Draft:OneMusic Australia

In Australia, ownership of musical compositions and musical sound recordings is protected by the Copyright Act (1968).^{[2][better source needed]} Businesses and organisations in Australia are required by law to ensure they have permission to publicly perform music that is protected copyright.^[3] A OneMusic Australia licence provides that permission^[4] through an all-inclusive licence that covers the musical compositions and musical sound recordings that are, respectively, controlled in Australia by APRA AMCOS and PPCA^[5]. As a result of the rights granted to APRA AMCOS by members and international PROs, along with those rights granted to PPCA from its licensors, a public performance music licence from OneMusic Australia constitutes rights in the vast majority of commercial music from around the world.^{[6][better source needed]}

OneMusic New Zealand was established by APRA AMCOS and Recorded Music NZ in 2013, representing the first combined licensing platform of its kind globally.^[7]

Prior to OneMusic Australia, businesses and organisations in Australia wanting to publicly perform musical compositions controlled by APRA AMCOS and the musical sound recordings controlled by PPCA needed separate music licences from each of those organisations. This fragmented system of public performance music licensing created some confusion and frustration for business and industry.^[8]

In June 2024, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted interim authorisation to enable APRA to continue acquisition and licensing of performing rights in musical works.^{[9][better source needed]}

OneMusic Australia issues public performance music licences that cover businesses and other music users for a range of different ways music is performed, such as live music for festivals, telephone hold services, bars, and weddings. OneMusic Australia collects licence fees on behalf of both APRA, AMCOS and PPCA, who distribute those amounts to their members, licensors and rights-holders as music royalties.^{[10][better source needed]}

In 2025, approximately 100,000 businesses in Australia held a OneMusic Australia licence.^[11] In 2025, OneMusic Australia and OneMusic New Zealand's combined revenue grew to over AU$133m.^{[12][better source needed]}

In 2022, WA Nightclub Association claimed the cost of playing music in a nightclub had increased from $10,000 to $100,000,^[13] figures refuted by OneMusic Australia.^[13]

In 2025, industry association, Hair and Beauty Australia claimed that OneMusic Australia was 'double dipping' by collecting fees from hairdressers that used their own music streaming platform in their salons.^[14]

Both APRA and PPCA have brought cases of copyright infringement to businesses that have publicly performed music without appropriate licensing. Large sums of damages were awarded to PPCA and APRA as a result of copyright infringement cases.

• In 2018  a Melbourne bar was ordered to pay PPCA AU$185,000 in damages plus legal costs for playing musical sound recordings without a licence.^[15]
• An Adelaide karaoke bar and nightclub that was ordered to pay AU$126,000 in damages plus legal costs to APRA  for playing musical compositions without a licence.^[16]
• In early January 2026, several news outlets reported on a Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia decision brought by APRA against a gym owner operating multiple gyms in Sydney and Victoria without a valid OneMusic licence. The Court ordered the five companies running the gyms, along with the companies' sole director, to pay $235,398 in damages and interest, excluding legal costs.^[17]

• APRA AMCOS – one of the two bodies behind the OneMusic licensing initiative.
• Performance rights organization – the type of organization OneMusic falls under.