New fee structure for café and restaurant music fees
A new set of fee structures have been released by Australia’s two major music licensors ahead of the planned launch of combined platform One Music next year.
The Australasian Performing Right Association and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (APRA AMCOS) and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) last week published an updated music licensing scheme for dining establishments, including restaurants, cafes and takeaway shops.
Under the new restaurant fee scheme released last week, fees vary based on liquor licensing, seating capacity and whether music is live, streamed or played from a CD.
The move comes amid industry concern over fee increases for many retail businesses and the capacity of small businesses to switch over their existing licensing arrangements.
One Music describes itself as a “one-stop shop” for music licensing, but there are fears some businesses could see a cost increase under the tiered system, which separates businesses by venue capacity. However, One Music says it will bring an end to years of complaints over the complexity of the previous system through APRA AMCOS and the PPCA.
More than 100,000 license holders need to be moved over to new agreements, with APRA working with the PPCA to align license renewal dates with the aim of doing it in one go.
An online system is also being built so new licenses can be paid for through an e-commerce portal with a launch date slated for July 1, 2019.
Sheridan Randall, 5th November 2018
