The use of music in:
- an advertisement1 for use on radio, television or the internet
- as a premium or covermount2
- in a theatrically released film; and
- as theme music
will require the permission and licence of the copyright owner.
1 An announcement designed to attract the attention of the public or any part of it to a product, service, person, organisation or line of conduct.
2 A piece of music that is given away with a product to encourage the purchase of that product or its use. Until recently this has generally meant 'covermount CDs' on the front of magazines - although new technologies extend the concept of 'premiums' to free ringtones and downloads which can be redeemed through the purchase of a particular product or service.
In the context of advertisements and films etc, APRA|AMCOS represents two types of music – commercially released (‘published’) music and production music. Different clearance processes apply to each.
Commercially Released Music
Commercially released music means music that has been made for retail sales (either on a CD or as a digital download). To use commercially released music in an advertisement, you need to obtain permission directly from the copyright owner(s) in the musical work (please note there may be multiple copyright owners in a single musical work).
APRA|AMCOS cannot issue licences for the use of commercially released music in an advertisement, however APRA|AMCOS’ Research Service can help you identify the relevant copyright owners for the musical works you want to use. Contact us to obtain a Research Form (note: there is a small fee for this service). Our Research Service will wherever possible provide you with ownership information and contact details for each of the copyright owners. Please email with your inquiry.
Please note: you will require a licence from the copyright owner to use the musical work in an advert even if:
- you make an arrangement of the work; or
- make your own recording of the work.
Please also note that a copyright owner is not obliged to grant you a licence and it may be that it is not available for moral or contractual reasons.
Copyright owners will normally ask you for specific information about how you plan to use the music in the advertisement. The sort of information you should have handy before contacting the copyright owner includes:
- Advertising agency/company details
- Client name
- Product name
- Title of the musical work and composer details
- Medium (ie festivals, cinema, free to air television, cable etc)
- Territory for which the licence is required
- Term for which the licence is required
- Duration of the music used
- Proposed usage
Production Music
Production Music (PM) is music specifically written and recorded for inclusion in all forms of audio and audiovisual productions including adverts, films, DVDs, TV & radio programmes, websites, online games, music-on-hold and ringtones etc.
It offers an alternative to using commercial music. Production music is available for convenient synchronisation or dubbing, and can provide an administratively simple and cost effective answer to your music needs. See
Production Music.Sound Recordings
There is also a separate copyright in the sound recording of a song. This means that if you are reproducing recorded music onto your advertisement, you may need an additional licence from the owner of the sound recording, generally a record company.
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) may be able to assist you with this.
Performers' Rights
You may need to obtain permission from the performers of the music to use a recording made after 1 October 1989 in Australia. This is the date on which performers were granted a form of protection under the Australian Copyright Act. More information on this can be obtained from the Australian Copyright Council.
Further information
For more information, contact Commercial Recordings on 1300 852 388 and follow the voice prompts to enquiries about the reproduction of music. Or, email