If you stream copyrighted commercial music on your station, you need music licenses. These are issued by your country's rights organizations, not by CloudRadio. We provide hosting and streaming infrastructure; we do not pay royalties or report listening data on your behalf.
Below: your three options, what licenses look like by country, and how to skip licensing entirely if you'd rather.
The three paths
Most broadcasters fall into one of these:
- License commercial music yourself. You sign agreements with your country's rights organizations and pay annual or usage-based fees. This is what you do if you want to play chart hits, classic rock, the catalog you grew up with.
- Use royalty-free, Creative Commons, or production music. Free libraries and some paid services license music you can play on air, but the big subscription libraries cover a radio station only on enterprise terms or special licences. Check the licence before you subscribe. See Royalty-free alternatives below.
- Run a talk, podcast, or Creative Commons station. Talk radio, news, sports commentary, public-domain audio and Creative Commons music need no music licences as long as no commercial music plays in them, including theme music and beds, and the Creative Commons licence allows your use (a NonCommercial licence may not cover a station that runs ads or sponsors, and a track registered with a PRO still owes performance royalties). A podcast you air needs its producer's permission, and any songs in it still need licences. A game broadcast also picks up the music the stadium plays. In the United States, the SoundExchange webcaster rates do not count an "incidental performance", which includes "brief performances during sporting or other public events" and "ambient music that is background at a public event", as long as no single recording is featured for more than thirty seconds (37 CFR 380.7). That rule covers sound recordings only: for the songs, BMI argued in court in 2016 that stadium music picked up by a broadcaster's microphones calls for a licence that covers "incidental and ambient uses" (The Hollywood Reporter).
If none of the music you play is registered with a PRO or a sound recording organization, skip to Royalty-free alternatives. Otherwise read on: a royalty-free or Creative Commons track registered with a PRO still needs the composition licence for your country.
Two rights, not one
For option 1, every country splits music licensing into two separate rights, and you typically need both:
- Musical work / composition: the song itself (lyrics, melody). Owned by songwriters and publishers, collected by Performing Rights Organizations (PROs).
- Sound recording: the specific recorded performance. Owned by recording artists and labels, collected by neighboring-rights or sound-recording organizations.
If a license body covers only one of these, you still need a separate license for the other. The country sections below list both.
Country-by-country
United States
A stream needs licences for the musical work from the performing rights organisations (PROs) whose songs you play, and for the sound recording from SoundExchange. AM and FM stations owe nothing for sound recordings over the air; their own streams do.
Musical work: pick the PROs that cover the songs in your catalog:
- ASCAP: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
- BMI: Broadcast Music, Inc.
- SESAC
- GMR: Global Music Rights, founded by Irving Azoff in 2013. Smaller catalog but includes Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, The Eagles, The Weeknd, and others. Often overlooked.
In practice, most stations license all four because it's hard to know which PRO represents which song.
Sound recording: statutory webcaster license:
SoundExchange collects royalties under the statutory webcasting license. You pay per performance: each time any part of a recording plays to one listener. Your rates depend on what kind of station you run. The figures below are for 2026, as we checked them on 31 October 2026.
- Commercial webcasters (internet-only stations): $0.0025 per performance and a $1,000 minimum fee for each station or channel, with at most $100,000 in minimum fees in total. The minimum fee is credited against that year's royalties. These are interim rates. On 31 October 2026 the Copyright Royalty Judges had not yet set webcaster rates for 2026 to 2030: their Web VI proceeding (docket 23-CRB-0012-WR) was still open, and 37 CFR 380.10 still showed the 2025 rates. Until the Judges decide, SoundExchange's 2026 commercial webcaster memo (December 2025) says webcasters keep paying the 2025 rates. When the final rates come out, you pay the difference for 2026 or receive a credit or refund. Statements of account and reports of use are due monthly, within 45 days after the end of each month.
- AM or FM broadcasters streaming their station: the final 2026 to 2030 rates are set (Federal Register, 10 March 2026). In 2026 a commercial broadcaster pays $0.0028 per performance and a $1,100 minimum fee for each channel or station.
Noncommercial stations:
To use noncommercial terms, your station must have (or have applied for) tax-exempt status under section 501 of the US tax code, or be run by a government body for public purposes (SoundExchange 2026 noncommercial webcaster memo, December 2025). Listening is counted in aggregate tuning hours (ATH): one listener for one hour is one ATH.
- Noncommercial webcasters: $1,000 a year for each station or channel. This covers up to 159,140 ATH a month on that channel. Above 159,140 ATH in a month, you pay $0.0025 per performance for the extra listening. These 2026 figures are also interim: the Judges set them for 2021 to 2025 in their Web V determination (Federal Register, 27 October 2021; 2025 per-performance rate in 37 CFR 380.10), and they continue until the Web VI rates come out, then you settle the difference (same memo). You send a statement of account with your ATH every month. Reports of use are monthly and list every recording with its total performances. Only a station that owns an FCC-licensed AM or FM station and pays no more than the minimum fee can report two weeks per quarter instead.
- Noncommercial educational webcasters (student-run stations of an accredited school, college or university that are not funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting): the final 2026 to 2030 rates are set (Federal Register, 10 March 2026). The 2026 minimum fee is $800 for each channel or station (rising each year to $1,000 in 2030) and covers up to 160,000 ATH a month. A station that goes over 160,000 ATH in a month pays the noncommercial webcaster rates above for the rest of that year. Reporting is lighter: a station that stays under 80,000 ATH a month can pay a $100 proxy fee instead of sending reports of use, and one under 160,000 ATH can report two weeks per quarter.
- Public radio stations funded by CPB: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting pays SoundExchange one fee for NPR, American Public Media, PRI, PRX and up to 530 public radio stations that CPB names: $950,000 for 2026 (Federal Register, 10 March 2026). Ask your public radio association whether your station is covered.
Churches in the United States
US copyright law lets a church perform songs during a religious service, but that exemption does not cover streaming the service over the internet (CCS). Three organizations sell church streaming licenses. Each describes streams of a church's own services and events, not a radio station, so ask the organization whether your internet radio station is covered before you rely on it.
- CCLI Streaming License: an add-on to CCLI's Church Copyright License. It lets a church live-stream or upload its services with worship songs and hymns performed live by its own musicians, from more than 450,000 songs. To play master recordings (artist tracks, backing tracks, multitracks) in online services, CCLI sells the Streaming Plus License. Ask CCLI whether an internet radio station counts as a streaming service under its terms.
- ONE LICENSE Podcast / Streaming License: podcast or live-stream your worship services, with songs from its member publishers. It covers content only from live worship services, and "the use of commercial masters or publisher-owned recordings is not permitted". Its Recorded Audio License adds member publishers' master recordings, streamed together with the Podcast / Streaming License.
- CCS WORSHIPcast Streaming License: from Christian Copyright Solutions, for US churches and most 501(c)(3) religious nonprofits streaming from their own website. It covers live and on-demand streams of your performances of Christian and secular songs from the ASCAP, BMI and SESAC catalogs. It "does not cover streaming rights for any pre-recorded music, including sound recordings".
All three license the composition side (the songs). For recordings, only CCLI Streaming Plus and the ONE LICENSE Recorded Audio License cover some, and only inside streamed services. A church station that plays commercial recordings also needs SoundExchange, above.
United Kingdom
Two licenses, both required:
- PRS for Music: composition. Since 1 October 2025 PRS licenses UK internet radio under its Internet Radio Licence, which replaced the Limited Online Music Licences (LOML and LOML+) and dropped their annual revenue caps (£12,500 on the LOML), per PRS's consultation and response summary. Under PRS's commercial terms dated October 2026, a non-commercial or not-for-profit station pays £199 + VAT a year for up to 800 listener hours a month (one listener for one hour), £398 + VAT a year for up to 1,658, and 2p per listener hour beyond that. Ad- or sponsor-funded stations pay the greater of 10% of revenue or 2p per listener hour, with a £199 + VAT annual minimum; PRS adjusts these sums for inflation every 1 October. PRS's licence page still says fees start at £193 + VAT, the 2025 figure: the page lags the terms.
- PPL: sound recording. PPL's Linear Webcast Licence covers internet radio with scheduled (non-on-demand) playback. It does not cover a service that "is funded by a sole sponsor, sole donor or sole advertiser", or one that "consists of programmes of less than three hours duration that are webcast on a loop or pre-determined order".
Fee tiers and thresholds change every year or two; check both sites for current rates rather than relying on numbers in third-party blog posts.
Canada
Two licenses, both required:
- SOCAN: composition. Covers internet radio under SOCAN's Tariff for Internet - Other Audio Services.
- Re:Sound: sound recording. Re:Sound's Tariff 8 is the Canadian equivalent of SoundExchange's role: it pays performers and record labels for non-interactive webcasting.
Canadian webcasters need both. Tariff 8 fees and per-play rates are set periodically by the Copyright Board of Canada.
Australia
Two licenses, both required:
- APRA AMCOS: composition.
- PPCA: sound recording. PPCA's online radio licensing is increasingly handled through the joint OneMusic Australia portal.
APRA AMCOS's Mini Online Licence, for online services with under AU$25,000 gross revenue a year, covers webcasting at AU$275, AU$550 or AU$1,100 a year including GST, for fewer than 18,000, 45,000 or 90,000 listener sessions a year (one listener for one hour). For PPCA, apply through its internet radio application, which asks for your expected revenue, how much of your programming is music, and how you restrict listening outside Australia.
France
Two licenses, both required:
- SACEM: composition. SACEM publishes a webradio fee schedule; small webradios start in the low double-digit euros per channel per year, with usage-based pricing above that.
- SCPP and/or SPPF: sound recording producers. Which one(s) you need depends on whose catalog you play. SCPP represents the major labels; SPPF represents independents.
Germany
Two licenses, both required:
GVL fees scale with broadcast hours, average audience size, and how many tracks you have stored. A small commercial webradio is roughly €30/month on the GVL side, plus separate GEMA fees.
Netherlands
Two licenses, both required:
- Buma/Stemra: composition.
- Sena: sound recording.
Stichting Webcasting Nederland bundles both into a single signup process, with hobby-tier stations starting around €26/month.
South Africa
You actually need three:
- SAMRO: composition (performance rights).
- CAPASSO: composition (mechanical rights for streaming and downloads).
- SAMPRA and/or RiSA: sound recording (neighboring rights for performers and labels).
Note: the older "just CAPASSO" advice you may see online is incomplete. Most South African webcasters need agreements covering all three rights.
Other countries
The same two-rights pattern applies almost everywhere: one PRO for composition, one neighboring-rights organization for sound recording. If you're in a country not listed here, search for "PRO + your country" and "neighboring rights + your country" to find both.
Royalty-free alternatives
For many CloudRadio customers, especially hobbyists and niche-genre stations, royalty-free music is the cleanest answer. Read the licence first: the big subscription libraries are built for video and podcast creators, and their standard plans do not cover running a radio station.
The main options:
- Epidemic Sound: the Creator, Pro, Business and Business Plus plans do not cover radio. Radio, TV and commercial streaming are covered only by the Enterprise plan, with custom terms from their sales team.
- Artlist: the licence allows tracks only inside a broader project, never as "standalone content", and excludes "music streaming, music channels, radio". Playing tracks on their own, as a station's rotation does, is standalone use, which only a customised Enterprise Agreement covers; Max Business covers broadcasting your productions, not the tracks on their own. The licence does not cover royalties owed to PROs.
- Soundstripe: subscription catalog built for video creators. Radio is covered only by the Enterprise plan or the All Media single-use licence, which licenses a track for one specific project.
- Free Music Archive: large library of Creative Commons and public-domain tracks. Free, but you're responsible for checking each track's license terms.
- ccMixter: Creative Commons remixes and originals.
A royalty-free subscription does not replace your local licensing if you also play any commercial music. It's all-or-nothing per track.
What CloudRadio does and doesn't do
- We provide: Streaming infrastructure (Shoutcast, Icecast, HLS), AutoDJ, storage, listener delivery, a player, and analytics.
- We do not: Pay royalties to PROs or sound-recording organizations on your behalf, report your listening data to PROs, or provide bundled licensing.
- We can help with reporting: Most rights organizations want listener and play-count data when you report. CloudRadio's Statistics page exports the listener counts and per-track play data you'll need for monthly reports to SoundExchange, Re:Sound, PPL, and similar bodies. On a CloudRadio One station, the SoundExchange Report of Use covers songs played from your Media Library only. Songs played in a live show or a relay aren't in it: report those from the presenter's own playlist.
If you're switching from a host that bundled licensing (like Live365), you take on the licensing relationship yourself when you move. That's usually still cheaper at any meaningful station size, but it's an extra setup step.
Geo-blocking
Some licenses (especially blanket licenses in the UK, EU, and Australia) restrict you to listeners in your home country. If your license is geo-restricted and you broadcast worldwide, you're out of compliance.
CloudRadio One stations can restrict listeners by country under Settings > Listener protection: allow everyone, only the countries you pick, or everyone except them. The rules apply to your HLS and ICY streams. Hosted Shoutcast/Icecast radios have no country filter; there, the practical workarounds are to list your station only in directories scoped to your country, or to put a CDN or proxy that filters by listener IP in front of the stream.
Advance announcements
Webcast licences limit what you can say about songs before they play.
- United States. The statutory licence SoundExchange administers bars a station from publishing, or causing others to publish, "by means of an advance program schedule or prior announcement, the titles of the specific sound recordings to be transmitted", the albums they're on, or, other than for illustrative purposes, the names of the featured artists. Saying "a particular artist will be featured within an unspecified future time period" is allowed (17 U.S.C. 114(d)(2)(C)(ii)).
- United Kingdom. PPL's online radio licence says: "No advance information can be given (either via the website or announced through the service) as to the specific songs that will be played in the future. Non-specific details of artists being played in the future can be provided, as well as general information on playlists" (PPL).
In practice: tease a guest, a feature or a theme, or name an artist without a time; say a song's title when it plays; publish a show's playlist after it airs, not before. Other countries' licences have their own conditions, so check yours.
Playing your station in a shop, café or office
The licences above cover streaming your station to listeners online. Playing it out loud on business premises is a separate public performance, and the business needs its own licence for it, even when the station is yours and already licensed as a webcast.
- United States: businesses license public performance from the PROs. ASCAP, for example, has licences for restaurants, bars, fitness facilities and other businesses. The small-business exemption in 17 U.S.C. 110(5)(B) covers only transmissions "originated by a radio or television broadcast station licensed as such by the Federal Communications Commission", so it does not cover an internet stream.
- United Kingdom: PPL's Linear Webcast Licence excludes "the provision of featured or background music in a public or commercial setting (such as shops or offices)". The premises need TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS Ltd.
- Canada: businesses license music through Entandem, the joint venture of SOCAN and Re:Sound.
- Other countries: ask the composition and sound recording organizations listed above for their public performance or background music licence.
To set up a station for your own shop, see our guide to running in-store radio.
Quick checklist
Before you go live with commercial music:
- [ ] Identified which country's rules apply (where you operate, not where listeners are)
- [ ] Signed up with the composition PRO(s) for that country
- [ ] Signed up with the sound recording organization for that country
- [ ] Or: chose a royalty-free service instead and confirmed your plan covers internet radio
- [ ] Or: confirmed your station is talk-only, or plays only music no PRO or sound recording organization represents
- [ ] Set a reminder to export listener and play-count stats monthly for whichever bodies require them
Disclaimer: This article is informational, not legal advice. Music licensing rules and fees change. Verify the current requirements directly with each rights organization before launching your station, and consult a lawyer in your country if you have any doubts. Services CloudRadio Inc. does not provide licensing or pay royalties on your behalf.