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    ECAD Alternative — Legally Skip Music Royalties for Your Business

    2026-04-28

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    ECAD Alternative — Legally Skip Music Royalties for Your Business

    Discover how Sonify Music's Direct License is the modern, legally compliant alternative to ECAD for businesses operating in Brazil. Save thousands per year.

    What is ECAD and what does it cost your business?

    ECAD (Escritório Central de Arrecadação e Distribuição) is the collective management organization that, by default, collects music performance royalties on behalf of authors and rights holders in Brazil. Any commercial venue — bars, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, gyms, salons — that plays music for the public is required to pay an annual fee to ECAD, regardless of whether the music is streamed from Spotify, broadcast on the radio, or played from a personal device.

    • Mandatory annual fees to ECAD 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 ECAD or any other collective management organization. Our catalogue is entirely composed of original works whose authors have not registered with ECAD — meaning there is nothing for ECAD 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 ECAD to Sonify Music?

    Average ECAD fees for a small commercial venue start around €700/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.

    • ECAD — ~€700/year
    • Sonify Music — €348/year

    Frequently asked questions

    The compliant background music solution for your restaurant.

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