APRA AMCOS Alternative — Legally Skip Music Royalties for Your Business

Discover how Sonify Music's Direct License is the modern, legally compliant alternative to APRA AMCOS for businesses operating in Australia / New Zealand. Save thousands per year.

What is APRA AMCOS and what does it cost your business?

APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association & Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society) is the collective management organization that, by default, collects music performance royalties on behalf of authors and rights holders in Australia / New Zealand. Any commercial venue — bars, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, gyms, salons — that plays music for the public is required to pay an annual fee to APRA AMCOS, regardless of whether the music is streamed from Spotify, broadcast on the radio, or played from a personal device.

• •Mandatory annual fees to APRA AMCOS regardless of usage volume
• •Surprise inspections and on-the-spot fines for non-compliance
• •Opaque tariff schedules that change year over year
• •No real choice over which music you can legally play
• •Bureaucratic paperwork: declarations, surface area, opening hours

How can you legally avoid paying music royalties for your business?

Sonify Music owns 100% of the rights to its catalogue. When you subscribe, you receive a Direct License that grants you the legal right to play our music in your venue without paying APRA AMCOS or any other collective management organization. Our catalogue is entirely composed of original works whose authors have not registered with APRA AMCOS — meaning there is nothing for APRA AMCOS to collect on your behalf. The license is delivered with a downloadable PDF certificate you can show to any inspector.

• •One predictable subscription instead of opaque annual fees
• •Legal certificate (PDF) ready to show inspectors
• •Cancel anytime — no multi-year contracts
• •Premium curated catalogue, updated weekly
• •Multi-venue licensing for chains and franchises

How much do you save by switching from APRA AMCOS to Sonify Music?

Average APRA AMCOS fees for a small commercial venue start around €880/year and grow with surface area, opening hours and music usage. A Sonify Music annual subscription costs €348/year and includes legal coverage, full catalogue access and the Direct License certificate.

• •APRA AMCOS — ~€880/year
• •Sonify Music — €348/year

APRA AMCOS tariffs 2026: what venues actually pay

The OneMusic Australia tariff (APRA AMCOS + PPCA joint scheme) ranges from AUD 300/yr for a small café to AUD 4,000+ for gyms and hospitality with dance floors. Fees apply even if you only stream Spotify — the "personal use" clause of your Spotify contract explicitly excludes public performance.

Is opting out actually legal in Australia and New Zealand?

Yes — Australian Copyright Act §36 requires a license only for works "in copyright" that you don't own or haven't directly licensed. A royalty-free library with commercial venue rights (like Sonify) is a direct license from the rights holder, which extinguishes the APRA AMCOS obligation for the tracks in use.

The break-even math

A single café pays about AUD 460/year to OneMusic. Sonify's global-venue license is €29.90/year (~AUD 48). See the full pricing breakdown or read our license vs ownership guide.