Why does YogiTunes offer a public performance license in the United States only?

At this time, the United States is the only country we know of in the world that doesn’t grant exclusivity to their Performing Rights Organizations (PRO’s) to issue public performance licenses, collect licensing fees from businesses and pay subsequent royalties back to artists. Every other country has an exclusive agreement between the Federal Copyright Board and the Performing Rights Organization in that country that makes them the only entity permitted to grant licenses and pay out royalties.

Unfortunately this system is broken for both the professionals and businesses who require a license, and for the artists who are supposed to receive payment for the use of their music in places of business. Businesses are forced to pay fees set by federal copyright law, that are often higher than they should be for the use case, and the money collected by PRO’s doesn’t get paid to the correct artists because PRO’s have no way of knowing what is being played in small business venues like yoga studios.

YogiTunes has solved this problem in the US, but is being blocked from implementing this solution world wide. Hopefully as we continue to work with copyright laws, copyright holders and PRO’s, we will find a way to offer this service in other countries. Please sign up for our newsletter if you’d like to hear from us when other countries become viable for us to offer a public performance license in.