Music Licenses in Singapore
Businesses need three different rights to legally play music in their physical venue.
Recording Rights
Recording Rights
This covers the right to use a specific recording of a song and compensates the recording artist.
Publishing Rights
Publishing Rights
This covers the right to use the original composition and compensates the songwriters and composers.
Public Performance Rights
Public Performance Rights
This allows you to play the song in a public environment.
In Singapore, public performance licenses are obtained through companies such as COMPASS and MRSS. It is vital that you obtain the correct rights to use music in your business.
For information on music licensing in another country, please click here.
The Value of Soundtrack
We offer a licensed music service for commercial use, with great features such as scheduling tools and an explicit filter.
Soundtrack Your Brand is able to provide this via direct relationships with publishers, performing rights organizations and record labels (including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and more).
Our technology allows royalties to be fairly and accurately distributed back to music creators. Our Unlimited tier provides royalty payments that are approximately 5 times higher than those from streaming services for private use.
Unsupported Services
Services such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer are not suitable for use in business. These platforms are for personal, private use only - it is not legal to use them when playing music to an audience and you could risk being faced with a fine.
Steps to become fully licensed in Singapore
1) Trial Soundtrack
Start our 14 day free trial to use our properly licensed business music service immediately. No payment or commitment required.
2) Get a Public Performance License
If you don't have licenses from COMPASS and MRSS, please visit their websites to get your licenses.
3) Subscribe to Soundtrack
Select a plan and add your payment details to officially join Soundtrack.
More Information about Music Licensing in Singapore
Overview
Businesses that may require a music license in Singapore will need to consider two different organizations. These are COMPASS and MRSS. While both operate in the music licnesing space to collect and distribute royalties to music creators, there is a notable difference - COMPASS tends to focus on the musical copyright, while MRSS is concerned with the public performance of music.
Contact
History
The Collective Management of Performance and Audio Signals Singapore, or COMPASS, was formed in 1987 in tandem with a change in copyright laws in Singapore. It was set up with the intention of making sure that composers, lyricists and publishers were paid for the use of their music works. COMPASS also became a member of CISAC in 2012 to expand their reach internationally.
RIMS, the Recording Industry Music Services, was founded in 1996 and RIPS, Recording Industry Performance Singapore Pte Ltd, in 1999. Both organizations merged in 2018 to become what is now known as MRSS, or Music Rights (Singapore) Public Limited.
How to get a license in Singapore
Tariffs for different music license types can be found easily using the COMPASS and MRSS websites. It is also possible to download application forms for licenses with each organization. It is worth noting that these applications need to be submitted ahead of time, as there is not yet an instant online version available.