Hosting a karaoke night is a great way to bring crowds into your venue. But before the singing starts, you must follow the rules. If you run a bar or restaurant, playing music legally is vital. Personal music streaming apps such as Spotify or YouTube are not allowed.
You also need to know that your background music plan from a legally licensed provider such as Soundtrack Your Brand, Jukeboxy and others do not cover live singing.
To stay safe, you must understand general music licensing for small business. In this guide, we will explain exactly what you need to legally host karaoke and avoid heavy fines.
- Does my background music service cover karaoke nights? No. Services like Soundtrack Your Brand, SoundMachine, and Jukeboxy are licensed for background music. They are not licensed to include Karaoke.
- How many licenses do I actually need for karaoke? Six separate licenses. The first is a license to use the karaoke content itself, the backing tracks with lyrics. This is covered by your karaoke platform subscription, provided you use a commercially licensed platform like KaraFun Business or Singa Business. Consumer apps and YouTube do not qualify. Next you need a public performance license from each of the major PROs — ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, AllTrack and GMR. These cover the right to publicly perform the underlying songs in your venue, regardless of what platform delivers them. Your karaoke platform handles the content. You handle the PROs. Both are required.
- Doesn’t the Karaoke Jockey (KJ) handle all the licenses? No. The venue is responsible. Under US copyright law, the establishment hosting the performance carries the liability, not the performer or the service provider. Verify that any KJ you hire uses a commercially licensed platform, and make sure your PRO licenses are current before the first karaoke night.
- Can I use YouTube or Spotify for Karaoke Nights? No. Both platforms are licensed strictly for personal, non-commercial use. Playing either in a public business setting is already a violation of their terms of service and US copyright law.
- Can I let customers use their own phones or personal karaoke apps during karaoke night? No. If a customer connects their personal KaraFun account, YouTube or any consumer-tier subscription to your venue’s speakers and display system, that’s a commercial public performance using a non-commercial license and the venue is still liable.
Do I Need a License for Karaoke? Understanding Your Karaoke License
Many owners ask, do I need a license for karaoke if I only do it once a month? Yes, you do. Whenever someone sings over a track in a public space, it counts as a public performance. To do this legally, you need the proper paperwork. Fines for playing unlicensed music can ruin a small business. You can read more about unlicensed music fines for small business to understand the financial risks involved.
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The Benefits of Hosting Karaoke for Bars and Restaurants
Running a karaoke event is a smart move for any venue owner. It helps your business grow in several ways:
Increased dwell time
Guests stay longer when they are waiting for their turn to sing.
Higher sales
The longer patrons stay, the more food and drinks they buy.
Customer loyalty
It builds a fun and dedicated community around your venue.
💡 A busy night can easily cover the cost of your permits and software.
Can I Use Spotify or Apple Music With Business Karaoke Software?
No, you cannot. Consumer apps like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music are strictly for personal use. It is against their terms of service to play them in a commercial environment. Even if they offer a sing-along lyric feature, using them in public violates copyright laws. You must use approved platforms that secure the mechanical rights for the backing tracks.
Can I Use YouTube for Karaoke in My Business?
Many owners ask if they can just hook up a laptop and use YouTube. The answer is a firm no. YouTube is strictly licensed for personal use only. It is never for commercial use.
Just because a song is free on YouTube does not make it legal to play in a public space. Playing YouTube in your venue breaks their terms of service. It also breaks copyright law. You will face heavy legal fines if you get caught. Plus, using YouTube means dealing with loud ads and bad audio. This will easily ruin a fun night for your guests. You must use approved platforms to stay out of trouble.
Does My Legal Music for Business Provider Cover My Karaoke Licensing?
No. You might already use a legal background provider like Soundtrack Your Brand, Jukeboxy or other service. While these services are excellent, they only cover background music for your business. They do not cover live performances or karaoke events.
Once a patron picks up a microphone, the music classification changes. You now need a different type of public performance license from the PROs themselves.
Are These Popular Karaoke Apps Legal for Business?
Picking the right karaoke platform for your bar matters as much as picking the right songs to sing. Some platforms are built for commercial venues, while others are strictly for home use. Using a home-only app in your venue puts you at real legal risk. Here is a quick breakdown of seven popular karaoke products and where they stand.
| Software | Personal use | Business plan | Legal for your venue? |
|---|---|---|---|
| KaraFun | KaraFun Premium | Yes: KaraFun Business | Yes, with Business plan + PRO licenses |
| Singa | Singa Premium | Yes: Singa Business | Yes, with Business plan + PRO licenses |
| Karaoke One | Yes | No | No – consumer-only |
| Smule | Yes | No | No – consumer-only |
| KJ Deluxe | One-time purchase | Songs included in purchase | Yes, plus your PRO licenses |
| DEX 3 (PCDJ) | One-time purchase | Media player only, no catalog | Yes, but you need a separate song source + PRO licenses |
KaraFun
KaraFun is one of the most widely used karaoke platforms in the world. The standard KaraFun app is built for personal use, so running it in your bar would break their rules. For venues, KaraFun offers a separate plan called KaraFun Business. It includes legal backing tracks and lets guests request songs straight from their phone. KaraFun Business is fully legal for your venue, but you still need your own PRO licenses on top of it.
Karaoke One
Karaoke One is a fun social app that people use to record and share singing videos with friends. It’s a consumer product through and through, with no business plan available. Its rules only cover personal use, so running a karaoke night with Karaoke One breaks those rules and puts your venue at risk. A different platform is the safer pick for your bar.
Singa
Singa works much like KaraFun does. The basic Singa app is for home use only. Venues need Singa Business instead, which unlocks a massive catalog of legal tracks along with digital signs and phone-based song requests for guests. Singa Business is legal for commercial use, though you’ll still need your own PRO licenses, just like with any other karaoke platform.
Smule
Smule lets people sing duets with friends and famous artists through its app. It’s built purely for fun at home, with no commercial plan on offer. Using Smule to run a public karaoke night at your restaurant breaks their rules and puts your business at risk of a copyright claim.
KJ Deluxe
KJ Deluxe is software made for pros, helping a host run a live karaoke show with a singer list, key control, and a searchable songbook. Unlike KaraFun or Singa, it isn’t a subscription service. You buy it once, and it comes bundled with a big batch of licensed karaoke songs. That makes it a legal choice for your venue right out of the box, though you’ll still need your own PRO licenses to cover the show.
DEX 3 (PCDJ)
DEX 3 is high-end software widely used by professional DJs to mix music and run video-based events. Like KJ Deluxe, it’s a media player rather than a music service, sold as a one-time purchase with no personal tier. DEX 3 doesn’t come with a song catalog built in, though. To get karaoke tracks, it connects to outside sources like Party Tyme. The software itself is legal for business use; just make sure your song source and your PRO licenses are covered too.
Understanding the Karaoke PRO License: ASCAP Karaoke License and BMI Karaoke License
ASCAP Karaoke License
An ASCAP karaoke license gives you the legal right to play music from their specific catalog of millions of songs. Many business owners think they can buy this single permit and be completely safe. But you cannot simply buy this one permit and assume you are fully covered. Your guests will want to sing songs written by artists who belong to other groups.
BMI Karaoke License
BMI represents a completely different list of songwriters and music publishers. You cannot rely solely on a BMI permit either. Because your singers will pick songs from many different artists all night long, you must pay each organization to cover the entire catalog of music.
To host karaoke events legally, you need permission from the songwriters and publishers. Performance Rights Organizations, or PROs, handle these permissions. You will need paperwork from all the major groups, including SESAC, GMR, and AllTrack.
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Does the KJ Cover My Karaoke License for Bar Events?
A common myth is that if you hire a Karaoke Jockey (KJ), they provide the permits. This is false. The venue owner is always legally responsible for public performances. The KJ might own the legal backing tracks and the speakers, but your bar needs the PRO permits. Do not let a KJ tell you otherwise. The massive fines will go to your business, not the KJ.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need a permit if I do not charge a cover fee?
A: Yes. Even if the event is free for your guests, your business is still benefiting from the entertainment. You must have the proper paperwork.
Q: Do I need licenses from all five PROs?
A: For practical purposes, yes. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, AllTrack and GMR each represent different songwriters and publishers, and popular songs are frequently co-written by people across multiple PROs. If you only hold licenses from two or three, any song performed that includes a writer from the uncovered PRO is an unlicensed performance. Since your customers, not you, choose the songs, you have no control over which catalogs get triggered on any given night. The only safe approach is blanket coverage from all five. You can learn more on our BMI Music Licensing Guide, ASCAP Music Licensing Guide, SESAC Music Licensing Guide, GMR Music Licensing Guide and AllTrack Music Licensing Guide.
Q: What if I only host karaoke one night a week, or one night a month?
A: Frequency doesn’t change your licensing obligation. A single unlicensed karaoke night is still a copyright infringement event. PRO licenses are typically structured as annual agreements, and the fees are calculated based on factors like your venue’s capacity, square footage, and how many nights per week you offer live entertainment, so occasional karaoke will generally cost less than nightly programming. But the license itself is required regardless of frequency.
Q: What’s the difference between a karaoke content license and a public performance license?
A: Think of it this way. The karaoke content license covers the reproduction of the song, the backing track, the lyrics on screen, the re-recorded instrumental. This is what your karaoke platform (KaraFun, Singa, etc.) handles on your behalf when you subscribe to their commercial tier. The public performance license covers the act of performing that song in front of an audience in your venue. This is what ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, AllTrack and GMR collect for. You need both because they cover different rights held by different parties. Having one without the other still leaves you exposed.
Q: How much does karaoke licensing cost for a small bar?
A: The PRO fees vary by organization and are calculated based on your venue size, seating capacity, and entertainment frequency. As a rough baseline for a small bar in 2026, expect to pay in the range of $400–$500 annually per PRO for a general entertainment license that covers karaoke. Across all four PROs, that’s roughly $1,500–$2,000 per year in performance licensing costs before factoring in your karaoke platform subscription. For a detailed breakdown of what you might need use our Music Licensing Checker.
Q: What happens if I host karaoke without a license?
A: PROs actively monitor venues for unlicensed performances, including through reported tips, staff visits, and social media. If you’re found hosting karaoke without licenses in place, you face statutory damages under the Copyright Act ranging from $750 to $30,000 per infringed work and up to $150,000 per work if the infringement is found to be willful. In a single karaoke night with 30 songs performed, unlicensed exposure can quickly reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The PROs have sued bars and restaurants for exactly this, and they have a strong track record of prevailing.
Q: Is karaoke treated differently than a live band for licensing purposes?
A: They’re in the same general category, both are live entertainment performances requiring PRO licenses from the venue. The key difference is on the content side. A live band playing original instruments to cover a song doesn’t trigger a karaoke content license issue, there’s no reproduced backing track involved. Karaoke requires that second layer (the platform license) because the tracks themselves are reproductions of copyrighted recordings. So karaoke has a slightly more complex two-layer structure, but the PRO obligation is the same as it would be for a live performance night.
Q: Does a karaoke platform subscription make me fully licensed?
A: No, and this is critical to understand before your first event. A commercial karaoke subscription from a platform like KaraFun Business or Singa Business means the content you’re using is properly licensed for commercial use, the backing tracks are legal. What it does not cover is your venue’s public performance rights. That’s the PRO side, and it’s entirely separate. The platform handles their side. You are responsible for yours. Running a licensed platform without PRO coverage is still an infringement.
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By John Boyle
John is a music for business expert and the founder of MusicforBusinessFinder.com which has been featured on BigIdeasforSmallBusiness.com, Noobpreneur and YFS Magazine. He focuses on helping small business owners navigate the confusing world of commercial music licensing, improve sales, and protect their businesses. By providing clear, independent analysis of top audio platforms, he ensures owners can make informed choices with confidence. He also loves rooting for the Mariners and his daughter’s soccer team.