Among the biggest developments of 2026, the music collecting industry is also starting to evolve. We head back to Belgium, a country already in the spotlight thanks to Tomorrowland, as the Belgian copyright management society Sabam has introduced a new licensing model based on the actual use of music, replacing the traditional estimation-based system.
To make this new model possible, Sabam has approved Vollou as one of the official providers of its Music Recognition Technology (MRT).
So, what exactly is Vollou? It is a software platform that automatically recognizes the music played inside a venue by using the existing sound system, without requiring any additional hardware. The system then generates a precise log of every track played, including playback time and song identification.
For those less familiar with the music collecting industry, the difference is simple: venues now pay copyright royalties only for the music they actually play. As a result, artists, songwriters, and rights holders receive more accurate royalties based on the real usage of their works.
However, there’s another particularly interesting aspect. In many countries, DJs and clubs love to play brand-new music or even completely unreleased tracks. Since these tracks are not yet linked to a licensing database or collecting society repertoire, they are not included in the total number of licensed songs played during an event.
Vollou already works with major collecting societies such as PRS for Music in the United Kingdom and BumaStemra in the Netherlands.
Overall, this is an important step forward for the music collecting industry. Beyond making royalty distribution fairer, it could also increase the number of brand-new and exclusive tracks played in DJ sets, helping clubs reclaim one of their original purposes: being the first place where audiences discover the music of tomorrow.
