Three bodies, three tariffs, one liable party
For three and a half years Malaysian businesses could licence music through a single window. That arrangement was dissolved in 2020, and the societies returned to setting their own tariffs and licensing separately. The administrative burden landed on the buyer.
How Malaysia lost its single-window licence
This is recent market history, it is not widely explained, and it is the reason licensing a Malaysian venue is more work today than it was in 2019.
1 January 2017. Music Rights Malaysia Berhad begins operating, incorporated by the three licensing bodies as a joint venture non-profit to carry out collective music licensing, following the requisite declaration by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia. One licence, one fee, one point of contact.
July 2020. The licensing bodies announce the dissolution of Music Rights Malaysia Berhad. Its licensing body status is revoked, following difficulties in carrying out its functions as a collective licensing body. It is no longer authorised to collect on the societies’ behalf.
Since then. Each licensing body sets its own tariff and licenses independently. A venue that once completed one transaction now faces separate agreements, separate renewal dates and separate tariff structures, with no single figure to budget against.
Where this applies
If music is audible to customers, guests or staff, the analysis is identical. Only the scale changes.
Hotels and resorts
Multiple zones under one operator, often with different programming in lobby, restaurant, spa and lift. Every zone is a public performance.
Restaurants, cafés and bars
Long trading hours and high track volume. Exposure scales with the number of works performed, not the size of the room.
Retail stores and malls
Chains multiply one licensing gap across every outlet simultaneously, which is how an oversight becomes a group-level liability.
Gyms and fitness studios
Class formats often run on staff playlists from personal accounts — consumer terms that exclude commercial use outright.
Offices and reception areas
Music audible only to employees is still a public performance. Private company premises are not a private domestic setting.
Clinics, salons and spas
Low volume and ambient intent do not change the analysis. Audibility is the test, not prominence.
Liability sits with the premises, and it does not move
Under the Copyright Act 1987, a rights holder pursuing unlicensed use brings the claim against the business operating the venue. A supply contract may promise indemnity, and that promise may have commercial value — but it is a claim you make afterwards, against a counterparty who may or may not be solvent, possibly in another jurisdiction. It is not a defence.
Territory sharpens this. Reproduction rights are granted country by country, so a supplier holding valid rights in its home market cannot confer Malaysian coverage by selling into Malaysia. When audio is cached or stored on a device on your premises, the act happens here and Malaysian law governs it. The buyer carries that gap.
Five questions worth asking before signing
- Which of the five rights does this agreement clear, named individually?
- For which territory are the reproduction rights granted?
- Is any audio written to storage on our premises, including temporary caching?
- Is the repertoire inside or outside the licensing bodies’ collections — and if outside, on what basis?
- If a rights holder contacts us directly, what evidence of coverage can we produce that day?
A supplier who cannot answer the second and third questions precisely has not been asked them before. That is itself the answer.
On the fifth question, MUSICVYBE does not wait to be asked. When a client comes on board we notify the licensing bodies directly that the premises are operating on directly licensed repertoire — and the client is copied on that email. The evidence sits in your own records from the first day of service: dated, addressed to the bodies themselves, and sent before anyone requested it. That matters precisely because the venue, not the supplier, is the party that would have to answer an enquiry.
The direct-licensing alternative
MUSICVYBE licenses music directly from rights owners rather than drawing on society-administered repertoire. Because the rights are cleared at source and in territory, performance and reproduction are covered by one arrangement, and there is no separate society position to hold, renew or reconcile against three tariff cycles.
Common questions
Does my business need a music licence in Malaysia?+
If copyrighted music is audible to customers, guests or staff, yes. This holds for offices and back-of-house areas as well as customer-facing space, and it holds regardless of volume or whether anyone is listening attentively.
How many licences does a Malaysian business actually need?+
Under the society model, three bodies administer separate layers — MACP for the composition, Public Performance Malaysia for the sound recording, and Recording Performers Malaysia for the performers’ rights in it — and each licenses and sets tariffs independently. Reproduction and the underlying publishing and master rights sit beyond all three.
Is there still a single licence covering all the Malaysian societies?+
No. Music Rights Malaysia Berhad operated as a single window from January 2017 until its dissolution in 2020, when its licensing body status was revoked. Each body has licensed independently and set its own tariff since.
Can I use a consumer streaming subscription in my business?+
No. Consumer streaming services are licensed for personal use and their terms exclude commercial and public performance use explicitly. Using one in a business creates exposure immediately, whoever holds the account.
Who is liable if the music is not licensed — my business or my supplier?+
Your business. Under the Copyright Act 1987 the operator of the premises is the responsible party. An indemnity clause may give you a commercial claim against the supplier afterwards, but liability itself does not transfer by contract.
One coverage position, documented
Directly licensed music for Malaysian businesses, cleared in territory, fully managed across Lite, Pro and Signature.
Related pages
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| MACP Licence Malaysia | The composition layer, and the four rights it leaves open |
| PPM Licence Malaysia | The sound recording layer, and the one gap it does close |
| Music Licensing in Malaysia | The overview of every licence a Malaysian business may need |
| Music Licensing Laws in Malaysia | The five rights framework under the Copyright Act 1987 |
| Pricing | Lite, Pro and Signature, fully managed |