Music Licence for Business in Vietnam: VCPMC Rules
How music licensing works for cafes, restaurants, and shops in Vietnam — what VCPMC covers, what background-music services do and don't include, and the checks to make before you sign up.
By Sonosfera Team·Background music for Vietnamese businesses··Updated
Key Takeaways
In Vietnam, public-performance rights for songwriters are administered by VCPMC — always confirm current rates directly with them.
A background-music subscription and a copyright licence are two different things; some services bundle them, most don't.
Provider pricing routes vary by model, zone, venue and app plan, so compare on the current route you'll actually use.
"Royalty-free" or "own-catalogue" services avoid collecting-society repertoire, but check whether that holds for Vietnam specifically.
Keep invoices and licence documents for whatever you play, in case you're ever asked to show compliance.
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.
Music Licence for Business in Vietnam: VCPMC Rules
By Sonosfera Team
Direct answer: if your Vietnam cafe, restaurant, shop, studio or event uses music for customers, separate the music source from the public-playback rights. For a venue soundtrack, start with the closest route — nhạc quán cà phê, nhạc sự kiện, nhạc Pilates, or nhạc yoga — then check whether your chosen catalogue is covered by the provider or whether VCPMC/RIAV-side permissions still apply. For Sonosfera's own catalogue, compare Vietnam pricing and keep the provider documents with your venue records.
2026 update: Vietnamese state-media reporting from VNA/SGGP says Decree 134/2026/NĐ-CP introduces a clearer royalty-calculation framework for businesses such as cafes, restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues from 1 July 2026. Treat that as a prompt to check current VCPMC, RIAV and decree guidance before quoting any fee.
If you run a cafe, restaurant, gym, or shop in Vietnam and you play music to customers, two questions usually come up: which service should I use, and am I allowed to play this music legally? They sound like one question, but they're not. The music subscription you pay for and the copyright licence that makes public playback lawful are separate things — and conflating them is where most venue owners get caught out.
This guide is for Vietnamese venue operators — cafe chains, independent restaurants, retail, hospitality, and fitness studios — who want background music without a compliance headache. It explains how public-performance licensing works here, what the main background-music services actually offer, and the questions to ask before you commit. It does not give legal advice for unusual cases like live bands, DJs, ticketed events, or streaming your own playlists from a personal account — those carry extra rules and are worth a direct conversation with a rights body or lawyer.
The licence vs the subscription: why they're different
A public-performance licence is permission to play copyrighted music in a space the public can enter. It exists because composers and lyricists are owed a royalty whenever their work is performed commercially. In most countries a collecting society (also called a PRO, or performing-rights organisation) administers this on the rightsholders' behalf and collects the fee.
In Vietnam, the body that administers public-performance rights for musical works is the Vietnam Center for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC). VCPMC represents songwriters and composers and licenses the use of their works, including playback in commercial premises. Rates depend on factors like venue type and size, so the only reliable figure is the current one — rather than trusting a number quoted second-hand.
check the current rate directly with VCPMC
A music subscription, by contrast, is the service that supplies the actual audio and the player app. Paying Spotify, a local provider, or a B2B music platform gives you the music — but a consumer subscription is usually licensed for personal listening only, not for playing to customers. That's the trap: a subscription can be fully paid up and still leave you unlicensed for public performance.
This is why the route you choose matters. Some business-music services include the necessary clearances in their fee. Others supply only the music and leave the licence to you. And some build their catalogue specifically to sit outside collecting-society repertoire, so no society fee applies at all. You need to know which kind you're buying.
What the main services look like
Below is a snapshot of background-music providers that surface for the Vietnam market, with the positioning route to verify. Prices and terms change often, so use each provider's current page or written certificate before you sign up.
Licensed background music, subscription and player route.
Check operating scope, pricing, and Vietnam-specific usage rights before relying on it.
A few patterns are worth naming. The "own-catalogue, certificate" model (Track Studios, and the approach Sonosfera takes) avoids society repertoire entirely, which can simplify your position — but the certificate only covers the music that service supplies, not Spotify, the radio, a live act, or a playlist you brought in yourself. "Royalty-free" apps mean the catalogue is cleared for commercial use, which is genuinely useful for a small shop, but it's a claim about the music, not a blanket Vietnam compliance guarantee. And worldwide positioning is common in marketing copy; it's not the same as documented, Vietnam-specific coverage.
Where Sonosfera fits
Sonosfera is a background-music service for venues that supplies its own catalogue — music it controls — rather than mainstream commercial tracks. Because the catalogue sits outside collecting-society repertoire, playing it doesn't pull in the usual society repertoire fees, and venues get documentation for the music they're actually using.
To be straight about the boundary: that covers the Sonosfera catalogue you play through the app. It does not cover Spotify, YouTube, broadcast radio, DJs, live music, your own uploads, or third-party playlists — if you play those, the normal rules and any applicable VCPMC obligations still apply. For a venue that just wants reliable business background music with a documented catalogue route, that trade-off is the point. If that sounds like your situation, you can review country-aware pricing and weigh the alternatives on the Vietnam comparison page.
FAQ
Do I need a VCPMC licence to play music in my cafe in Vietnam?
If you play music that is part of VCPMC's repertoire — which covers a large share of commercial songs — to customers in your premises, then yes, public-performance royalties generally apply and VCPMC is the body that administers them. The exception is music licensed in a way that sits outside that repertoire (such as an own-catalogue or royalty-free service). Confirm your specific situation with VCPMC.
Isn't paying for Spotify or a music app enough?
Usually not. A consumer subscription is licensed for personal listening, not public performance in a business. Playing it to customers can leave you exposed even though the subscription is fully paid. A dedicated business-music service, with the right clearances, is the safer route.
How much does a music licence cost in Vietnam?
There's no single figure. Rates depend on venue type, size, and how music is used, and they change over time. Rather than rely on a quoted number, check the current rate directly with VCPMC. Background-music subscriptions are priced separately and should be checked on the provider's current pricing route before you compare.
What's the difference between "royalty-free" and "licensed"?
"Royalty-free" usually means the catalogue is cleared for commercial use without ongoing per-play royalties — the cost is built into the subscription. "Licensed" can mean the provider has secured the rights to supply specific music, sometimes including the collecting-society side. Both can be legitimate; the key is checking that whatever you choose covers public performance in Vietnam, not just "commercial use" in the abstract.
If you want a simpler route built around an own-catalogue service in Vietnam, review country-aware pricing and compare the alternatives first on /compare/vietnam.
