A per diem is a daily payment that covers your costs while you work – travel, food, the basics of turning up – rather than income earned from the song itself. The concept is standard in touring and film production. Until recently it did not exist for songwriters attending writing sessions, who were often expected to cover their own travel and subsistence with no guarantee of ever earning from the work.
That changed when the UK’s major labels agreed to pay songwriters a £75 per diem, plus expenses, for sessions they are invited to. The payment is non-recoupable, meaning it is not deducted from any future royalties or recharged to the featured artist. It is the first agreement of its kind with major labels anywhere in the world, reached through the government’s Creator Remuneration Working Group, with the BPI and AIM issuing guidance to labels so writers are not left out of pocket.
The agreement applies to sessions and camps run by the major labels. It does not cover sessions arranged by a publisher, a production company or another writer. Publisher camps are often funded from a travel pot that ultimately comes out of your recoupable advance, which is a different thing entirely from a payment you keep. If a label has invited you to write, it is reasonable to ask how the per diem is administered and what expenses are covered.
For media and concert composers, the agreement has less direct bearing, since that work usually runs through commissions rather than label writing sessions. The underlying argument, that a creator should not be out of pocket simply for showing up to work, applies across all of it.
The stated goal is to extend the principle beyond label camps to every commissioned session, whoever is running it. The per diem is modest, and on its own it does not fix songwriter income. As a baseline of fair treatment, it sets a precedent that did not exist before.
