licensing commerce music
When do I need a licence to play music in a public place and how do I get it?
<p>I would like to know if restaurants, lounges, clubs and places like that need a licence to play music. I'm a developer and I would like to develop a solution that would allow them to play music in a convenient way, but I'm not sure if this should be considered as a "commercial use". I live in West Africa, but I would like to sell my software in other parts of the world if possible so I would like a solution that is rather generic.</p>

<p>I can see that the prices for licences are quite high, so if I do need one, what solutions do I have? Do I need to purchase a licence for every single song, or is there any way to have a discount, a monthly fee or something like that? I'm pretty new to all this and I'd like to know who I should contact and how all this works. I've contacted Sony via their <a href="https://sonymusiclicensing.com">website</a> but I haven't received any reply yet. However, I've seen on forums people claiming to have received a reply from Sony and having to pay over $2500 for a single song (to be played in a video).</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>I don't believe there's a worldwide scheme here, you're likely going to have to negotiate this on a per-country basis at the very least. Talking about the UK specifically, there is a scheme run by the Performing Rights Society where you buy a license to play music in public places: <a href="https://www.prsformusic.com/USERS/BUSINESSESANDLIVEEVENTS/MUSICFORBUSINESSES/Pages/default.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.prsformusic.com/USERS/BUSINESSESANDLIVEEVENTS/MUSICFORBUSINESSES/Pages/default.aspx</a>. I assume other countries have similar schemes.</p>
