Karaoke for a restaurant - what licences do I need?

Running a restaurant comes with a lot to manage and remember; the tasks seem never-ending! Examining various licensing matters can make even an experienced restaurateur's teeth grind. What all do you need to remember if you want to have karaoke in your restaurant? In this blog post, you'll find simple tips for obtaining the necessary licenses for karaoke.

Music licence is karaoke's friend

To play karaoke in a restaurant, you need a professional karaoke system like Feelment and a sound recording music license obtained from Teosto. The key question for karaoke, in every aspect, is how often karaoke is performed at your establishment. Similar to Feelment services, there are options for karaoke licensing to accommodate both larger and more occasional singing needs.

When karaoke is sung occasionally and with a smaller crowd

Restaurants with a maximum capacity of 200 seats, where karaoke is sung less frequently (such as once a week), can effectively operate with the restaurant's sound recording music license. This is the same license that was previously referred to as the MEKA Year license.

When purchasing the license, you need to provide the seating capacity of your restaurant and an estimate of how often karaoke is sung within a year. The price is determined based on the information you provide, and you don't need to report individual events separately. However, Teosto does not refund fees in cases where karaoke has actually been less frequent than estimated

Often, alongside this license, Feelment's karaoke per-song billing option is a suitable companion.

When karaoke is sung often and with large crowds

In most cases, the most cost-effective option is the restaurant's fixed sound recording music license, covering the necessary rights for regular karaoke events in restaurants with 1–1500 seating capacity. This license was previously known as the MEKA Fixed license.

The restaurant's fixed sound recording music license requires monthly reporting to Teosto. At the time of obtaining the license, the estimated number of events for the entire year is assessed, forming an estimated invoice for monthly costs. Your own activity influences what you pay because, through your reporting, the estimates for fees adjust to match the actual costs. If you provide all monthly details on time, you also receive a 3% annual discount on the license price with the reconciliation invoice

Often, alongside this license, Feelment's karaoke with a fixed monthly fee is a suitable companion. Do you have more than 1500 seating capacity? No worries, for restaurants with over 1500 seating capacity, Teosto recommends the sound recording music percentage license, which you can read more about here.

Also, remember the background music in the restaurant -license.

The sound recording music license obtained from Teosto covers the rights for organizing sound recording music events, such as karaoke. Therefore, Teosto's sound recording music license does not include the public performance of background music or live music. For playing background music, the restaurant needs to acquire a separate background music in the restaurant license, which can be conveniently purchased from the Musiikkiluvat.fi online store. Background music includes, for example, the music played during karaoke breaks. For more information on background music licenses, you can find it in our previous post.

When it comes to Teosto's sound recording licenses, the talk revolves around the number of events, which needs to be estimated. How is the number of karaoke events calculated?

One karaoke night is basically an event. If karaoke is held five days a week for example, the number of events that week is also five.

Sometimes it's challenging to estimate how often karaoke is sung. In such cases, is it advisable for a restaurant to opt for the fixed sound recording license, even if the seating capacity is less than 200?

Yes, indeed! The restaurant's sound recording music annual license does not involve reporting, making it easy to overpay when estimating on the high side. Reporting associated with the fixed sound recording music license is straightforward on Teosto's online service. The number of karaoke nights is entered there in figures, and the information is confirmed no later than the 15th of each month.

You can find more information from Teosto's website or customer service.