Firstly, it shows that your organisation respects and supports songwriters and recording artists - creators of Australian culture.

Secondly, if you use music that is protected by copyright within your business, Commonwealth legislation requires permission (a licence) from the creators of that music.

And last but not least - you benefit by using music: keeping your patrons and staff entertained, engaged and creating a better atmosphere.

Music creators generally authorise two organisations to administer their rights - APRA AMCOS (composers and music publishers) and PPCA (recording artists and record labels) in Australia. A OneMusic licence bundles all those rights into one licence that simplifies the process of gaining the required permission to use our music. Without this licence you would, for example, need to deal directly with the composers, songwriters, music publishers, recording artists and record labels who own the rights in the music you wish to use.

You can get independent legal information at copyright.org.au.

BRUCE ROWLAND

If your organisation wishes to publicly perform Bruce Rowland’s works in Australia in any context whatsoever (other than by showing films) you will need to seek the appropriate clearances directly from Mr Rowland’s representatives (as of 1 January 2017). For a full list of Mr Rowland's works, click here.

Email: bruce@rowland.net

We care about ensuring the licence fees you pay are distributed (paid out) to the rights holders in the most accurate and cost-effective way possible.

OneMusic distributes the fees it collects to APRA AMCOS and PPCA, the bodies behind the OneMusic licensing initiative. Both entities are the same in that all fees collected (minus administration costs) are paid out to members, licensors or affiliates using different sources of music use data, including direct reporting, sample data and other relevant sources.

Although separate companies, in the financial year 2018/2019 APRA AMCOS’ and PPCA’s “costs-to-revenue ratio” was similar - at approximately 14%. This means that around 86 cents in the dollar earned in licence fees collected by APRA AMCOS and PPCA is being paid to each organisation’s rights holders. Those costs compare very favourably to organisations providing the same service overseas.

Under OneMusic, APRA AMCOS and PPCA maintain their own distribution practices and policies, which are available online. Both organisations seek to achieve a delicate balance between accuracy of distribution on the one hand and minimising the administration of our licensees and our costs of processing on the other.

The following represent the main sources of data the two organisations use to make their distributions to music creators:

• Individual commercial radio and television stations reporting the music they broadcast;
• Digital download services, digital streaming services and record labels reporting the tracks or CDs they stream and sell;
• Services using “Music Recognition Technology” like digital fingerprinting and audio-recognition to match music use to their databases;
• Data from music providers who supply programmed curated music for specific industries, such as fitness;
• Background music suppliers who provide us with music reports from their clients’ playlists; and
• Set lists of musical works performed by artists and musicians at live/dance events and festivals supplied by event promoters.

The rates for the use of music under OneMusic licence schemes have been set following consultation and negotiation with user groups. We have established different licence schemes for different ways those industries use music.

Rates have been determined in general by reference to the nature and type of music use. That is, in our view the value of music to a nightclub (a business that attracts customers predominantly on the basis of the music it plays) is very different to the value of music to a café. Our fees are therefore segmented to different industry types in order to appropriately differentiate rates.

In addition, the rate needs to be scalable – for example we do not believe that all other things being equal, a small retail outlet should pay the same fee as a large department store, or a small country pub the same as a large city hotel. From this starting point, in very broad terms where the music use is intrinsic to the business, our rates tend to be higher and linked to patronage (for example by reference to attendance, capacity, class numbers or box office takings). At the other end of the spectrum, rates will be linked to another metric that is easily ‘measured’ by the business and verifiable by us – for example the size of the business in metres squared.

We publish a series of information sheets to all of our industry specific licence schemes on this website.

Note that where we refer to quarterly invoices for accounts we calculate the per day fee by the exact number of days in the a three month period not your total annual fee divided by four, so you will see that:

• September – November quarter is 91 days
  
• December – February quarter is 90 days because leap years are not counted as an extra day
  
• March – May quarter and the June – August quarter are both 92 Days

As a safeguard, we believe it is wise to advise us immediately if you use music in your business in any way so we can advise if you need a licence from OneMusic. This applies to all areas of your business – office, warehouse, front reception area, retail space, yards and outdoor areas.

According to their Terms of Use, personal/non-commercial digital music services like Spotify and Apple Music can only be used for personal and domestic purposes. However, whatever the source of the music used at your organisation, if you use OneMusic Australia’s music then you’ll still need a licence from OneMusic to play it in your business.

In addition, if you copy OneMusic Australia’s music, for instance from one CD to another, or you stream it from a personal/non-commercial digital music service, such as Spotify, then you’ll also need coverage called “Digital Copy/Delivery".

You should be aware that a OneMusic Australia licence, even when it includes Digital Copy/Delivery only gives you permission to use OneMusic’s music in your business (or event); it does not override the Terms of Use for the personal digital music service you are using, nor does it give you permission to use that particular music service for a commercial purpose – that permission can only come from the owners of that service.

You may be better to consider a commercially licensed streaming service. We have compiled a list of these music services in the Background Music Guide.

For amendments such as changes to music use, change of ownership or change of legal entity contact us at hello@onemusic.com.au or phone 1300 162 162.

If your business has been affected by a disaster such as fire, flood, storm or drought, or if wish to request extended payment terms due to hardship, please contact our Customer Support team on 1300 162 162 or email hello@onemusic.com.au to discuss options and put your account on hold, pending an update of the situation.

Yes you can.

OneMusic provides quarterly invoices for accounts where licence fees are in excess of $500 per year, however if this is not suitable and you are experiencing financial difficulties, please complete this form: https://form.jotform.com/ONEMUSIC/payplan.

Your account will be reviewed by our Credit Team, and based on the balance owing and the time frame involved we will get back to you with some options to help you through any difficulties.

Note that where we refer to quarterly invoices for accounts we calculate the per day fee by the exact number of days in the a three month period not your total annual fee divided by four, so you will see that:

• September – November quarter is 91 days
  
• December – February quarter is 90 days because leap years are not counted as an extra day
  
• March – May quarter and the June – August quarter are both 92 Days

If you have ceased trading, if you no longer wish to use OneMusic’s musical works, sound recordings or music videos in your business, or have entered into alternative licence arrangements for some of the rights represented by OneMusic, please complete our Licence Cancellation Request form.

If you wish to speak with our friendly team, contact us at hello@onemusic.com.au or call us on 1300 162 162

BRUCE ROWLAND

If your organisation wishes to publicly perform Bruce Rowland’s works in Australia in any context whatsoever (other than by showing films) you will need to seek the appropriate clearances directly from Mr Rowland’s representatives (as of 1 January 2017). For a full list of Mr Rowland's works, click here.

Email: bruce@rowland.net

Complaints

If you are not satisfied or have an issue with the manner or standard of your interactions with OneMusic Australia you can review our complaints procedure here and if you wish to proceed with a complaint you can send it to this address complaints@onemusic.com.au.

Disputes

If you do not agree with how we apply a licence to your business - you disagree about the licence agreement OneMusic Australia has asked you to enter into, our rates or how your licence fees have been calculated - you can:
a. send details directly to us at disputes@onemusic.com.au or 16 Mountain Street, Ultimo, NSW 2007; or
b. lodge it directly with our independent third party Alternative Dispute Resolution facilitator, Resolution Pathways.

More information this process and how to lodge a dispute is available at complaints and dispute resolution on our website.

If you were licensed with PPCA and APRA AMCOS before OneMusic Australia and you consider your annual fee has seen an unexpected increase under the new OneMusic Australia scheme, please contact us on 1300 162 162 or hello@onemusic.com.au

If you want to know more about the differences between a “Complaint” and a “Dispute”, please see complaints and dispute resolution on our website.