UAE music licensing fees start in December 2026. What cafes, hotels, malls, gyms and multi-location businesses should do now.
From December 2026, UAE businesses that play music commercially may need a renewable annual music licence. Cafes, restaurants, hotels, malls, gyms, events and multi-location operators should audit where music is used, verify supplier and streaming rights, assign responsibility, budget for annual licensing and centralise documentation before fee collection begins.
Businesses across the UAE that play music commercially are facing an important new compliance requirement.
The UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism has introduced a framework regulating the collective management of music rights, with licensing fee collection for commercial music use expected to begin in December 2026.
The framework potentially affects a wide range of businesses where music forms part of the customer experience, including restaurants, cafés, hotels, shopping malls, fitness centres, airlines, radio and television broadcasters, concerts and similar commercial uses.
For hospitality, retail, leisure and entertainment businesses, the change raises several immediate questions:
Do we need a music licence? How much will it cost? Does Spotify or another streaming subscription cover us? What happens if we operate several locations? And what should we do before December?
The most important step for businesses now is not to panic or simply switch off the music. It is to understand where, how and why music is being used across the organisation, determine which rights and licences may apply, and establish a compliance plan before fee collection begins.
The new framework establishes a more structured system for licensing the commercial use of copyrighted music and distributing royalties to music rights holders.
According to reports published following the Ministry's announcement on 11 August 2026, the framework falls under Ministerial Resolution No. 136 of 2026.
Businesses using protected music commercially will be able to obtain licences that are expected to be valid for one year and renewable annually.
The amount payable will not necessarily be identical for every company. The announced framework indicates that fee brackets will depend on factors including:
This distinction is important.
A small café using background music may not necessarily be treated in exactly the same way as a major hotel, shopping centre, broadcaster or large entertainment venue.
Businesses should therefore avoid relying on speculative fee figures until the applicable tariff and classification for their particular use have been confirmed.
Music is protected by copyright and related rights.
A commercially released song can involve several different rights holders, potentially including the composer, songwriter, performer, record producer and music publisher.
When a business uses music to create atmosphere, entertain customers or otherwise support its commercial activity, that use is different from an individual listening privately at home.
Collective rights management provides a mechanism through which authorised organisations can manage certain financial rights, collect payments for licensed uses and distribute revenues to eligible rights holders.
The UAE already has a statutory framework for collective management.
Under the executive regulations associated with Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, collective management organisations require authorisation from the Ministry.
The regulations define collective management broadly as organisations authorised by copyright or neighbouring-rights holders to exercise financial rights, collect consideration and distribute it to rights holders.
The December 2026 development therefore represents an important practical step in implementing and standardising music-rights management for commercial users in the UAE.
The announcement specifically identifies several categories of commercial music users.
These include:
Music is an integral part of the atmosphere in many UAE restaurants, coffee shops, lounges and casual dining venues.
Whether it is a carefully curated playlist in a Dubai café or evening music in an Abu Dhabi restaurant, businesses should assess whether their use falls within the licensing framework.
Hotels potentially have more complex music environments because music may be used across multiple areas of the same property.
For example:
Hotel groups should therefore consider conducting a property-by-property music usage audit rather than treating music as one generic service.
Shopping centres commonly use background music in public areas.
Individual retailers within a mall may also use their own music inside stores.
Mall operators and tenants should establish which party is responsible for licensing each type of music use rather than assuming the landlord's arrangements automatically cover individual stores.
Music can be particularly important to fitness businesses.
A gym might have general background music while also using different music during instructor-led classes.
Businesses should document these different uses because the nature of music usage can be relevant to licensing.
Airlines are also among the categories identified in reports on the new framework.
Music may appear in boarding experiences, entertainment systems, lounges and other passenger-facing environments, making rights management potentially more complex than simply purchasing one consumer music subscription.
Concerts and similar events are also included within the framework.
Event organisers, venues, promoters and hospitality companies should therefore establish responsibility for music licensing contractually before an event takes place.
The announced framework includes exemptions for certain categories.
Reported exemptions include:
The Ministry may also determine additional exempt categories.
Businesses should not assume they qualify for an exemption simply because music is not their primary business.
A café, hotel, retailer or gym may use music as a secondary part of its service, but that does not necessarily make the use non-commercial.
The UAE has authorised collective music-management organisations as part of the development of its music rights ecosystem.
The Ministry announced a collective music-management licence for the Emirati Musicians' Association in April 2025 and subsequently announced a second licence for Music Nation in June 2025.
The Ministry said when announcing Music Nation's licence that the organisation was authorised to manage distribution of rights on behalf of music creators and performers.
The current 2026 reporting identifies the authorised bodies involved in collecting and administering rights under the new framework.
For businesses, this means music compliance is becoming a formal operational consideration rather than something that should be handled informally at individual branches.
Companies should use the period before implementation to understand their exposure and build a documented compliance process.
Here is a practical approach.
The first step is to identify every location and situation in which your organisation uses music.
Do not limit the audit to obvious customer-facing speakers.
Review:
For multi-site businesses, create a central register containing every branch and the type of music used at each location.
Businesses should determine where their music actually comes from.
For example:
Is an employee using a personal streaming account?
Does the company use a commercial background-music provider?
Does a DJ provide the music?
Does a hotel operator provide a centrally managed playlist?
Does a franchise agreement include a music service?
Does an event organiser handle the music?
Understanding the source is essential because having access to a song does not automatically mean a business holds every right required for commercial use.
This is likely to become one of the biggest areas of confusion.
A subscription that allows an individual to listen to music does not automatically mean that the subscriber has acquired all rights necessary to communicate or perform that music publicly in a commercial environment.
Businesses should therefore review both:
The safest approach is to verify the rights rather than assume that paying for a streaming service solves the entire licensing question.
Many businesses outsource music.
That does not necessarily mean the licensing responsibility has also been outsourced.
Companies should review agreements with:
Contracts should clearly establish which party is responsible for obtaining the relevant rights and licences.
Businesses should also request documentary evidence where a supplier claims the required rights are already included.
This will be particularly important for shopping malls, hotels, mixed-use developments and managed hospitality environments.
Consider a mall.
The mall operator may play music in common areas while each individual retailer plays different music inside its store.
Businesses should establish whether licences apply separately to these uses and who is responsible for each.
The same issue can arise between:
Clear contractual responsibility can prevent disputes later.
Larger organisations should consider establishing a central register containing:
Location → Music use → Music source → Supplier → Applicable licence → Renewal date → Responsible employee → Supporting documentation
This turns music licensing into a manageable compliance process.
A restaurant group with 50 branches should not have 50 restaurant managers independently trying to understand copyright requirements.
Centralisation can reduce administrative work, missed renewals and inconsistent compliance.
The licences announced under the framework are expected to be valid for one year and renewable.
Music licensing should therefore become an annual operating and compliance budget item for affected businesses.
Groups preparing their 2027 UAE operating budgets should consider including an allowance for commercial music licensing rather than treating the eventual charge as an unexpected expense.
However, businesses should avoid inserting unverified fee amounts into budgets until their applicable category and tariff have been confirmed.
Some businesses may decide to reconsider how they source music.
Possible alternatives could include:
But businesses should be cautious with the term “royalty-free.”
Royalty-free does not necessarily mean copyright-free, free of charge, or automatically exempt from every licensing obligation.
The relevant licence terms and the UAE regulatory position still need to be checked.
The new licensing framework may encourage businesses to investigate AI-generated background music.
However, businesses should not assume:
“AI generated = copyright free = no licensing issue.”
AI music raises its own contractual and intellectual-property questions.
Before deploying AI-generated music commercially, companies should establish:
AI music may become part of a company's music strategy, but it should be assessed as a rights-management decision rather than treated as an automatic loophole.
Multi-location operators arguably have the greatest need to prepare early.
Consider a restaurant group operating:
The organisation may have different music systems, suppliers, playlists and entertainment arrangements across its portfolio.
Without central oversight, management may not know which outlets are compliant.
A group-level audit can identify every site, categorise music use and establish a single compliance process.
Companies should also determine whether any group-level arrangements are available under the applicable licensing framework rather than assuming every location must necessarily be managed administratively in isolation.
The UAE's copyright framework already provides legal protection for copyright and neighbouring rights.
The introduction of a formal commercial music-licensing system makes it increasingly important for businesses to document how they obtain and use music.
Companies should therefore avoid waiting for an inspection, complaint or licence renewal to discover that their music arrangements are unclear.
The better approach is preventive:
Audit → classify → verify rights → license where required → document → renew.
Before December 2026, businesses can work through the following checklist:
For organisations operating restaurants, cafés, hotels, malls, gyms, retail stores and other commercial venues, the challenge is not simply obtaining a licence.
The bigger challenge is answering:
What music are we using?
Where are we using it?
Which rights apply?
Who is responsible?
Which locations require licensing?
What documentation should we maintain?
When does each licence need to be renewed?
Our UAE Music Licensing & Compliance Service helps businesses build a structured approach to commercial music use.
We can support companies with:
We map how and where music is used across your organisation, including individual branches and different music-use environments.
We help identify potential licensing requirements and prepare your business for the December 2026 framework.
For hotel groups, restaurant chains, retail groups, gyms and other multi-site operators, we can create a centralised music-compliance register covering the entire UAE portfolio.
We review how music is supplied across your organisation and identify areas where responsibility for licensing needs to be clarified with vendors, landlords, operators or other parties.
We help establish an organised record of licences, contracts, music sources, responsible parties and renewal dates.
Because commercial music licences are expected to operate on an annual renewal basis, businesses can establish a structured renewal-management process rather than relying on individual locations.
Where appropriate, we can help companies assess alternative music-sourcing strategies while ensuring that “royalty-free,” direct-licensed or AI-generated music is not adopted based on incorrect assumptions about copyright.
Restaurants are among the commercial establishments identified under the new UAE music-rights licensing framework. The exact requirements and applicable tariff should be confirmed based on the restaurant's use of music and the implementing arrangements.
According to the Ministry announcement reported on 11 August 2026, fee collection is expected to begin in December 2026.
Cafés are among the categories identified in the UAE-wide framework. Businesses operating in Dubai should therefore assess their commercial music use before implementation.
Hotels are specifically among the affected commercial categories. Because hotels can use music in numerous environments, a property-wide audit is particularly important.
Businesses should not assume that a consumer streaming subscription covers all rights necessary for commercial or public music use. The streaming service's terms and applicable UAE licensing requirements should be reviewed separately.
Fitness centres are included among the commercial establishments identified under the framework. Gyms should assess both background music and music used in classes or other activities.
The announced framework indicates that fees will vary according to factors such as the nature of music use and size of the business.
Businesses should obtain the applicable official tariff rather than relying on unofficial estimates.
Not necessarily.
“Royalty-free” is a licensing model, not a universal legal exemption. Businesses should verify exactly what rights their music licence provides and whether additional UAE licensing obligations apply.
Potentially, depending on the provider and licence, but AI-generated music should not automatically be assumed to be copyright-free or exempt from UAE requirements.
Commercial rights, contractual terms and applicable local licensing obligations should be verified before deployment.
December may sound some distance away, but organisations with multiple locations can require considerable time to understand their current music arrangements.
A hotel group may have dozens of music-use scenarios.
A restaurant group may discover that individual managers use different streaming accounts.
A mall operator may need to separate common-area obligations from tenant responsibilities.
A gym chain may have background music, instructor playlists and supplier-provided content.
Starting early gives businesses time to identify these issues before fee collection begins.
More importantly, companies can use the regulatory change as an opportunity to establish a proper music governance framework rather than treating licensing as a one-off payment.
If your company operates cafés, restaurants, hotels, malls, retail stores, gyms, entertainment venues or multiple commercial locations in the UAE, now is the time to review how music is being used across your organisation.
We help UAE businesses audit music usage, assess licensing requirements, organise documentation and manage ongoing music-compliance obligations.
Instead of waiting until December, businesses can begin with a Music Licensing Readiness Assessment.
The assessment can help answer:
Where are we exposed? Which locations need attention? What information is missing? What should we do before December?
Contact our team to arrange a UAE Music Licensing Readiness Assessment.
The introduction of commercial music-licensing fees in the UAE is more than a new administrative charge.
For hospitality, retail, fitness, entertainment and other businesses, it creates a new area of operational compliance that needs to be managed systematically.
Companies should use the months before December 2026 to:
identify music use, understand their rights, review suppliers, clarify responsibilities, determine licensing requirements and establish annual compliance procedures.
Businesses that prepare early will be in a far stronger position than those that wait until the new framework is already in operation.
*Disclaimer: This article provides general information and should not be treated as legal advice. Licensing requirements, tariffs, exemptions and implementation procedures should be verified against the latest UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism guidance and advice from appropriately qualified professionals.*
Aurlume helps UAE businesses turn compliance pressure into practical operating systems. We support teams with readiness assessments, documentation, workflow design, audit preparation, supplier and location registers, renewal tracking, and executive reporting.
Our work is advisory and operational. We do not provide legal advice, issue legal opinions, or replace regulated counsel. Where legal interpretation is required, we help clients organise the facts and work alongside appropriately qualified legal professionals.