The UAE has introduced annual music licensing for restaurants, cafés, hotels, gyms and malls — with published fees, two authorised licensing bodies, and fines of up to AED 500,000 behind it. Most venues will spend the autumn working out what it means. Ours won’t: Soniqo handles the licence, the paperwork and the renewals — and runs the music.
Ministerial Resolution No. 136 of 2026 puts the Collective Management Guide for Music (v1.1) into effect. From that date, commercial venues playing recorded or live music need an annual licence from a Ministry-authorised collective management organisation. Applications are already open.
The Guide explicitly covers background music in restaurants and cafés, music in retail spaces, hotels, fitness centres, shopping malls, airlines and live events. Government bodies, education and personal non-commercial occasions are exempt — a commercial dining room is not.
UAE copyright law (Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021) backs the regime with fines from AED 10,000 up to AED 500,000, confiscation of equipment, and possible closure of the establishment. Enforcement is expected to move from awareness to inspections after the start date.
Personal streaming accounts — Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music — are licensed for private listening only. Playing them in a commercial venue was never covered, and under the new regime that gap becomes an inspection finding, not a technicality.
Sources: Ministry of Economy & Tourism announcement of the Collective Management Guide for Music (August 2026); tariff figures as reported from the Guide v1.1; penalties per Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021. Full source list at the end of this page.
Every room in this city opens tonight with music on. From December, every one of them needs a licence for it.
The Guide prices venues by what they are and how they use music. The categories below are the ones we deal with every week — with where each starts under the published tariff.
The fee itself is the smaller half of the story — the application, the correct category, the renewals and the audit trail are where venues lose time. That half is what we take on.
per year, from 1 December 2026 — plus the paperwork: application, category evidence, annual renewal, and keeping the certificate audit-ready.
Have Soniqo handle all of itFigures per the Collective Management Guide for Music v1.1 (Ministerial Resolution No. 136 of 2026), as published August 2026. Final fees are confirmed by the licensed collective management organisations on application.
Licences are issued by the two organisations authorised by the Ministry of Economy & Tourism: the Emirates Music Rights Association (EMRA) and Music Nation. How repertoire is split between them is one of the details still being clarified — we track it so you don't have to.
Venue type, seating capacity or floor area or room count, and how music is used — background only, or DJs and live entertainment. Getting this wrong means overpaying, or being under-licensed for how the venue actually operates.
Trade licence, venue details and seating or floor-plan evidence, plus the music-use profile. Venues with occasional live nights need the mixed-use position stated correctly.
The licence is valid for one year. The certificate should be kept at the premises — it's the first thing an inspection asks for.
Annual renewal, plus documentation of what you play and where it comes from. Expansion, a new terrace or a new DJ programme can change the category mid-year.
Five steps on your own, or one conversation with us. Soniqo venues fill in a short venue profile; the classification, the filing, the renewal and the documentation are ours — alongside the music programme itself.
The licence is a piece of paper. The reason it exists is the room — and the room deserves better than a playlist.
Venue type, seating, zones, live nights or background-only: we map you to the right tariff category under the Guide, and put the mixed-use question to the licensing bodies on your behalf where it applies.
Paperwork with the Ministry-authorised organisations, prepared and managed for you, ahead of the December deadline — one form on your side, the rest on ours.
Renewals tracked, the licence certificate at hand in your venue panel, every track we play documented with its provenance — inspection-ready at any moment, not just in December.
Compliance is the floor, not the product. What you actually get is a sound identity: curated programming tuned to your room, daypart arcs, a fresh order every day, prayer-time awareness, Ramadan programming — run for you, every day.
The resolution comes from the federal Ministry of Economy & Tourism, so the licence applies across the UAE — Dubai and Abu Dhabi first in volume, the northern emirates equally in law. We license and program venues wherever the trade licence is issued.
Get the licence done once, properly — and spend the rest of the year on what the guests actually notice.
Under Ministerial Resolution No. 136 of 2026, commercial venues that play copyrighted music — recorded or live — must hold an annual licence from a Ministry-authorised collective management organisation, with fees applying from 1 December 2026. Fees depend on venue type and size: for restaurants and cafés playing background music they start at AED 1,500 per year, rising with seating capacity and with DJ or entertainment use.
Under the published tariff guide, a restaurant or café playing background music pays AED 1,500 a year up to 50 seats, AED 2,700 for 51–100 seats, AED 4,800 for 101–200 seats, and AED 20 per additional seat above 200, capped at AED 6,000. With DJs or entertainment the bands are AED 2,500 / 3,500 / 6,500, capped at AED 8,000. Use the calculator on this page for your estimate.
Hotels pay per room by star rating — AED 50 to 150 a room — capped at AED 25,000 a year. Fitness centres pay AED 1,700 for up to 300 m² plus AED 5 per additional square metre, capped at AED 6,000. Shops and commercial premises pay AED 1,700 up to 300 m², AED 3,400 up to 700 m², then AED 60 per additional 25 m², capped at AED 20,000. Shopping malls are charged on common areas, capped at AED 50,000.
Fees apply from 1 December 2026, and licences are annual. The licensing organisations are already accepting applications — the sensible move is to be licensed well before December rather than joining the queue in November.
Yes. The regime is federal, issued by the UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism, so it applies to commercial venues across all seven emirates. Local licensing authorities may add their own requirements on top, but the music licence is a federal matter.
Two organisations have been authorised by the Ministry to manage music rights collectively: the Emirates Music Rights Association (EMRA), licensed in April 2025, and Music Nation, licensed in June 2025. How repertoire and licensing are divided between them is one of the practical details still being clarified — it is exactly the kind of question we put to the organisations on behalf of our venues, so you get a licensed venue rather than a research project.
Collective management organisations license repertoire through reciprocal agreements with societies in other countries. EMRA has already signed such an agreement with SACEM (France), and further agreements are expected. Our programming is documented track by track, so what you play and how it is covered is never a guess.
No. Consumer streaming subscriptions cover personal listening only — they have never included the right to play music publicly in a commercial venue. A business needs a public-performance licence, which is exactly what the new UAE regime formalises and prices. A consumer app in a venue is now a visible finding at inspection, not a grey area.
Playing radio in a commercial venue is still public use of music, and the Guide treats commercial venues by what they are, not by the source they use. Expect a radio-only venue to be in scope for the venue tariff, and check the position for your category when applying.
Live entertainment sits in a higher tariff band than background music. If you run occasional live nights, the classification needs care — it is one of the specifics we resolve with the licensing organisations on your behalf, so the venue is covered for how it actually operates without paying the entertainment tier for a background-only room.
UAE copyright law provides for fines from AED 10,000 up to AED 500,000, confiscation of equipment used for infringement, and possible closure of the establishment. The practical expectation is a period of awareness, then inspections and formal notices after the regime takes effect.
Typically the trade licence, venue details, seating capacity or floor area (or room count for hotels), and a description of how music is used — background only, DJs, live performances. Venues with mixed use should state it correctly from the start. We prepare the file for our venues.
Not automatically. Ask your provider in writing whether their service includes the UAE public-performance licence from the authorised organisations from 1 December 2026, and what documentation they will give you for inspections. Streaming a catalogue and licensing the venue are two different things.
Everything around the licence: determining your correct tariff category, preparing and filing the application with the authorised organisations, tracking the annual renewal, and keeping your certificate and music documentation audit-ready — bundled with the music service itself, so your venue's sound and its legality are one subscription, one partner, one point of contact.
The statutory licence fee is set by the published tariff — that part is the same for everyone. Our subscription covers the compliance work and the music programming itself; we quote both up front after a 15-minute compliance check, so there are no surprises before December or after.
This page summarises the published framework for operators; it is not legal advice. Tariff categories and fees are confirmed by the licensed organisations on application, and we verify each venue’s position with them directly.
Tell us about the venue — format, seats, zones, live nights. We’ll confirm your tariff category, handle the licence, and put a sound in the room that earns its keep.
