What is a Performing Rights Organization?

When our clients talk to us about using royalty free music for public use, say in a cafe, restaurant or shop, they will often tell us that they’ve been approached by PRS or PPL and they are looking for some way to avoid having to pay a recurring annual fee, over £1000 I recently heard from one restaurant owner. They are told they have to pay it, but they are not sure why, what is it for?

It’s difficult to know how the fees are calculated as they differ depending on the type of premises, footfall etc. however, I find that many clients are not really sure what the purpose of the performance rights organization is. Where do the fees go?

The money is collected on behalf of the PRO’s members, consisting of music artists, bands, composers and music publishers, and distributed between them after the PRO takes its share. The PRO is there to ensure that its members receive remuneration when their music is played in a public space, whether that be in an office, restaurant, shopping mall, TV, radio, wherever it can be heard.

If you are looking to use our royalty free music to play in your cafe, shop or restaurant, we can not guarantee that you won’t be approached by a PRO.

Having said that though, we do have royalty free music that is PRS/PPL free and can be used in public spaces. For more information on this, read our post Introducing Public Safe Music, No PRS & No PPL fees

For your reference, we have provided a list of royalty collecting agencies below for the various territories (countries) around the world.

List of Performance Rights Organizations

Argentina SADAIC
Australia APRA / AMCOS
Austria AKM
Belgium SABAM
Brazil UBC
Brazil ECAD
Bulgaria Musicautor
Canada SOCAN
Chile SCD
Colombia SAYCO
Croatia HDS
Czech Republic OSA
Denmark KODA
Estonia EAÜ
Finland TEOSTO
France SACEM
Germany GEMA
Greece AEPI
Hong Kong CASH
Hungary Artisjus
Iceland STEF
India IPRS
Ireland IMRO
Israel ACUM
Italy SIAE
Jamaica JACAP
Japan JASRAC
Lithuania LATGA-A
Malaysia MACP
Mexico SACM
Netherlands BUMA-STEMRA
New Zealand APRA / AMCOS
Norway TONO
Peru APDAYC
Poland ZAIKS
Portugal SPA
Russia RAO
Singapore COMPASS
South Africa SAMRO
Spain SGAE
Sweden STIM
Switzerland SUISA
Trinidad & Tobago COTT
Turkey MESAM
USA ASCAP
USA BMI
USA SESAC
United Kingdom PRS
Uruguay AGADU
Venezuela SACVEN

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Feel free to leave your own thoughts and experiences of PROs.