Music License for Restaurants: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR Costs

To play music legally in a US restaurant, you need a public performance license from every performing rights organization (PRO) whose songs you play: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, plus GMR if its catalog is in your mix. At 2026 rates, a small restaurant playing background music pays about $1,600 a year for the first three. Live music can push the bill past $5,000.

The other legal route is a commercial background music service that bundles those licenses for the music it streams. Both routes work. What does not work is a personal Spotify or Apple Music account on the dining-room speakers, however common that setup is.

Music is one of the cheapest tools you have for atmosphere. Licensing it properly is a fixed, predictable cost. Skipping it is an open-ended legal risk.

What a Restaurant Music License Covers

US copyright law gives songwriters and publishers the exclusive right to perform their work “publicly”, and the Copyright Act’s definition of public includes any place open to the public. A restaurant dining room, bar, patio or private event space is all of that. So every song you play there, whether through speakers, a TV with the sound on, a DJ, a karaoke system or a live band, is a public performance that needs permission.

PROs sell that permission as a blanket license: one annual fee lets you play anything in that organization’s catalog, as often as you like, within the uses you report. The license covers the composition (the song itself). If you stream music, the recording rights are a separate layer that a commercial music service handles for you; a personal subscription does not.

Uses a restaurant license typically has to account for:

• Background music from your own playlists, CDs, a USB stick or streaming
• TVs and radios in public areas
• Live performers, from a solo guitarist to a full band
• DJs, karaoke, trivia or music bingo
• Cover charges, admission fees and dance floors, which raise the rate
• Music on your website and on-hold music on your phone line

Do You Need ASCAP, BMI and SESAC?

Yes, in most cases you need a separate license from each one. Every PRO licenses only the songs its own members wrote or publish, so an ASCAP license gives you no rights to BMI or SESAC songs. BMI’s licensing FAQ puts it plainly: a license with another PRO only lets you perform the music that organization represents.

Two practical facts make “just pick one” unworkable. Many popular songs are co-written by members of different PROs, so a single track can need licenses from two or three of them. And you do not control what plays: a streaming playlist, a radio station or a cover band will move through every catalog in an evening. You cannot audit that song by song, which is why restaurants hold blanket licenses from all of them.

GMR (Global Music Rights) is the newest of the four PROs most businesses deal with. It is much smaller (134,000+ titles by its own count) and its roster is invitation-only. If your playlists lean on current mainstream music from your own sources, ask GMR whether you need a license rather than assuming you don’t. Both business music services in the table further down include it.

ASCAP vs BMI for Restaurants: Which One Do You Need?

You need both. The question sounds like a choice between two vendors, but the two organizations license different songs, so they are not substitutes. The practical differences are in price and paperwork: both use a per-occupant formula, BMI’s recorded-music minimum is slightly higher ($550 against ASCAP’s $502), and each runs its own billing, discounts and renewal date.

How Much Does a Music License Cost for a Restaurant?

For a small restaurant playing background music, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC together cost about $1,600 a year at 2026 rates, because each one’s minimum fee applies. A 150-person venue pays around $1,900. Add live music two nights a week and the same venue pays roughly $5,000. ASCAP and BMI multiply a rate per occupant by your legal occupancy; SESAC charges by capacity band.

Occupancy means the maximum legal capacity set by your fire marshal or building authority, not your seat count. If no official figure exists, ASCAP and BMI both use total square footage divided by 20.

2026 Rates Side by Side

Sources: ASCAP’s rate schedule for restaurants, bars and nightclubs (calendar year 2026), BMI’s eating and drinking establishment rate card (2026) and SESAC’s restaurant, nightclub and tavern fee schedule for July 2026 to June 2027, as filed with the Colorado Secretary of State. ASCAP and SESAC raise rates each year in line with the Consumer Price Index.

What Restaurants Actually Pay: Three Examples

These assume music from your own sources (no commercial service), standard rates and no discounts. GMR is excluded because it does not publish rates.

The math for the bar: ASCAP charges $6.70 for live music plus $3.10 for recorded music, times 150. BMI charges $8.90 plus $4.10, times 150. SESAC adds its $1,016 live fee to the $615 recorded fee for the 101–200 band.

Older guides still quote “under $470 a year for all three PROs”. That number is out of date. ASCAP’s 2026 minimum alone is $502, and the three minimums together come to $1,589. Budget the real figure in your startup costs.

How Much Is an ASCAP License?

ASCAP’s 2026 restaurant license costs $4.69 per occupant for recorded music alone, or $6.70 to $8.05 per occupant for live music depending on nights per week, with a $502 annual minimum. A 150-occupancy restaurant with background music pays about $704 a year. Any venue with 107 or fewer occupants pays the $502 minimum.

The rest of ASCAP’s schedule works by adding rates together. Live music plus recorded music is $6.70 or $8.05 plus $3.10. DJs, karaoke, emcees, dancing or games add $2.72 per occupant, and so does any cover charge. A TV- or radio-only venue pays $1.77 per occupant if it falls outside the small-venue exemption. A coin-operated jukebox that is not licensed through the jukebox office costs $237. Occupancy is capped at 1,000 for the calculation.

Seasonal businesses open four months or less pay half the annual fee. A venue with live music on six or fewer nights a year pays one-third of the low-frequency live rate. Paying the full year within 30 days of the invoice earns a 10% discount, and paying two years upfront earns 15%.

How Much Does a BMI License Cost?

BMI’s 2026 rate card for eating and drinking establishments charges $4.10 per occupant for recorded music, $7.10 to $8.90 for live music, and $1.77 for TV or radio only. The minimums are $550 for recorded music, $600 for live and $485 for TV/radio. A 150-occupancy restaurant with background music pays $615; at 134 occupants or fewer, the $550 minimum applies.

BMI groups recorded uses and charges only the highest one that applies: DJ ($6.60 for one night a week or less, $7.35 for two or more), karaoke ($5.70 or $7.25) or “interactive/other” recorded music at $4.10, which includes playlists, trivia and music bingo. Live music is added on top. The license includes nights with a cover charge, but ticketed concerts need separate coverage.

BMI has consolidated its general licensing terms for the first time in nearly 30 years and moved rates out of the contract into a published rate card. Members of partner trade associations save up to 10%, and new customers who pay in full through BMI’s online Licensing Center get a one-time 10% saving.

How Much Is a SESAC License?

SESAC’s license for restaurants, nightclubs and taverns costs $537 a year for recorded music in a venue with capacity up to 100, for the July 2026 to June 2027 period. The fee rises by capacity band to $2,447 for 751 and over. Live music is a separate fee of $772 to $9,932 a year, depending on capacity and days per week.

SESAC calls recorded music “mechanical music”, and its “enhanced” rate applies if you charge admission or have a dance floor. Mechanical music in SESAC’s contract covers radio, TVs, CDs, digital players, karaoke systems and music on hold, so a TV-only sports bar pays the same recorded fee. Other line items: $164 to $1,319 for music on your website, $446 per coin-operated jukebox, and a flat $317 live fee if you host live music on five or fewer days a year. Annual renewals paid in full by July 31 get 5% off.

Does Spotify Cover Music Licensing for a Restaurant?

No. Spotify’s support page states that you can’t broadcast or play Spotify publicly from a business such as a bar, restaurant or store, and Apple’s media services terms limit Apple Music to personal, noncommercial use. Paying for a Premium tier changes nothing. You would be breaching the service’s terms and still have no PRO license.

BMI’s FAQ makes the same point from the rights side: a personal streaming subscription gives you access to millions of songs, but not the permission to play them to customers. Spotify’s own help article points businesses to a commercial service instead.

Do Business Music Services Include ASCAP, BMI and SESAC?

Most commercial music services include PRO licensing for the music they stream, but the coverage varies by service and stops at their own stream. BMI’s FAQ says services such as Mood Media, Soundtrack and Pandora for Business typically include a BMI license only for the music they provide. Live music, DJs, personal playlists and TVs with sound still need your own licenses.

What two widely used services state about US coverage, as of October 2026:

Sources: Rockbot’s licensing page and Soundtrack’s US licensing page. Terms change, so read the current subscriber terms before you sign, and keep a copy in your compliance file.

Does Rockbot Cover ASCAP?

Yes, for locations in the US. Rockbot’s licensing page states that its subscription covers ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR for music streamed through Rockbot Music, used within its subscriber terms. It does not cover DJs, live musicians, karaoke, radio, TVs or music from personal devices, so a venue with any of those still needs its own PRO licenses for them.

Business Service vs Direct Licenses on Cost

For background music only, a business service is usually cheaper and simpler. Rockbot’s own licensing guide put business music services at roughly $30 to $60 per location per month, which is $360 to $720 a year against about $1,589 in direct PRO minimums. You also get playlists built for commercial use and one bill instead of three or four.

Once you add live music, DJs or TVs with sound, you need direct licenses anyway, and the service only removes the recorded-music share of those bills. At that point compare the actual quotes. Multi-location groups should also weigh central scheduling and dayparting, which matter more day to day than the license savings.

Is There a Small Business Exemption for Music Licensing?

Yes, but it only covers radio and TV broadcasts. Under 17 U.S.C. §110(5)(B), a restaurant or bar under 3,750 gross square feet (not counting space used only for customer parking) can play broadcast radio and TV without a license, as long as it doesn’t charge to hear the music or send it beyond the premises. Larger venues qualify only within strict speaker and screen limits.

The exemption covers audio only when it comes from an FCC-licensed radio or TV station; cable and satellite qualify only for audiovisual programming. Playlists, streaming apps, CDs, audio-only satellite or internet radio, DJs and live music all fall outside it. So the exemption helps a small cafe running a local radio station. It does not help the typical restaurant with a curated playlist, whatever its size.

Watch the one-TV-per-room rule. A bar over 3,750 square feet with two screens above the bar loses the exemption. The statute’s full text is at Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. If you plan to rely on the exemption, plan the speaker layout around it from day one.

Do You Need a License for Live Music in a Restaurant?

Yes. When a band or solo act performs copyrighted songs in your space, the license obligation falls on you as the venue, not on the musicians. ASCAP and BMI charge a higher per-occupant rate for live music, scaled by nights per week, and SESAC adds a separate live fee: $772 a year for a venue with capacity up to 100 that hosts music one or two days a week.

Cover bands obviously trigger this, but so does a jazz trio or a pianist playing other people’s songs in the corner. Ticketed concerts are a separate case: BMI’s license excludes them, so a venue that sells tickets to music shows needs additional coverage.

Occasional live music is cheaper than the headline rates suggest. ASCAP charges one-third of its low-frequency live fee if you host six or fewer live nights a year, and SESAC has a flat $317 “limited live” rate for five or fewer days. If you run seasonal events or a monthly music night, ask for these rates explicitly and keep a log of the dates. Live music works well as a private dining and event draw, but price the licensing into the event before you promote it.

Music Licensing for Bars, Cafes and Coffee Shops

Bars and Nightclubs

Bars pay more than restaurants of the same size because they stack uses. A DJ on weekends, karaoke on Tuesdays, a cover charge and a dance floor each move you into a higher rate: ASCAP adds $2.72 per occupant for enhancements and another $2.72 for any cover charge, BMI’s DJ and karaoke rates run $5.70 to $7.35, and SESAC switches you to its “enhanced” column. A 150-occupancy bar with live music two nights a week, DJs on weekends and a cover charge comes to about $6,500 a year across ASCAP, BMI and SESAC at 2026 rates.

TVs are the other bar-specific issue. If the music license already covers live or recorded music, ASCAP and BMI do not charge separately for TVs. A sports bar with only TVs pays the $1.77 per-occupant rate to each, unless it fits inside the exemption above. Report every use you actually have; a field rep will see the karaoke machine and the DJ booth. Bar layout and waiting-area design often decide how many speakers and screens you end up with.

Cafes and Coffee Shops

Small venues feel the minimum fees most. A 40-seat cafe pays the same $502, $550 and $537 minimums as a 100-person restaurant, so its licensing cost per seat is high. That makes the cafe the clearest case for a business music service, which costs less than the combined minimums and covers the recorded music in one subscription.

The other option is the exemption. Many cafes are under 3,750 square feet, so playing a local FCC-licensed radio station through the speakers needs no PRO license at all, provided you don’t charge for it. That works if you can live with the station’s ads and DJ chatter. Most cafe owners can’t.

Where Can You Compare Music Licensing Prices for Restaurants?

Go to the primary sources. ASCAP and BMI publish their restaurant rate schedules as PDFs on their websites, SESAC’s fee schedule is attached to its license agreement, and the Colorado Secretary of State posts the current ASCAP, BMI and SESAC filings in one place because state law requires PROs to file them. GMR does not publish rates, so you request a quote.

Several states have music licensing statutes that require PROs to give you their rate schedule and disclosures in writing before you sign; SESAC’s disclosure statement, for example, commits to providing it at least 72 hours before execution. Use that window. Check the occupancy figure on the contract against your certificate of occupancy, and make sure the listed music uses match what you actually do.

What Happens If You Play Music Without a License?

PROs find unlicensed venues through field representatives, letters and phone calls, and they start by offering a license. If a business refuses, they sue. Statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. §504(c) run from $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, up to $150,000 per work if the infringement is willful, and courts can also order you to pay the PRO’s legal fees.

A claim covering just five songs at the statutory minimum is already $3,750 before legal costs, more than two years of licensing for a small restaurant. That lopsided risk is a good reason not to treat the first letter as spam. Answer it, check what you actually play, and license what you use.

How to Get Licensed: A Checklist

1. Find your legal occupancy on the certificate of occupancy or the fire marshal’s posted capacity. If there isn’t one, divide total square footage by 20.
2. List every music use: background music and its source, the number, size and location of TVs, live music nights per week, DJ or karaoke nights, cover charges, a dance floor, website music and on-hold music.
3. Check whether the radio/TV exemption applies. If you use anything besides broadcast radio or TV, it doesn’t.
4. Choose your route: a business music service, direct licenses from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR, or a service for background music plus direct licenses for live music and TVs.
5. License before opening night, not after the first letter. Treat it like your other restaurant licenses and permits.
6. Report changes. SESAC requires an updated report within 30 days of a capacity change, and adding live music or a DJ changes your rate with every PRO.
7. Put the renewal dates in your calendar. ASCAP bills by calendar year, and SESAC’s license year runs from July 1 to June 30.

The Bottom Line

A blanket license from each PRO, or a business music service that carries them, is a known annual cost: about $1,600 for a small restaurant with background music, a few thousand once live music and DJs come in. That is far less than one infringement claim. Measure your occupancy, list your uses honestly and get the licenses before the playlist goes on. This guide explains how the system works and is not legal advice; if a PRO dispute turns into a lawsuit, talk to a copyright attorney.