Which PROs Apply, and What a License Actually Costs

Four organizations license public-performance rights to US venues: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. They are not four bills for the same music. Each controls a separate catalog of songs, and a license from one reaches only that organization's catalog. That single fact drives two separate questions: which of the four a venue actually needs, and what a license actually costs.

The cost answer is also structural. Only two of the four operate under federal consent decrees that give a venue a rate-court backstop. The other two price by private agreement. Any page that hands you a fixed four-column price table is guessing or selling. The honest method is to identify which catalogs your music reaches, then get a current quote from each of those organizations.

Which PROs apply has to be settled before cost means anything, because the fee depends entirely on which catalogs a venue’s music reaches. Which PROs apply decodes the four organizations and why one license does not cover the rest; what it costs then covers how pricing works, where negotiating leverage exists, and a verification procedure to run today.

Which PROs Apply

A PRO (performing rights organization) collects the public-performance royalties that federal copyright law reserves to songwriters and music publishers (17 U.S.C. § 106(4)). A PRO does not own the songs. It licenses, on the owners’ behalf, the right to perform the works of the writers and publishers affiliated with it. Because each organization represents a different set of writers, each controls a different catalog, and a blanket license (an all-you-can-play license to one organization’s full catalog) reaches only that organization’s works.

The Four Organizations

ASCAP and BMI are the two large PROs. Between them they represent the majority of commercially performed music in the United States. Both operate under federal antitrust consent decrees supervised by a rate court in the Southern District of New York (see the DOJ consent-decree record). The ASCAP decree is the Second Amended Final Judgment entered June 11, 2001, in a case dating to 1941 (United States v. ASCAP, No. 41-cv-1395); the BMI decree is the Amended Final Judgment entered in 1994 (United States v. BMI, No. 64-cv-3787). The practical consequence for a venue: if you cannot agree on a fee, you can ask the rate court to set a reasonable one, and the decrees require the PRO to license any user who applies in writing — it cannot refuse you.

SESAC is a smaller, invitation-only PRO that represents a distinct catalog including some prominent writers. It operates under no DOJ consent decree, and for a venue there is no federal rate court behind its pricing: the rate is a private negotiation.

GMR (Global Music Rights) is the newest PRO, founded in 2013. Its catalog is the smallest of the four but is concentrated and high-value. It operates under no consent decree and no rate court. Its pricing is entirely private agreement, which gives a venue the least statutory leverage of the four.

The sortable comparison needs JavaScript — the same comparison, in full, is stated in prose immediately below.

Stated as prose, the comparison is:

• ASCAP: large catalog; under a DOJ consent decree (AFJ2, 2001); SDNY rate court available; leverage is a court-set reasonable rate if talks fail.
• BMI: large catalog; under a DOJ consent decree (amended 1994); SDNY rate court available; same rate-court leverage as ASCAP.
• SESAC: smaller invitation-only catalog; no consent decree; no rate court for venues; private pricing.
• GMR: smallest but concentrated catalog; founded 2013; no consent decree and no rate court; private pricing only, the least-constrained of the four.

Why One License Does Not Cover the Rest

A blanket license buys access to one organization’s catalog. It does not reach the works of writers affiliated with the other three. Popular music is split across all four catalogs, and a writer’s affiliation can change over time. A general-audience venue that plays current or varied music almost always performs works from more than one catalog in a single night. That is why “just get ASCAP” is the single most common wrong answer in search results: it leaves the venue exposed on every BMI, SESAC, or GMR work it performs.

Do I Need All Four?

Liability follows the songs performed, not the performer and not the playlist’s label. A DJ, a cover band, a karaoke host, a recorded playlist, a jukebox, and the audio on a TV can each pull in works from any of the four catalogs. A band that says it “plays only BMI songs” is not reliable coverage, because affiliation is a fact about each underlying work, not about the act.

Reducing the number of PROs you license is therefore a music-operations decision, not a vendor choice. It requires controlling and continually verifying every work performed on your premises. For a venue with open-format DJs, live bands, or broad playlists, that is impractical. It becomes workable only in narrow cases: a room that performs genuinely 100%-owned original music, or a single tightly controlled and verified music source. If your setup might qualify for an exemption instead, confirm that before buying anything: a broadcast-radio-only setup under the size threshold may owe nothing, which the Section 110(5)(B) exemption screener checks directly.

To answer “am I being charged four times for the same thing”: no. Each organization controls a different catalog, and each blanket license buys access only to that catalog. The four-PRO structure reflects how the public-performance right is administered among competing organizations, not a duplicate charge for identical rights.

Your next action: list every way music enters your space, then identify which catalogs those songs reach before you price anything. That list is the input to pricing: cost means nothing until you know which catalogs you must license.

What It Costs

There is no reliable fixed price for a venue license, and any four-column dollar table you find is either a vendor’s estimate or stale. Fees are quoted per venue against a set of inputs, and two of the four PROs do not publish rates at all.

How Pricing Actually Works

Each PRO prices a blanket license against venue characteristics. The common inputs are:

• Occupancy or gross square footage.
• Music use: recorded background music versus live music, which is priced higher.
• Number of nights per week with live music or entertainment.
• Whether admission or a cover charge is collected.
• Number of rooms, speakers, and screens; sometimes multiple locations.

ASCAP and BMI publish rate schedules (rate cards) keyed to these inputs, so their fees are at least predictable in structure. SESAC and GMR do not publish rates and quote on request. This is why a cross-PRO comparison table cannot be accurate: the inputs differ by venue, and half the market prices privately. As dated, directional observations (verified as of 2026-07-20), reported small-venue annual blanket fees commonly fall in the low hundreds to low four figures per organization, with live music and cover charges pushing them higher. Treat any such range as a starting expectation to confirm, never a quote. Verify the current figure with each PRO whose catalog you perform.

Where Leverage Exists, and Where It Does Not

The consent-decree split is the leverage map:

• On ASCAP and BMI, the decrees give a real floor. If you cannot agree on a fee, you can take the dispute to the SDNY rate court to have a reasonable rate set, and the PRO cannot refuse to deal with you.
• On SESAC, there is no rate court; for a venue the rate is a private negotiation.
• On GMR, there is neither a decree nor a rate court. The only mechanism is private agreement.

Your leverage is therefore strongest with the two decree-bound organizations and weakest with GMR.

Price the License Against the Right Number

A blanket license is small relative to the exposure for not licensing. Statutory damages run $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, and up to $150,000 per work if the infringement is willful (17 U.S.C. § 504(c)). A few unlicensed songs can exceed a year of license fees many times over. Price the license against that exposure, not against zero. How enforcement escalates and how those damage numbers actually land in court is covered on how PRO enforcement works.

The Verify-With-Each-PRO Procedure

Run this before you sign anything:

1. List every way music enters your space: recorded playlists, live acts, DJs, karaoke, jukebox, TVs, and hold music.
2. Confirm first whether an exemption applies. A broadcast-radio-only setup under the size threshold may owe nothing; the exemption screener checks this.
3. For music that is not exempt, identify which catalogs it reaches. You generally cannot assume a single PRO.
4. Request a current written quote from each PRO whose catalog you actually perform, giving each the same venue facts so the quotes are comparable.
5. On ASCAP and BMI, if a quote looks unreasonable, the rate-court backstop is available. Factor it into the conversation.
6. Keep the quotes and a short written record of your setup on file.

If a PRO has just contacted you, the overview of what to do when a letter or call arrives maps the whole process, and the quote step here sits inside that response sequence rather than being a cold purchase: verify what you owe first, then price it. The demand-letter response walkthrough covers that response in detail.

Licensing is one path among several. Whether it is your only move, or whether changing or reducing your music use fits your venue better, is the subject of your real options.

After you sign, a license is not the end of the process: rates carry renewals and escalators, and a PRO you have not yet heard from can still send its own demand. Treat each PRO independently, and expect the newest one to arrive last.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need Both ASCAP and BMI?

Almost always, yes, if you play current or varied popular music. ASCAP and BMI represent different catalogs, and most nights of general-audience music include works from both. A license from one does not cover the other’s works. The exceptions are narrow: a room performing only 100%-owned original music, or a use that qualifies for a statutory exemption.

Which PRO Is Cheapest?

This is the wrong question, because the quotes are not comparable. Fees depend on your occupancy, music use, nights, and cover charge, and SESAC and GMR do not publish rates. More importantly, you cannot choose a PRO the way you choose a vendor: you owe each organization whose catalog you actually perform. The useful comparison is which catalogs your music reaches, not which sticker price is lowest.

Is a SESAC License Required?

SESAC is a legitimate PRO, not a scam, and its demands are lawful collection. You need a SESAC license only if you perform works from its catalog, which for most general-audience venues you will. Unlike ASCAP and BMI, SESAC operates under no federal consent decree, so it has no rate court; for a venue the rate is a private negotiation.

What Is GMR, and Do I Have to Pay It?

GMR (Global Music Rights) is the newest US PRO, founded in 2013, with a small but high-value catalog. You owe GMR only if you perform works it represents. It operates under no consent decree and no rate court, so its pricing is private negotiation with the least statutory leverage of the four. The widely cited RMLC-GMR term that ran through March 31, 2026 applies to commercial radio stations, not venues.

Can I Avoid Paying Multiple PROs?

Only by genuinely controlling your repertoire, which means verifying that every work performed on your premises belongs to the one catalog you license. For a venue with DJs, live acts, or broad playlists, that is impractical, because liability follows each song, not the performer. This is a music-operations reality, not a loophole. Where it works at all is a room performing only 100%-owned original music, or a use that qualifies for an exemption.