It must have passed the pub test because in the first three months since OneMusic Australia has been on tap, some 300[1] hoteliers and bar owners have signed up, keen to make the switch to the one-licence system and leave the two music-licence-system behind, even before their old licences officially fell due.
Half of those contacted in the first two waves of correspondence signed-up for a new OneMusic licence even before the old ones expired allowing the OneMusic to fulfil a commitment to a per-licence donation to Rural Aid on the licensee’s behalf.
For most pubs, bars and nightclubs music is a staple entertainment fixture and the sector embraces their responsibility to their fellow entrepreneurs, the musicians. In fact the sector remain one of, if not the most compliant with an estimated 91% carrying a music licence going into OneMusic.[2]
OneMusic means one less thing to think about. Australian Hotels Association CEO Stephen Ferguson said that publicans who had used the Get a Quote option on the OneMusic website had found it very easy to use and quick to fill out. More than half in the sector, even those with complex music uses to report, used the online portal to sign-up.
The Hotels, Pubs, Taverns, Bars & Casinos licence scheme has 10 music use options to add to a ‘shopping cart’ of music licence cover.
Pub baron and musician Tom Fisher of Clancy’s Fish Pubs took a keen part in the consultation leading up to OneMusic and he thinks will make the back-end of a music-loving business like his a whole lot easier.
Tom said, “We have four venues with a combination of background, live, featured and a whole heap of other music uses, all due for renewal of their music licences in different months of the year – with the two organisations APRA AMCOS and PPCA.
“With OneMusic coming along – we will manage our roster of music licences in one transaction, once a year and online – and that streamlining will help get our fees into the hands of musicians like me more efficiently.
Tom says hospitality businesses need to whet the appetite of punters with music not just instagram-worthy food. “I can assure you every punter in your venue appreciates your effort to entertain. It builds social currency,“ Tom said.
onemusic.com.au
Ph 1300 162 162
[1] As at 3 September 2019 99 bars, 187 hotels and 4 nightclubs have signed-up.
[2] APRA AMCOS had some 5,423 pubs, bars and nightclubs under license. IbisWorld reports a sector size of 5,906
