Last year, EAÜ collected €11.97 million in royalties — nearly 11% more than in 2024.

Kaalep told ERR that a key driver behind the record revenue was the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, which likely hosted more large-scale concerts last year than ever before in Estonia's recent history.

In 2025, AC/DC, Imagine Dragons, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Bryan Adams, and others performed at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.

"Live performances significantly boosted our results. We can already see that this year there won't be as many concerts of that scale — last year was exceptional, including the Song Festival," Kaalep noted.

The largest share of royalties comes from music, followed by audiovisual authors represented by EAÜ under cooperation agreements, as well as visual art and choreography.

Unlike public library lending compensation — where detailed annual payout tables are published — EAÜ does not disclose lists showing how much each individual author received.

Kaalep explained that, unlike state-funded lending compensation, EAÜ payouts are market-based. The organization collects fees according to market conditions from various sources — radio, television, concerts, nightclubs, cinemas, background music users, and more.

"We don't disclose individual earnings, but last year we paid out over €9 million in total. The recipients include a very diverse range of authors — not only pop music, but also classical," Kaalep confirmed.

However, EAÜ did reveal the five most-played Estonian songs on radio and TV last year. The top tracks of 2025 were as follows:

1. Tommy Cash "Espresso Macchiato"
2. Nublu & Vaiko Eplik "Lausu tõtt"
3. Nublu & Maria Kallastu "Push It"
4. Nublu "Peagi saabun"
5. An-Marlen "Peegel"

Among international tracks, the most played in Estonia in 2025 were:

1. Billie Eilish "Birds of a Feather"
2. Rosé & Bruno Mars "APT"
3. Alex Warren "Ordinary"
4. Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars "Die with a Smile"
5. Damiano David "Born with a Broken Heart"

A total of 59% of royalties collected in Estonia were paid abroad. According to Kaalep, this reflects Estonia's openness as a market and the popularity of foreign music. The largest payments went to Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Kaalep noted that many major U.S. and U.K. publishers have offices registered in Sweden.

"Our musical ties with neighboring countries aren't particularly strong. We're more closely connected with the U.S. and the U.K. than with Latvia or Lithuania," Kaalep said. "In some ways that's logical — there aren't globally major artists there — but the cooperation could still be closer."

Estonian artists receive the most foreign royalties from Germany, Latvia, the U.S., and the U.K. Kaalep said Latvia's high ranking was somewhat surprising.

"It seems our artists are more popular there than theirs are here. There's no denying that the Anglo-American cultural sphere is extremely powerful in music today," he added.

Somewhat unexpectedly, live performances generated more royalties than radio.

"Very close behind were recordings, digital, and online sources — this includes audiovisual platforms like Netflix, Disney, Telia, and Elisa, as well as audio-only services like Spotify and YouTube Music," Kaalep said, adding that despite their massive usage, these platforms pay relatively little.

According to Kaalep, Spotify streams offer recognition and marketing value, but generating significant income requires a very large global audience.

"We're glad Estonia has artists with hundreds of millions of streams per song, but those are exceptions," he noted.

EAÜ paid slightly under €3 million to its own members last year. In total, 4,600 people received royalties, of whom 3,000 earned less than €100 annually. Only 19 individuals earned more than €20,000 per year. According to Kaalep, this shows that while many people receive some income, only a small group earns substantial amounts.

"Those 19 people earned €663,915 combined — about €35,000 per year on average. So the distribution is very top-heavy: a small group at the top and a very broad base at the bottom. That's typical for authors' societies — many receive royalties, but only a few earn significant amounts," he said.

It is worth noting that many authors are also performers, meaning they earn performance fees in addition to royalties. Some also manage their own recordings, effectively acting as producers, and can earn income from three different sources.

Kaalep also pointed out that in advertising music, each author represents themselves independently, meaning EAÜ does not have an overview of those earnings.

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