Australia's APRA AMCOS and PPCA create a single licensing body for public performances

By Emmanuel Legrand

Australia's two rights societies Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (APRA AMCOS) and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) have joined forces to offer a single licensing entity for the public performance of sound recordings.

  OneMusic Australia, which launched on July 1, 2019, will replace the decades-old two-license system into a one-license system, affecting over 140,000 businesses in the country. The new scheme mirrors the one already existing for the past five years in New Zealand, with OneMusic New Zealand combining APRA AMCOS and PPNZ. 

  OneMusic said that some 25 license schemes will be rolled out across the next financial year and that all sectors have a customised scheme. “At its simplest, OneMusic Australia provides a one-stop license for businesses to play music,” OneMusic Australia CEO Dan Rosen wrote in a blogpost. “Be it a restaurant, pub, hairdresser, cinema or café – this is what music users have been asking for. Where previously these businesses may have needed to speak to both APRA AMCOS and PPCA to meet their music licensing needs, OneMusic Australia will now provide a single, simpler interface.”

Deliver transparency

  Rosen added that the new system will “deliver increased transparency, save businesses time and reduce the burden of compliance.” Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS, said: “It’s a win for businesses using music, and a win for music creators – songwriters, composers, recording artists, publishers and labels.”

  APRA AMCOS collects rights on behalf of composers, lyricists and music publishers, while PPCA collects neighbouring rights for the use of sound recordings on behalf of recording artists and labels. PPCA represents over 45,000 record labels and recording artists, and APRA AMCOS has over 100,000 songwriter and publisher members.

  While the OneMusic Australia initiative concerns public performance licensing for businesses, both APRA AMCOS and PPCA will continue to manage their other licensing arrangements – such as broadcasting and online services – independently. APRA AMCOS will trade as OneMusic Australia, while PPCA has sub-licensed its public performance rights to the society as part of the OneMusic Australia initiative.