The guide

Background music without SOCAN fees — lawfully, for your business

In Canada, publicly performing recorded music in a business normally means tariffs to SOCAN (authors' rights) and Re:Sound (neighbouring rights — performers and producers). There is a lawful alternative: playing music that is not part of either repertoire, under a direct licence from the rightsholder. Section 75 of the Copyright Act preserves a copyright owner's right to license directly rather than through a collective society. Because Tonarch's works are licensed directly and are not within SOCAN's or Re:Sound's repertoires, playing only the Tonarch repertoire does not require a licence from those organisations. Re:Sound's equitable-remuneration right is repertoire-based and is discharged by this direct licence for the Tonarch repertoire. You remain responsible for any other music you play.

What you pay today

Today, playing music in a venue usually means fees to one or more collecting societies:

• SOCAN
• Re:Sound

A Tonarch licence from $499 / year per location — one predictable fee, anchored to what you pay now.

The legal basis of direct licensing

Collecting-society fees apply to works within those societies' repertoire. When the rightsholder grants a direct licence and the works are registered with no society, no society royalties arise from playing them publicly. That is the model Tonarch operates on.

The inspection scenario

If a SOCAN or Re:Sound licensing representative contacts you, present your Tonarch License Certificate — issued to your business by name and address — with the repertoire annex listing every track. It names the rightsholder and confirms the works sit outside both SOCAN's and Re:Sound's repertoires.

FAQ

Do I really not need a SOCAN or Re:Sound licence?

SOCAN and Re:Sound administer the repertoires assigned to them by their members. Tonarch music is licensed directly and is not within either repertoire, so playing only the Tonarch repertoire does not require a licence from them. Canada follows a voluntary collective model — s. 75 of the Copyright Act preserves direct licensing by a non-member rightsholder — and has no extended collective licensing regime covering commercial background music. You remain responsible for any other music you play.

What about Re:Sound and equitable remuneration?

Under s. 19 of the Copyright Act, performers and producers are entitled to equitable remuneration when a sound recording is played in public; Re:Sound administers this for its members. Tonarch is not a Re:Sound member and has assigned it nothing, so this certificate is the direct licence that discharges that obligation for the Tonarch repertoire. You remain responsible for equitable remuneration on any non-Tonarch music you play.

What do I show if a society contacts me?

Your License Certificate, issued to your business by name and address, plus the repertoire annex listing every track. Both are delivered the moment you buy and can be printed or shown on screen.

Am I buying files or a right?

You are buying the right to play the listed works publicly in one named location. Files are delivered, but the product is the ongoing right plus the documentation. If the licence ends, the right ends.