As of 2014, SOCAN has revised the 22C Tariff to include this
type of licensing – watch for an update to this guide soon.
Licensing in other countries, particularly the United States and European Union is very different and will not be discussed in depth on this blog. If you are setting up a radio station in other jurisdictions, please research carefully before going LIVE.
REQUIRES UPDATE
Over the years, I’ve seen many discussions and questions about licensing for internet streaming radio. Depending on where you live and broadcast, it can be a complicated process. Being from Canada, I can help navigate this world for other Canadians (or those broadcasting here in the Great White North).
In Canada, the organization that licenses stations and collects fees on artists’ behalf is SOCAN, or the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. Internet Radio Stations fall under a category SOCAN calls “Internet – Other Uses of Music – Audio Websites.” They charge a fee based on the music you play (as a percentage) versus other content. For music stations like ours (Fusion109), we are calculated as 95% of our programming and remit a yearly fee based on this.
These calculations are made using Tariff 22F, which can be found on the SOCAN Website. Once you fill out this information and submit it to SOCAN, you will be contacted for payment. They operate a year behind, meaning when you pay fees for the previous year, you are given the licensed badge for the next year. (For example, I paid for 2019 and received the “Licensed To Play” badge for 2020.)
SOCAN will contact you occasionally to submit the music you are playing, but these reports could be more frequent, given the type of license we are registered with.
If you’re strictly an internet radio station, the licensing process is straightforward. You may need to consider different Tariffs if you serve other functions, but these are the basics.
Before finalizing your licensing plans, I strongly recommend reaching out to SOCAN. They are readily available by email or phone and are eager to assist you in your broadcasting endeavors.
As of July 2019, Entandem took over SOCAN licensing for businesses; this does not apply to broadcasters or digital media sources. If you are a business that uses music in other ways, contact them for licensing.