When you rent a hall or hotel ballroom for your wedding ceremony or reception or any party where either live or recorded music will be "performed" you are required to obtain a SOCAN Music License for your band or disc jockey. SOCAN or the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada is Canada's national "performing" rights authority. Its role is to license the public performance of music in return for performing rights fees. It then distributes these fees as royalties to composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers, based on the performances of their musical works in Canada.SOCAN is non-profit Canadian corporation owned and operated by music copyright owners – composers, lyricists, songwriters and their publishers – on behalf of the world's copyright owners.
PLEASE NOTE
That "most" halls and hotels have (and pay for) an "annual" license from SOCAN due to the fact that this "license" covers many different hotel activity, including lounge live music and background music) and is payable by the hotel or venue even if your reception or party does not play music. Historically, and up to the recent past therefore the license fee for your reception and party has been covered and included in the "rental" fee for the hall. Only recently have halls started "exposing" this license fee and asking their customers to pay this fee as an "extra" fee. Halls that pay the annual fee are exploiting this opportunity to not only "recover" this annual fee they pay for their entire venue, but actually profit on these fee charges as the annual fee is only a few hundred dollars in most cases, and the fees charged back to clients has been between $50.00 and $60.00 per event.
Why do I need a SOCAN License?The Copyright Act of Canada requires that the users of music obtain a SOCAN license to perform or authorize others to perform copyright music in public. When you rent a facility for the purpose of a party, reception, dance or any function where music will be performed as part of your function, you are considered the "person authorizing the performance" and therefore responsible for the licensing of the performance.
What kind of performances require payment?
Performances of music in public, whether in restaurants, clubs, hotels, banquet halls, dance halls, offices, and stores all require payment of a license fee This includes all social functions such as Weddings, parties, Bar Mitzvahs, anniversaries and corporate events. Copies of the tariff(s) relating to your particular use of music at any premise may be obtained on request from any SOCAN office. Furthermore, whether the music is performed by live or recorded means, a license is required.
What determines the cost of SOCAN license?
The cost of a SOCAN license depends upon the particular "use" of music and the type of establishment being licensed. There are 21 d
