Music licensing
What a MAWCast subscription does and does not cover.
MAWCast provides the infrastructure that carries your stream. It does not grant you any right to broadcast the recordings you play.
What is usually required
Playing commercial recordings to the public generally needs permission from two sides of the industry: the people who wrote the music, and the people who own the recording of it. In most countries each is handled by its own collecting society, and an internet station is licensed by where its operator and its audience are — not by where the server is.
What this does not depend on
- The size of your audience. A small station is still a public broadcast.
- Whether you make money. Non-commercial is not the same as unlicensed.
- Owning the files. Buying a record does not carry the right to broadcast it.
Music you can broadcast without that
Your own recordings, music released under a licence that permits broadcast, and production libraries you have licensed for the purpose.
It is a summary of how licensing usually works. Your obligations depend on where you and your listeners are; the societies that cover your territory are the authority on them.
Still need help? Write to contact@mawcast.com.