Have you received an email from OneMusic?

30/04/2025
acit
Technology

Have you received an email from OneMusic with a title like “OneMusic Compliance Risk”? From time to time, businesses in New Zealand receive emails from OneMusic claiming they require a licence in order to play music in their premises.

Who is OneMusic?

OneMusic (https://www.onemusicnz.com) is a joint licencing initiative between APRA AMCOS (https://www.apraamcos.co.nz/) and Recorded Music NZ (https://www.recordedmusic.co.nz). Previously, businesses needed a licence from both entities to cover all copyrights, which was confusing and time consuming. OneMusic was created to simplify this.

Is this a scam?

The short answer is No. From the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office (https://www.iponz.govt.nz/get-ip/copyright/use-of-copyright-works/) when you play music or the radio, it’s considered a public performance (vs playing it for yourself) when it’s in a commercial environment (restaurants, retail shops, factories) for the benefit of customers and staff.

Note that from the wording on their website:

Our simple licenses grant your business the legal permission required to play essentially all commercially released music from here and around the world, and ensures the people who make the music are paid.

The key word is “essentially”. They do not represent all music or artists, but most of them.

But I play the radio or have a Spotify subscription?

The subscription you pay for is usually for personal use, and excludes business/commercial use. However, subscriptions are available for commercial use and if you have one of these, then you’re more likely to be covered.

Why have they suddenly emailed me?

OneMusic has been sending emails for years, so it’s possible that you simply haven’t come to their attention. They use methods such as mystery shoppers, where they visit your premises (easy when it’s a restaurant or retail shop) and check whether you’re playing music, and whether you have a licence to do so.

How do I fix this?

Option A: Speak to your own legal advisors, or seek legal advice for any specifics related to your operation

Option B: You can either follow the instructions in the email you received, or apply for a music licence on their website: https://www.onemusicnz.com/music-licences/

Option C: Stop playing the music or radio

Option D: Arrange an alternate way of legally playing music such as through a different subscription that includes commercial arrangements. You must make sure that this is actually legal and genuinely royalty free. Sometimes websites claim this, but it’s not the case. For a simple example with no login required: https://fribitradio.com/en/

What if I just ignore OneMusic?

This is not recommended, and they can, and have, carried out legal proceedings. Here’s one such example of a business that tried to ignore them: https://www.apraamcos.co.nz/about-us/news-and-events/apra-amcos-nz-and-onemusic-nz-applaud-high-court-judges-findings

Remember this is also about the authors of the music being paid for their work.

Here’s an Example Email

Please give this matter your urgent attention.

OneMusic has previously advised your business, of the legal obligation to obtain a licence to play our music.

When a business plays music in our repertoire and refuses to obtain a licence, OneMusic may refer matters to our external lawyers and commence proceedings for infringement under the New Zealand Copyright Act.

To avoid the legal risk of playing music without permission, complete your licence online within the next 7 business days.

Click Here to Get a Licence

Please visit the following sites for further confirmation on this requirement:

By continuing to play music without a licence, or other permission, you may be infringing copyright law.