators of audiobooks, who share five per cent of the total, digital audiobook narrators included. Authors of the texts being read are covered by the separate books scheme, not this one. Estates are excluded: surviving relatives have no right to payment.

You register once. After that the only thing you file each year is any new work released since the last distribution. The 31 December 2026 deadline registers work for money distributed in 2027; the next cut-off after that is 31 December 2027, and the current round pays out on 11 June 2026.

No amount is published, and there is no formula on the page. A seven-member committee appointed by the Culture Minister decides the criteria by which the pot is divided. The registration form and guidance are in Danish.