In Ireland the right to play recorded music in a business covers two distinct layers — the musical works and the sound recordings — and since 2016 both are obtained through a single contract. This guide explains what the Dual Music Licence covers, how the IMRO and PPI rights fit together, what the annual bill typically looks like, and how a proprietary catalogue produced in-house works as an alternative for background music.
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Irish copyright law requires two distinct permissions to play recorded music in public. The first covers the public performance of the musical works, on behalf of composers, songwriters and publishers, represented by IMRO. The second covers the public performance of the sound recordings, on behalf of record producers and performers, represented by PPI. The two layers do not overlap: permission over a composition grants nothing over the recording of it, and vice versa.
Until 2016 a business had to obtain the two licences separately from the two organisations. Since then they are combined in the Dual Music Licence, administered by IMRO: one contract, one invoice, both copyrights covered. The rights themselves remain distinct, and so do the tariffs behind them.
The key point: in Ireland the music licence question always has two layers — the works and the recordings. The Dual Music Licence combines them into one contract, but the cost remains the sum of both, plus the music source itself, which is a separate cost layer.
The figures below are orders of magnitude for a small, single-location business playing background music. Real fees scale with capacity, floor area and music usage, and the tariffs are revised periodically.
IMRO administers the works of composers, songwriters and publishers. For a small business playing background music, the annual tariff typically starts in the low hundreds of euro and scales with capacity, audible floor area and how the music is used. Venues with live music, dancing or events pay materially more. Current tariffs: imro.ie
PPI administers the second layer: the recordings themselves and the performers on them. Its tariffs sit in a comparable order of magnitude and likewise depend on premises type, size and usage. In practice an Irish business no longer pays PPI separately: the PPI rights are included in the Dual Music Licence issued by IMRO. Details: ppimusic.ie
Because the two tariffs are billed together, the annual figure a business sees on the invoice already contains both layers. Even for a small single-location venue the combined bill commonly lands in the hundreds of euro before VAT, and rises well beyond that for hotels with several public areas, restaurants with larger dining rooms, shops with bigger audible floor areas, and any venue with live music or dancing. On top of the licence, the venue still needs a music source designed for commercial use, which is a further recurring cost.
And Spotify does not replace any of this. Consumer accounts on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music are licensed for personal use only; their terms of service explicitly exclude playback in commercial premises. A personal streaming subscription is not a music licence for a business — full details in our guide Can I use Spotify in my business?
The legal framework recognises that catalogues of works outside the repertoires administered by collecting societies are a legitimate alternative for commercial venues. When a service provider produces music in-house or works with a catalogue that has never been registered with the collecting societies, the works are not part of the repertoires they administer.
This is the framework under which My Corporate Radio operates. MCR is a music streaming service provider for commercial venues. The catalogue streamed to subscribers consists of works for which the rights have been settled directly between MCR and the producers and authors involved. Those works are not part of the repertoires administered by IMRO, PPI or equivalent collective management organisations in other jurisdictions.
Emanuele Carocci, a radio broadcaster with over 20 years of professional on-air experience, works as a host on national commercial radio and leads the music curation team at My Corporate Radio.
The MCR catalogue is programmed under his direction with the discipline of professional radio: five editorial stations plus a seasonal extra, each built for a context — the morning service in a cafe is not the late-afternoon shift in a hotel lobby, and the curation reflects that.
For a single-location business on the Background Music plan, the all-inclusive cost is €14.99 per month, billed in EUR£12.99 per month, billed in GBP$16.99 per month, billed in USD: the curated stations, the streaming infrastructure, announcements, and documentation of the catalogue's standing outside the collecting society repertoires. The 7-day free trial requires no credit card. For multi-location operators, custom pricing is available at sales@mycorporateradio.com.
IMRO publishes tariffs by business category. For a small business playing background music, the annual fee typically starts in the low hundreds of euro before VAT and scales with capacity, audible floor area and how the music is used. Because tariffs are revised periodically, verify the current figure for a specific venue directly on imro.ie.
Since 2016 the Dual Music Licence, administered by IMRO, combines in a single contract the two permissions Irish businesses need: the public performance of the musical works and the public performance of the sound recordings represented by PPI. One contract, one invoice, both copyrights covered.
Not separately. Before 2016 a business obtained two licences from two organisations; since then the PPI rights are included in the Dual Music Licence issued by IMRO. The rights remain distinct — IMRO covers the compositions, PPI the recordings — but they are handled in one place.
Consumer accounts on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music are licensed for personal use only, and their terms of service exclude playback in commercial premises. A personal subscription is not a music licence for a business.
For background music specifically, a business can use a streaming service whose catalogue consists of works outside the repertoires administered by the collecting societies, with rights settled directly between the service and the producers and authors involved. My Corporate Radio operates under this model. A venue that also performs works from those repertoires will still need the relevant licences for that repertoire.
The Background Music plan costs €14.99£12.99$16.99 per month, billed in the matching currency. The 7-day free trial requires no credit card. Multi-location pricing via sales@mycorporateradio.com.
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Official sources for current licensing rates:
IMRO (Dual Music Licence): imro.ie/music-users
IMRO tariffs by business type: imro.ie/music-licences-by-business
PPI: ppimusic.ie
Rate schedules are published and revised by the organisations and vary by venue profile. For the figure that applies to a specific business, always consult the official organisation directly.