Councils

The licence is calculated based on a Per Resident Fee. OneMusic uses the latest estimated resident population data from stats.govt.nz. Each year we confirm this figure with stats.govt.nz and update the council’s resident population.

Click here to download the data from stats.nz

This Music Licence doesn’t cover music use in any council-controlled organisation, or music in Fitness Centres or Fitness Classes where there is a charge for admission or membership to the facility, or Ticketed Events.

Council-controlled organisations and Fitness Centres need to be licensed separately.

For full details on what the Music Licence covers see the Terms of Use on the Licence Agreement.

This licence does not apply if a) tickets are sold to the public or b) if fees are paid to performers exceed $5,000 (excl GST). The promoter or event producer will need to obtain the appropriate event licence from both APRA and if sound recordings are used, Recorded Music NZ.

Apply for event licences here:

• APRA AMCOS
• Recorded Music NZ

When a third party wishes to hire out council building, be them community halls and the like, the third party will need to ensure they obtain a separately licence specific to their music use. Click here for the different licenses available. 

Under the Copyright Act (1994), having permission from music creators to use their music outside of a domestic setting (a 'public performance') is a legal requirement. This permission is required regardless of how you play music – whether you play the radio, CDs, use digital music services, or host live performers or DJs. Your OneMusic licence gives you permission to play essentially all commercially released music from here and around the world.

Yes it is. The Copyright Act clearly establishes these public performance rights. The Copyright Act also outlines the penalties for anyone in breach of the Act.

While there’s little doubt that music can empower political messages and galvanise supporters, political parties should be aware of the complexity and risks involved when using music for political purposes at events and in videos, whether on social media or in advertising.

Click here to view the Political Parties’ Guide to Music Licensing. This guide sets out risk management factors that political parties and political organisations should consider in advance of using music for political purposes.

OneMusic is a joint licensing initiative between APRA AMCOS and Recorded Music NZ. Many music creators around the world earn an income by granting organisations, like ours, the right to collect and pay their royalties.

OneMusic simplifies the licensing process and allows music users to meet their copyright obligations to play our music in their business.

When you hear about music royalties, that’s what we do.

Your OneMusic licence fee is distributed by APRA AMCOS and Recorded Music NZ, who are the companies behind OneMusic. Each organisation has a commitment to their music creators and their own distribution policies.

Every month over 330 million lines of music data is analysed from digital music services, background music suppliers, radio stations, television stations, live performers and more. After minimal administration costs all money collected is paid to our local and international music creators – songwriters, composers, publishers, recording artists and record labels.

Find out more from APRA AMCOS and Recorded Music NZ.

Find out more about why you need a licence and the authenticity of our rights from other industry and government bodies and New Zealand associations.