If you make content in Australia, you will hear APRA AMCOS and OneMusic mentioned sooner or later, often by someone who is not quite sure what they do. Both are real and important. Neither one gives you permission to put a song in your video, and that is the misunderstanding worth clearing up first.
What is APRA AMCOS?
APRA AMCOS is a music rights management organisation representing more than 128,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. It licenses organisations to perform, broadcast, communicate, play in public or reproduce its members' songs, then pays the fees out as royalties. It is a member-owned organisation, not a government body.
The name joins two bodies: APRA, the Australasian Performing Right Association, which deals with performing rights, and AMCOS, the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society, which deals with reproduction (mechanical) rights. They look after the song side. Recording artists and record labels generally appoint a different organisation, PPCA, for the sound recording side.
What is OneMusic Australia?
OneMusic Australia is a joint licensing initiative of APRA AMCOS and PPCA, launched in 2019. It gives businesses and organisations one licence to play music publicly, covering both the songs and the recordings, instead of separate agreements with each body. Shops, gyms, bars, venues, fitness classes and events are typical licensees.
OneMusic does not supply music. It licenses the right to play music to the public, whatever the source. It also makes a point many business owners miss: a personal streaming subscription, a CD or the radio covers private and domestic listening only, not playing music to customers or staff.
Does OneMusic cover putting music in a video?
No. OneMusic covers public performance: music played in a business, at an event or in a venue. Putting a song into a video, ad, film or podcast is synchronisation, a different right controlled by whoever owns the song and the recording. APRA AMCOS says that, as a general rule, it does not administer sync licences.
APRA AMCOS points sync requests to the publisher or songwriter for the song, and to the record label or artist for the recording. That split is explained in sync licence vs master licence. After sync permission is in place, APRA AMCOS notes that showing the finished video at an event may need a OneMusic licence, and making it available online may need an APRA AMCOS licence for whoever operates the service.
Do online creators need OneMusic or APRA AMCOS licences?
Usually not for uploading videos to large platforms. Video and streaming services hold their own licence agreements with APRA AMCOS for the music on their service. What creators do need is sync permission for music they did not make. The picture changes if you also run a venue, host events, or operate your own streaming service.
If you distribute audio yourself, such as a podcast on your own website or a download store, APRA AMCOS offers online licences for those services, and its small Online Mini Licence lists podcasts among the covered uses. That is about the service making music available, and it sits alongside, not instead of, permission to use the music in the first place. The podcast side is covered in how to license music for a podcast.
| If you are doing this | You probably need |
|---|---|
| Using a song in a YouTube video, Reel or TikTok | Sync permission from whoever controls the song and recording |
| Using a song in a paid ad | Sync permission that covers advertising |
| Playing music in a shop, cafe, gym or office | A public performance licence, such as OneMusic |
| Music at a ticketed event or in a venue | A OneMusic licence, usually held by the venue or organiser |
| Showing a finished video with music at an event | Sync permission for the video, plus possibly OneMusic for the screening |
| Running your own streaming, download or podcast service | Sync or use permission, plus possibly an APRA AMCOS online licence |
Does APRA AMCOS offer any licences for using music in productions?
Yes, for production music. APRA AMCOS licenses production music, which is library music written and recorded specifically for use in productions, for film, TV, ads, radio, websites and more in Australia and New Zealand. These licences do not cover commercially released songs, which still need permission from their owners.
So if a producer tells you they have an APRA AMCOS licence for the music in a project, it is worth asking which kind. A production music licence is a genuine route for library tracks. It is not a way to license any song you like.
What does a cadential. licence include?
A cadential. licence is a sync licence only. It covers putting a specific song into your project for the use type you choose. It does not grant public performance or communication rights administered by APRA AMCOS, PPCA or similar organisations, and in-store or venue background music needs public performance rights that a sync licence does not include.
Many independent artists are APRA AMCOS members, and that does not conflict with licensing their songs for sync. Membership deals with performance and reproduction royalties; the sync licence deals with putting the music in your content. If you want to support local songwriters directly, see licensing music by Australian artists.
The short version: OneMusic is for playing music in public, sync is for putting music in content. Many businesses need both, most creators need only the second.
Questions, answered
Does a OneMusic licence let me use songs in my YouTube videos or ads?
No. OneMusic covers playing music publicly in a business or at an event. Putting a song into a video, ad or other audiovisual content is synchronisation, which needs permission from whoever controls the song and the recording. APRA AMCOS itself says that, as a general rule, it does not administer sync licences.
Do YouTubers need an APRA AMCOS licence?
Generally not for uploading to large platforms, because video and streaming services hold their own licence agreements with APRA AMCOS. What you do need is sync permission for any music you did not create. If you run your own streaming, download or podcast service, ask APRA AMCOS which online licence applies.
Does a cadential. licence include APRA AMCOS or OneMusic rights?
No. A cadential. licence grants synchronisation rights only. It does not include public performance or communication rights administered by APRA AMCOS, PPCA or equivalent organisations overseas. In-store or venue background music needs public performance rights, which a sync licence does not include.
My business plays a streaming playlist in store. Is that covered by my subscription?
OneMusic says no. A personal streaming subscription, a CD or the radio gives you access to music for private and domestic use. Playing it to customers, staff or the public in a business setting is public performance, which usually needs a licence such as one from OneMusic.
Sources
- About OneMusic, OneMusic Australia
- What we do, APRA AMCOS
- Synchronisation, APRA AMCOS
- Production Music licensing explained, APRA AMCOS
This guide is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own project, talk to a lawyer. Licence details on cadential. are set out in the licence terms.