Starting an internet radio station in Australia: which music licences do you need?
If you play other people’s music on an internet radio station, two sets of rights are involved, and in Australia two organisations usually license them. This guide explains who does what, in plain English, using the organisations’ own pages.
The short answer
- Only your own music, fully yours: you may not need a collecting-society licence. APRA AMCOS itself says you don’t have to go through it to legally play music, and lists live streaming your own show with your own material (no covers) as a case where dealing directly can be easier. One catch is explained under “If you are an APRA AMCOS member”.
- Other people’s released music: you need permission for the song and for the recording. In Australia that is usually APRA AMCOS for the songs and PPCA (or the record label) for the recordings.
- An internet-only station is not a shop or a café. The OneMusic licence is built for music played in public places. For a station that exists only online, APRA AMCOS points to its online licences, and PPCA has a separate Internet Radio Licence.
Two rights in every recorded song
A released song has two copyrights. The musical work (the composition and lyrics) belongs to the songwriters and publishers. The sound recording belongs to whoever made the recording, usually the record label. APRA AMCOS says its licences cover the musical works; PPCA says streaming a sound recording online involves the owners’ right to copy it to create the program and their right to communicate it over the internet. A station streaming a released song needs both layers cleared, unless you own both.
The songs: APRA AMCOS
APRA AMCOS has licences for television, AM/FM commercial radio, community radio and narrowcasters, and says: if your radio station only exists online, check out our range of online music licences.
Its Online Mini Licence is the low-cost option for small services. It is for online services earning less than AUD $25,000 a year for each online activity, and it lists webcasting among what it covers, described as live streamed webcasts received simultaneously by all users. It does not cover interactive streaming (customers choose songs or save playlists), semi-interactive streaming (listeners can influence playlists), video-on-demand, or synchronisation rights, nor websites above the revenue and usage limits. Bigger services, or those on third-party platforms, are asked to contact APRA AMCOS about other licensing options.
The webcasting limits and yearly fees it published when we read the page (rates include GST; fees can change, so check the page):
| Level | Fee a year | Webcasting limit |
|---|---|---|
| A | AUD $275 | under 18,000 sessions a year |
| B | AUD $550 | under 45,000 sessions a year |
| C | AUD $1,100 | under 90,000 sessions a year |
Per its footnote, one session equals one unique user per hour or part of an hour. In plain terms, level A is roughly 50 listener-hours a day. Licence holders are asked to report the music they played each quarter, and the licence renews automatically unless either side gives three months’ notice.
The recordings: PPCA’s Internet Radio Licence
PPCA says anyone who operates a service that streams sound recordings online needs a licence, and offers an Internet Radio Licence covering both the copying and the communication of sound recordings controlled by its licensors. There are two versions:
- Non-interactive streaming: a linear stream with no listener control, such as an internet radio station. It excludes anything letting listeners control what plays or when, such as on-demand content, selecting, pausing, fast-forwarding or skipping.
- Semi-interactive / customised internet radio: listeners can pick genres or artists they prefer, or pause and skip, but cannot choose a particular track or play anything on demand.
Three limits to read before you assume you are covered. The licence is for operators based in Australia whose users access the service within Australia. It covers recordings controlled by PPCA’s licensors and released on their labels, and PPCA notes that certain repertoire exclusions apply. And on-demand streaming needs licences directly from the copyright holders. To apply, PPCA points to an online form and [email protected].
What about OneMusic?
OneMusic Australia is a joint initiative of APRA AMCOS and PPCA, launched nationally on 1 July 2019, to make one licence for public performance: music played aloud in a shop, clinic, gym, café, bar, hotel or at an event. APRA AMCOS says online use is different: streaming music via your website may need an APRA AMCOS licence, and for a recording you did not create you need permission from PPCA or the recording’s owner. Some OneMusic licences include a background stream on the licensee’s own business website; ask OneMusic if that is your case.
Other ways to get permission
- Deal directly with the owners. APRA AMCOS says you can license directly with the songwriters or publishers instead. For recordings, ask whoever owns them, usually the record label.
- “Royalty-free” music. APRA AMCOS warns that what appears to be directly licensed music often does still require a licence from the copyright owner or APRA AMCOS, and invites you to ask it about your supplier before relying on it.
- Your own music. If you wrote it and own the recording, nobody else has rights to license. The exception is just below.
If you are an APRA AMCOS member
APRA AMCOS administers its members’ performing rights. APRA AMCOS says that to deal directly with one of its members, the member can ask it about its Licence Back or Opt Out schemes, and that every other writer or publisher with an interest in the song must agree. So if you are a member and want to play your own songs on your own station, ask APRA AMCOS how your membership applies before assuming your own songs are free to stream.
If your music is made with AI tools
Whether you can use what an AI music tool produced commercially depends on that tool’s own terms and on the plan you used when you made it, which is why our Terms ask you to keep proof. Nothing in this guide says that AI-made music is licensed or protected by copyright. How MIBL’s own music is made is explained on this page.
What this means on MIBL
- MIBL does not include or sell a music licence. Under our Terms you are responsible for everything you upload and broadcast, and you confirm you hold the rights needed, including collecting-society licences where your territory requires them.
- The simplest start is a station that plays your own music. You can start free for 30 days, no card needed.
- If you want to play other people’s music, arrange the licences above first.
Start a free stationSee our plans
Before you go on air: a checklist
- List what you will play: your own music, other people’s released music, or music from a supplier.
- For other people’s music, get the songs cleared (APRA AMCOS) and the recordings cleared (PPCA or the labels).
- Decide whether listeners can choose or skip tracks; that decides the licence type.
- Check where you are based and where your listeners are; PPCA’s licence is for Australian operators serving listeners in Australia.
- If you are an APRA AMCOS member, ask about Licence Back or Opt Out for your own songs.
- Keep copies of every licence and proof of ownership for your own tracks.
Outside Australia
This guide is about Australia. Other countries have their own collecting societies and their own rules for internet radio, and a licence from an Australian body is written for Australia, so check what it covers if your listeners are elsewhere. Ask the societies in the country where you operate and in the countries where your listeners are.
Sources (all read on 21 October 2026)
- APRA AMCOS — Select a music licence; Online licences; Online Mini Licence
- APRA AMCOS — Using music online (published 12 June 2025)
- APRA AMCOS — Dealing directly with copyright owners
- PPCA — Online and Digital Licensing (Internet Radio Licence); Apply for a music licence (OneMusic)
- business.gov.au — Online mini music licence