Music licensing glossary for venue owners

One of the four US performing rights organizations (PROs). ASCAP says “you need a license with each PRO that represents the creators of the music that you play” (ASCAP Music Licensing FAQs).

It publishes a rate schedule for restaurants, bars and nightclubs, with fees per occupant (ASCAP rate schedule, calendar year 2026).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?; How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?

One of the four US performing rights organizations (PROs). BMI says a license from another PRO “allows you only to perform copyrighted music represented by that organization” (BMI Music Licensing FAQs).

For bars and restaurants, BMI says its license “starts at a little more than a dollar per day” and rises with the type of music, how often it is performed, and occupancy (BMI, music licensing for bars and restaurants).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?; How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?

A service that licenses the recorded music it supplies for background use in a business, such as Pandora CloudCover, Mood Media, Rockbot or Soundtrack.

A service generally covers its own recorded catalog played in public areas, not live performances, cover artists, DJs or karaoke (Pandora CloudCover, licensing FAQ).

Explained in Can I play Spotify in my restaurant or bar?; Do I need a license for live music, DJs or karaoke?

ASCAP and BMI operate under long-standing antitrust consent decrees with the Department of Justice; SESAC and GMR do not. The DOJ notes the decrees “regulate only ASCAP and BMI” (DOJ statement, January 15, 2021, p. 2), and the Copyright Office says “neither SESAC nor GMR is subject to such direct antitrust regulation” (Copyright and the Music Marketplace, p. 34).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?

A charge to get in, such as admission or a cover. ASCAP’s 2026 rate schedule adds a line of $2.72 per occupant for an admission or cover charge (ASCAP rate schedule, calendar year 2026).

Music services treat it as a limit too: Soundtrack says that if a business “Charges an admission fee”, the public performance rights “are not licensed by Soundtrack” (Soundtrack General Terms), and SESAC says a service’s license “only extends to the music they supply to establishments with no admission, membership or similar charge” (SESAC FAQ).

Explained in How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?; Do I need a license for live music, DJs or karaoke?

A license a venue takes from a PRO itself, rather than through a music service. Venues that play music not supplied by a licensed service, or that host live music, DJs or karaoke, may need licenses from each PRO whose catalog is played (U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright and the Music Marketplace” (2015)).

Explained in Can I play Spotify in my restaurant or bar?

The line in ASCAP’s rate schedule for karaoke, DJs, emcees, dancing, shows, acts or games. For 2026 it adds $2.72 per occupant to the annual rate (ASCAP rate schedule, calendar year 2026).

Explained in How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?

Songs are often co-written by writers who belong to different PROs: the rights “are often split among multiple songwriters, with differing publishers and PROs” (U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright and the Music Marketplace” (2015), p. 123).

Under fractional licensing a PRO licenses only its share of a work, “meaning that a licensee must obtain a license from all of the PROs affiliated with the work (or from the songwriters or publishers directly) in order to legally perform it” (DOJ statement, January 15, 2021, p. 2).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?

Global Music Rights, one of the four US performing rights organizations (PROs). GMR says licenses with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC “do not grant you authorization” to perform music by its writers, “and vice versa”, and that its rates “depend upon your type of business and how the music is presented to the public” (Global Music Rights FAQ).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?; How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?

Music performed on the premises by a band, a DJ or karaoke. Each of the four PROs says the license for performances on a venue’s premises is the business’s responsibility, not the performer’s (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR). SESAC puts it as “Paying the band does not cover you” (SESAC FAQ).

Business music services generally do not cover live performances (Pandora CloudCover, licensing FAQ).

Explained in Do I need a license for live music, DJs or karaoke?

The capacity figure that ASCAP and BMI use to set their fees. BMI notes occupancy is most commonly set by the local fire marshal (BMI, music licensing for bars and restaurants).

In ASCAP’s 2026 schedule, the annual fee is a rate per occupant multiplied by the premises occupancy; if no official occupancy exists, square footage divided by 20 (ASCAP rate schedule, calendar year 2026).

Explained in How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?

An organization that licenses the public performance of songs for songwriters and publishers. Bars, restaurants and hotels are among the businesses that take PRO licenses (U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright and the Music Marketplace” (2015)).

The four in the US are ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR. Each represents its own members’ works, so a venue can need more than one license (SESAC, “What is a performing rights organization?”).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?; Got a letter from BMI, ASCAP, SESAC or GMR?

A consumer plan from a service such as Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube. Their terms limit use to personal listening: Spotify grants permission for “personal, non-commercial use” (Spotify End User Agreement, section 3), and Apple allows use “only for personal, noncommercial purposes” (Apple Media Services Terms, section F).

Explained in Can I play Spotify in my restaurant or bar?

A letter from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR. A first letter usually offers a license and asks about your venue; some go on to follow-up contact.

In October 2026, music publishers and songwriters affiliated with ASCAP filed copyright infringement lawsuits against hospitality and entertainment businesses in several states, and several complaints reportedly allege repeated licensing contact before suit (Brownstein client alert, “Music licensing under the microscope” (Nov. 9, 2026)).

Explained in Got a letter from BMI, ASCAP, SESAC or GMR?

Playing recorded or live music in a business is a public performance. In the US, songwriters are paid for it through performing rights organizations (PROs), which license the public performance of songs for songwriters and publishers (U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright and the Music Marketplace” (2015)).

Explained in How US music licensing works; Got a letter from BMI, ASCAP, SESAC or GMR?

A free search, published by each PRO, that shows which PRO represents a song. Songview is a shared database that BMI describes as covering “the four major PROs, BMI, ASCAP, GMR and SESAC”, with ownership shares per song (Songview at BMI; also reachable from ASCAP’s repertory search). SESAC and GMR publish their own searches (SESAC repertory search, Global Music Rights search).

A search tells you who represents a song, not whether your venue is licensed for it.

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?

One of the four US performing rights organizations (PROs). SESAC says each organization “licenses only the copyrighted works of its own respective copyright holders” (SESAC FAQ), and that “music licensing fees vary by industry” and by the degree to which music is used (SESAC, how are fees determined?).

Explained in Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?; How much does a music license cost a restaurant or bar?

A narrow exemption in 17 U.S.C. §110(5)(B) for playing a transmission from an FCC-licensed radio or TV station (or, for video, a cable system or satellite carrier). Food and drink venues under 3,750 gross square feet, and other businesses under 2,000, have no equipment limits; larger venues qualify only within limits on loudspeakers, screens and screen size. Other conditions apply in every case, such as no direct charge to see or hear the transmission (17 U.S.C. §110(5), exemption for certain establishments).

It never covers streaming services, downloads, CDs or vinyl, live music, DJs or karaoke, or music added to social media or marketing videos.

Explained in Is my venue exempt from music licensing?

What a court may award for each work infringed under 17 U.S.C. §504(c): $750 to $30,000, up to $150,000 if the infringement is willful, and as little as $200 if the infringer proves it was innocent (17 U.S.C. §504(c), statutory damages).

That is the range the law allows, not a prediction for any venue.

Explained in Got a letter from BMI, ASCAP, SESAC or GMR?

Infringement that a court finds willful. US law then allows statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work, above the $750 to $30,000 range that otherwise applies (17 U.S.C. §504(c), statutory damages). The range describes the law, not the likely outcome for any venue.

Explained in Got a letter from BMI, ASCAP, SESAC or GMR?