Distribution & platforms
DJ Licensing
DJ licensing is the set of permissions a DJ needs to play recorded music publicly, record and distribute sets, and stream performances online. It usually involves several layers at once: the venue's public performance licence, collecting society tariffs, neighbouring-rights payments and platform-level claims on recorded or streamed sets.
In practice
Playing in a licensed venue is generally covered by the venue's own agreements, but the DJ's own uses are not: a mix uploaded to a streaming service, a set broadcast on Twitch, a recorded promo or a private event in an unlicensed space each sit outside that umbrella. Automated systems claim, mute or take down mixes containing registered recordings regardless of whether the DJ paid a venue tariff, because the two systems are unrelated. Touring across borders adds a different society and tariff in every market.
How SoniBuyout® handles it
Sonify addresses this on two levels: tracks bought outright are yours to play, record and stream anywhere, and the Global DJ License gives a DJ documented, worldwide coverage on Sonify repertoire for gigs and streams, with per-gig certificates for venues and promoters who ask for proof.
Real questions
Does the venue licence cover my recorded mix?
No. A venue licence covers playback in that venue. Uploading, streaming or distributing a mix is a separate use with separate rights, which is why mixes get claimed even when the gig was legal.
What do promoters ask for?
Increasingly, documentation that the music played is cleared. A per-gig certificate naming date, venue and DJ is the practical answer.
Related terms
Own the track instead of renting it
Sonify Music sells exclusive buyouts of catalogue tracks: one payment, full ownership, the track removed from sale and a named certificate of ownership.