The Australian Copyright Act (1968) gives songwriters, composers, and music publishers the right to control how their music is used. So whenever music is played or performed publicly, made available online or copied, that music use almost always requires a licence.
Without an APRA AMCOS licence, you would need to deal directly with the composers, songwriters, music publishers, or other third parties who control the rights in our songs you wish to use.
We’ve done the hard work for you, so you don’t have to contact the owners of each piece of music you play, broadcast, stream, download or copy.
An APRA AMCOS licence covers the majority of copyrighted music globally.
We represent music creators across Australasia and, by agreement, most music creators around the world through our reciprocal agreements with overseas affiliated societies.
For example, PRS for Music administers Courtney Barnett’s rights in the UK, which means that royalties for performances in that territory are collected by PRS for Music and then distributed to her via APRA AMCOS. Similarly, APRA AMCOS administers Ed Sheeran’s rights in Australia and pays his royalties via PRS for Music.
These agreements mean we can license you to use music from almost anywhere in the world legally.
Our licences:
APRA AMCOS and PPCA joined forces on 1 July 2019 to offer public performance licences that cover both the musical work (the song or composition) and the recording. This collaboration operates under OneMusic Australia.
APRA AMCOS grants licences for the live performance, broadcast, communication, public playing or reproduction of its members’ musical works. The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia Ltd. (PPCA) grants licences for the broadcast, communication or public playing of recorded music (such as CDs, records and digital downloads or streams) or music videos.
OneMusic Australia offers a joint licence, so there no longer is any need for separate licence agreements and invoices from PPCA and APRA AMCOS. The OneMusic Australia joint licensing initiative allows music users to meet copyright obligations for the public performance of musical works and sound recordings much more seamlessly.
There can be many recordings of an original song. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote Eleanor Rigby and The Beatles recorded the song, but it has been re-recorded more than 130 times by various artists and record companies.
What's PPCA? And do I require an additional music licence from them?
PPCA stands for the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia Ltd. It is a separate organisation to APRA AMCOS and grants licences for the broadcast, communication or public playing of recorded music (such as CDs, records and digital downloads) or music videos. PPCA then distributes the licence fees collected to the record labels and recording artists registered with them.
In the instances where a work is recorded you are required to hold a PPCA licence as well as an APRA AMCOS licence for the public performance of works as there are (at least) two copyrights covered:
| Rights owners | Performance Right | Mechanical Right |
| Songwriters, composers, and their publishers | APRA | AMCOS |
| Recording artists and their record labels | PPCA | ARIA |
OneMusic Australia is a joint licensing initiative between APRA AMCOS and PPCA, offering one licence to cover musical works (compositions) and sound recordings.
We've got specialised departments to look after our members, licence enquiries, international affiliates, and more. Get in touch or send us a message using our department direct form.