5 Aug 2009

Music fees for cafes to stay at current levels

9:26 pm on 5 August 2009

Licensing agencies say they have no plans to follow an Australian move to raise the fees cafes are charged for playing CDs.

The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia is proposing a sliding scale for the right to play recorded music.

In New Zealand, cafes and restaurants pay annual licence fees of several hundred dollars to two different copyright agencies.

Phonographic Performances New Zealand's general manager of licensing Mark Roach says licence fees are reviewed regularly but there are no plans to follow the Australian move.

He says food outlets are already paying a fair value for the music they use.