Hold Music Royalties?

Question

I realize that I can go get royalty free music for the hold music in my phone system. But what if I want to play music that I have purchased for personall use. Who do I pay the royalties to, and how much would they be?

Answer 1

If you are in the US, you need to pay royalties to ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.). Links for the Web sites for these two organizations are below.

However, your music-on-hold use is so small and restricted that you could probably use whatever music you want and no one will ever demand royalties. Contact ASCAP and BMI only if you REALLY want to do the right thing.