SESAC Alternative — Legally Skip Music Royalties for Your Business

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

What is SESAC and what does it cost your business?

SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers) is the collective management organization that, by default, collects music performance royalties on behalf of authors and rights holders in United States. Any commercial venue — bars, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, gyms, salons — that plays music for the public is required to pay an annual fee to SESAC, regardless of whether the music is streamed from Spotify, broadcast on the radio, or played from a personal device.

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

Average SESAC fees for a small commercial venue start around €850/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.

• •SESAC — ~€850/year
• •Sonify Music — €348/year

Why SESAC is unavoidable if you play major-label music

SESAC represents Adele, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, R.E.M. and thousands of catalog composers. Unlike ASCAP and BMI it's a private, for-profit PRO, so its tariffs aren't rate-court capped — a mid-size restaurant typically pays $850–1,400/year on top of the ASCAP+BMI licenses.

The legal way out: direct license from rights holders

US Copyright Act §106 requires a public-performance license ONLY for compositions you haven't directly licensed. If every track playing in your venue comes from a royalty-free library that holds all rights (composition + master), no PRO — including SESAC — can invoice you for those tracks.

Break-even and coverage

Sonify's €29.90/year covers 100% of catalog for global commercial use, replacing SESAC + ASCAP + BMI for the tracks in rotation. Full breakdown in our License vs Ownership guide — or start today with the Sonify subscription.