The guide

Background music without ASCAP, BMI or SESAC fees — lawfully, for your business

In the US, publicly performing recorded music in a business normally means blanket licenses from the performing-rights organizations — ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR — which administer the public-performance right in musical compositions. There is a lawful alternative: playing music that is not part of any of those repertoires, under a direct license from the rightsholder. Because Tonarch's works are licensed directly and are not within the repertoires of ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR, playing only the Tonarch repertoire does not require a blanket license from those PROs. You remain responsible for any other music you play, and for confirming that no PRO has since added a given work — repertoires are large and can change.

What you pay today

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

• ASCAP
• BMI
• SESAC
• GMR

A Tonarch licence from $449 / 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 PRO licensing representative contacts you, 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 all four PRO repertoires.

FAQ

Do I really not need an ASCAP or BMI license?

PRO blanket licenses cover the repertoires those organizations administer. Tonarch music is licensed directly and is not within any of those repertoires, so playing only the Tonarch repertoire does not require licensing from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR. You remain responsible for any other music you play, including whether it falls under an exemption such as §110(5) — which is a separate legal basis from this certificate, not something this product relies on.

What do I show if a PRO 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 license ends, the right ends.