The important facts about playing music in your venue

There's a lot of confusion around this topic, so let's clear up some of the most common misconceptions.

Myth: All royalty-free music is safe to play in your venue

This is one of the most common misconceptions we come across. Despite the name, most royalty-free music is still registered with PROs, meaning they can charge for its use in public. The good news is that some music is purposely kept outside of PROs, and that’s what we call Public Safe Music.

Why is so much royalty-free music registered with PROs?

It’s mostly created by independent composers looking to maximise income from their work. While public use of their music rarely generates meaningful earnings, being part of a PRO gives them a better chance of getting paid if their music is used on TV or radio, which is why most choose to register.

Can’t I just pay the composer directly to use their music?

The answer isn’t a simple yes or no, as music copyright can be complex and varies depending on the situation. In some cases, composers can issue a waiver for the PRO side of their music, allowing it to be used without additional PRO royalties in certain contexts, such as on-hold systems or corporate video.

However, this depends on the rights they hold and the terms of their PRO membership. In many cases, once music is registered with a PRO, the organisation takes over the management of performance rights, which can limit what the composer can do independently.

The bottom line

Don’t assume that anything labelled royalty-free, stock music, or copyright-free automatically means there are no performance rights involved; in most cases, there are.

For some music in our library, including certain works where we have direct control, there may be options to license public performance directly rather than through a PRO. For third-party music that is registered with a PRO, public performance is handled through those organisations in the usual way. This means standard licensing requirements still apply when music is played in public venues.

If you’re unsure about a specific track, get in touch, and we can clarify.

Will it stay Public Safe?

This is an important question to ask any supplier, as it isn’t always clearly explained. Music that isn’t registered with a PRO today may be registered in the future, at which point it would fall under standard PRO licensing.

Some composers choose not to register their work, while others may register later depending on their circumstances.

Public Safe Music is music cleared for use in public venues. Some tracks are not registered with a PRO, while others may be PRO-registered and available for direct licensing depending on the agreement in place.