Use Sonosfera for eligible catalogue background playback in Canada, then keep DJs, live music, radio, uploaded tracks, venue terms, and local permissions in their own checks.
Sonosfera was started by a salon operator who got caught out by PPL/PRS licensing letters and built the music platform they wished existed. The team behind this blog has spent years inside hair and beauty businesses, clinics, and hospitality venues — booking the bills, dealing with the licensing letters, and learning the hard way that most Spotify playlists don't work for a professional environment.
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Charity gala background music in Canada: SOCAN, venue, and source checks
Direct answer: Charity status does not exempt a Canadian event from music licensing. Recorded music usually means two rights — songwriters/publishers (SOCAN) and recordings (Re:Sound) — most often handled together through Entandem. Check your venue contract early to confirm who is actually paying the tariffs.
A registered charity does not get a free pass on music copyright. If your gala plays recorded or live music where guests can hear it, that counts as a public performance, and a public performance needs a licence — regardless of how good the cause is. The good news is that the rules are knowable, and most of the work is a few checks you can finish weeks before the doors open.
This guide is for the person actually planning the night: the development director, events lead, or volunteer coordinator who has to sign off on the soundtrack and wants no surprise invoices afterward. It walks through who licenses music in Canada, why your venue's contract probably does not cover you, what to do about free community events, and how to keep a clean source trail.
A quick note before we start: this is general information, not legal advice. For a binding answer on your specific event, talk to a lawyer or contact the licensing bodies directly.
Fast facts: who licenses music at a Canadian event
Two collective societies sit behind almost every piece of recorded music played in public in Canada:
SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) collects on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers — the people who wrote the song.
Re:Sound collects on behalf of performers and record labels — the people who made the specific recording.
Because organizers do not want to chase two separate licences, the societies run a joint licensing service called Entandem, which lets you handle both rights in one place. The tariffs Entandem collects are not made up by the societies; they are approved by the Copyright Board of Canada, the federal body that reviews and certifies these rates. A "tariff," in plain terms, is the published rate card for a given type of use — a reception, a convention, an exhibition, a free community event, and so on.
Tariffs differ mainly in what they are measured against. Some are priced per room capacity, some per attendee, some on whether admission is charged. The table below maps the common event tariff types to the basis Entandem typically uses to price them, so you can see at a glance which numbers your event will be measured on:
Tariff type
Rate basis
What it is measured on
Reception / banquet
Per event, by attendance
Number of guests in the room
Convention / conference
Per delegate or per day
Delegate count and number of days
Exhibition / trade show
Per square footage or per day
Floor area in use and event duration
Free community event
Per venue capacity or duration
Maximum room capacity, not ticket sales
Tariffs are certified for each format and basis, so the rate for your event depends on your exact format and headcount. Check the current rate on the Entandem music licensing forms page, and note that rates are reviewed periodically by the Copyright Board.
Before you lock the playlist or book a DJ, the job is to identify which of these tariffs matches your event and confirm who is responsible for paying it.
Charity events still need the copyright check
Under the Canadian Copyright Act (RSC 1985, c. C-42), any public performance of copyrighted music requires permission — the right to authorize public performance is reserved to the rights holder under section 3 of the Act. The Act protects the creator's rights no matter who is playing the music or why — a fundraiser is not an exception. If the public can hear it, it is a public performance, full stop.
The common assumption is that a good cause overrides copyright. It does not, and acting on that belief is how charities end up with a retroactive bill after the event. Playing music without the right licence is a copyright violation, and licensing bodies can follow up after the fact.
The practical move is to check the current routes on the Entandem music licensing forms page, which lists the forms for receptions, conventions, exhibitions, and similar events, and to confirm the rate for your format before any music plays. Good intentions do not bypass the law.
Your venue's licence probably does not cover your gala
Most venue contracts do not cover the music at your specific event. Hotels and banquet halls often hold an annual background music licence, but that licence is usually written for ambient music in lobbies, hallways, and restaurants — not for a third-party, ticketed gala running in a private room.
The trap is assuming "the venue already pays SOCAN, so we are covered." Once you rent a room for a specific ticketed fundraiser, the licensing responsibility for that event should be confirmed in the contract instead of assumed. Separate tariffs apply to conventions, receptions, and exhibitions, so ask the venue to state in writing whether its licence covers your event or whether you need a separate Entandem route.
So read the contract before you sign anything else. Look specifically for clauses on music licensing and indemnification. If the contract does not clearly state that the venue covers the SOCAN and Re:Sound tariffs for your event, do not guess — ask the venue manager for written proof of what their licence actually covers, and confirm the route yourself if there is any doubt.
Free community events are not exempt
A free event still needs a licence. The Copyright Act ties licensing to the public nature of the setting, not to whether you charge admission. A community hall, a public park, a street festival — these are all public spaces, and music played there is performed publicly.
What changes for free events is usually the rate, not the requirement. Entandem structures tariffs for free-admission events that are often calculated on the physical capacity of the venue or the duration of the event rather than on ticket revenue. Skipping the check because "no money changed hands" is a common and costly misread; the obligation still exists, and follow-up can still arrive after the event.
If your fundraiser has a free component — an open-to-the-public afternoon, say, ahead of a ticketed evening — treat that segment as its own licensing question rather than assuming the ticketed-event paperwork covers it.
How to run a clean source check
The simplest way to avoid surprises is to document every music source before the gala. Whether the music comes from a live band, a DJ, or a playlist, write down where it comes from and keep the paperwork together.
The step most likely to take time is getting the venue to confirm in writing what their annual licence covers, so budget your time accordingly — the rest is fast once you know which form applies.
Here is a workable sequence:
Identify who is providing the music. A DJ, a live band, and a curated playlist are different sources with different licensing implications — list each one you plan to use.
Check the venue contract in writing. Confirm explicitly who pays the SOCAN and Re:Sound tariffs, and get that answer on paper, not in a hallway conversation.
Verify your streaming source. Personal accounts on Spotify or Apple Music are licensed for personal use only and cannot legally be played at a public event. You need a commercial route.
Keep a single paper trail. Store the venue agreement, the Entandem receipt, and any music-service invoice in one folder so anyone on the team can answer a licensing question quickly.
Copy-and-keep gala music-licensing checklist. Save this block (copy it into your event folder or print it) and tick each item before the doors open:
Event format identified and matched to an Entandem tariff type (reception, convention, exhibition, or free community event)
Venue contract read; music-licensing and indemnification clauses located
Written confirmation from the venue of which SOCAN and Re:Sound tariffs their annual licence covers
Each music source listed (DJ, live band, playlist) with its licensing route noted
Streaming source confirmed as a commercial route, not a personal Spotify or Apple Music account
Correct Entandem form located and the certified rate noted for your headcount or capacity
Free-admission segments treated as their own licensing question
Venue contract, Entandem receipt, and music-service invoice filed in one folder
One named person assigned to own the music decision
Where a commercial background-music service fits in is worth being honest about. A service like Sonosfera provides eligible playback of its own catalogue in supported commercial settings, which is a clean source for reception areas, registration desks, and ambient zones. What it does not do is replace SOCAN, Re:Sound, or Entandem for mainstream commercial repertoire — if your DJ is spinning top-40 hits, that is still a public performance of those songs and still needs the appropriate Entandem licence. The two things solve different problems, and a well-run event often uses both.
If you want a catalogue-scoped source for the ambient parts of your event, you can browse the Sonosfera catalogue or check the Sonosfera pricing page to see how the platform supports eligible playback, and you can pull a Sonosfera certificate for your records. If the ambient zones are ready to test, start a short-term Sonosfera pass after you have separated official event tariffs from the catalogue source.
Frequently asked questions
Do charity events really need music permission?
Yes. A charity event should run the same music-permission checks as any other public event, because copyright applies regardless of the cause. Even background music played from a phone or tablet can require a commercial public-performance route, since personal streaming accounts do not cover public playback. Confirm the route through Entandem before the event begins.
Does a free community event change the answer?
No, it changes the rate, not the requirement. A free event still needs a licence because the Copyright Act looks at the public setting, not the ticket price. Entandem tariffs for free-admission events are often based on venue capacity or duration rather than ticket sales, so check the specific form for your format.
Who should own the music decision at a fundraiser?
A single, named person — usually the event director or a designated compliance lead — should own it. Leaving licensing to volunteers or an external DJ creates gaps where everyone assumes someone else handled it. Centralizing the decision means the venue contract gets read properly and the Entandem licence is secured and paid for before the gala.
What proof should the team keep?
Keep digital or physical copies of three things: the venue contract, the SOCAN/Re:Sound (Entandem) receipt, and any music-service invoice. Add a short note of what music source was actually used on the night. That small file is what lets you answer cleanly if a licensing question arrives after the event.
Before your next fundraiser
Music licensing is easy to ignore until a bill shows up weeks later, and that is exactly the outcome a few early checks prevent. Handling it ahead of time keeps donor money pointed at the cause instead of at post-event cleanup.
The single most useful step: review your venue contract at least a couple of months before the gala, ask the venue manager which SOCAN and Re:Sound tariffs their annual agreement actually covers, and get the answer in writing. From there, identify your sources, secure the right Entandem route for your event format, and line up a compliant catalogue for the ambient zones. Do that, and your event team has a clean, defensible source trail for the entire night.
Sources
SOCAN — music licensees — SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada)
