Public Performance Licensing refers to the legal obligations that businesses have to obtain permission to play music in a commercial environment. This is different from when you listen to music in a private environment i.e. at home or in the car.

Ownership of music can get very complicated. There’s the composer, the writer, the artist, the performer plus the record company, music publishers etc. It would be nearly impossible to seek the permission of every owner/stakeholder for every piece of music used in your business.

Performing Rights Organisations make this easier by offering licences for all the music in their repertoire and any music that is owned by similar organisations, globally.

These are called blanket licenses. In return for these blanket licenses, Performing Rights Organisations charge a licensing fee based on the way their music is being used. This is then distributed back to their members as royalties.

OneMusic exists to simplify music licensing for New Zealand businesses. One licence grants businesses the legal permission they need to use music, while helping to ensure that music creators are compensated for the use of their work.

OneMusic requires each venue to have its own Public Performance licences, as every venue uses music and music videos differently, thus attracting different licence fees.

AMS Nightlife covers the commercial licences needed to supply the music but each venue is responsible for its own Public Performance licences.

There are three main considerations when using music in a business:

• Music you intend to play must be licensed for commercial use – which is what AMS Nightlife supplies (CDs, MP3s, consumer streaming services are for private use only)
• A licence to publicly perform any published music, Or
• A licence to publicly perform any sound recordings – Requires a OneMusic license.

It can get a little confusing but don’t worry, we have a team of licensing experts, who can help you understand exactly what your business needs.