Music Licensing   

Why Dance Studios Need to Pay Music Licensing Fees

The US Copyright Law requires any business utilizing copyrighted music to obtain, in advance, permission from the copyright owner or representative of the copyright owners. ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC are the three US Performing Right Organizations (PROs) and can provide this required authorization on behalf of their affiliated songwriters and music publishers.

The PROs facilitate the process of uniting artists with those who wish to play copyrighted music in their business. A blanket license is issued to dance schools which allows them to use all music in the repertory of the PROs, as often as they like, for one annual fee. If you pay for licensing with one PRO, it does not provide you the required authorization to play the songs in the repertory of the other two PROs. Businesses routinely obtain licenses from all three PROs in the US so they are authorized to play virtually all copyrighted music.

CNADM has entered into a group contract with each of the three PROs – ASCAP, BMI, & SESAC – that allows us to collect the annual licensing fees on behalf of our members at a 35-50% discounted rate. As a member, you may pay your licensing fees through CNADM and have our office liaison with ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC to help resolve any issues.

2024 Music Licensing Rates