Music Licensing Guide

The short version

• If your station airs commercially released music (songs you hear on Spotify or FM radio), you need licenses. Nobody else can get them for you.
• If your station airs only content produced in BroadcastPilot with AI voices plus royalty-free or self-owned music, you generally do not need those licenses.
• BroadcastPilot does not include music licenses in any plan, and unlicensed commercial music violates our Terms of Service.

Path 1: AI and royalty-free content — no licenses needed

Talk shows, news, weather, traffic, and full programs generated inside BroadcastPilot are your content — there is no third-party composer or record label to pay.

For music, you can use tracks you own outright, tracks under a royalty-free license you purchased (read its terms: many require a one-time fee per project or a subscription), or music released under licenses that permit broadcast use. Keep proof of every license: if a dispute ever arises, the receipt is your defense.

Path 2: Commercial music in the United States — two layers of licenses

Layer 1 — the composition (songwriters and publishers): blanket licenses from the performing-rights organizations ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. Each charges its own annual fee; for small webcasters these are typically a few hundred dollars per year each.

Layer 2 — the recording (artists and labels): the statutory license administered by SoundExchange. Rates are set per performance (one song heard by one listener) with an annual minimum fee of $1,000 per station or channel, plus usage reporting requirements.

Outside the United States, equivalent societies apply (for example SOCAN/Re:Sound in Canada, SACM in Mexico, SGAE in Spain, SACEM in France).

The DMCA programming rules (statutory webcasting)

If you stream commercial music under the U.S. statutory license, federal law also limits how you program it. In any 3-hour window you may not play:

• More than 3 songs from the same album (and no more than 2 in a row).
• More than 4 songs by the same artist or from the same compilation (and no more than 3 in a row).
• You also may not publish the exact upcoming song schedule in advance, and your stream must not facilitate recording.

What BroadcastPilot does and does not do

• We provide the streaming and programming tools, and our Terms make each station responsible for its licenses.
• We do not obtain, hold, or pay for public-performance or sound-recording licenses on your behalf.
• We respond to copyright complaints under our DMCA Policy, and repeat infringement leads to account termination.

Questions

Not sure which path your station is on? Write to support@broadcastpilot.com and we will help you figure out what applies — and point you to the right organizations if you need commercial-music licenses.