Finding Songs
Licensing Songs to Perform Live and on Tour
By the Starchild Music team · October 8, 2026 · 6 min read
The short answer
In the US, the public performance of a song at a venue is normally licensed by the venue, which pays performing rights organizations like ASCAP for a blanket license; ASCAP says the business owner obtains the license because it benefits from the performance. What you as an artist need is different: the rights to record and release your version, clarity on any backing tracks you play, and clean registration so the writer is paid when you perform. A Starchild license covers performing the song live.
Artists who license songs to record often ask a follow-up question: can I play it live? On Starchild the answer is yes: your license covers performing the song live. Behind that, live performance is handled through a different system from recording, and most of the paperwork for it sits with the venue. The details are worth knowing, especially if you are about to go on the road with material you did not write.
Performing and recording are separate rights
US copyright law gives the owner of a musical work several separate rights. One of them, in Section 106(4) of the Copyright Act, is the right to perform the work publicly. Reproducing and distributing recordings are different rights. That is why a license to record and release a song and the permission to play it in a bar are usually handled in different ways.
There are also two copyrights in play. The composition is the song itself, the melody and lyrics. The sound recording is one particular recording of it. When you sing a song live with your band, you are performing the composition. When you play a recording through the PA, the recording is involved too.
Who holds the performance license at a venue
In practice, the public performance of songs at bars, clubs, restaurants and concert venues is licensed through performing rights organizations, or PROs, such as ASCAP and BMI. Venues buy blanket licenses that cover the PRO's whole repertory, usually for an annual fee.
ASCAP addresses the obvious question directly. Some people assume musicians must get licenses to perform copyrighted music, but ASCAP says that because the business owner gets the ultimate benefit from the performance, the business owner obtains the license. ASCAP also notes that its venue license lets local artists cover ASCAP songs in their sets without worrying about infringement.
So when you play a gig at a licensed venue, the performance of compositions in that PRO's repertory is covered by the venue's license, whoever wrote them.
Venue licenses are not all the same size. ASCAP says it offers more than 100 types of licenses, with fees that depend on things like capacity, whether music is live or recorded, and how many nights a week a venue hosts live music. You do not need to know the details as a performer, but it explains why a festival, a bar and a theater may each handle licensing a little differently. If you are ever unsure who holds the license for a festival or one-off event, ask the promoter.
What this means for an original song you licensed
When the writer of a licensed song is a PRO member and has registered the song, your live performance of it at a licensed venue works like any other song in that PRO's catalog. The venue's blanket license covers the performance, and the writer can be paid from the venue's fees.
Where things get less automatic is when a song is not registered with a PRO, or when you perform somewhere that does not carry blanket licenses, such as some private events. In those cases the permission comes from the songwriter directly. Read your license and keep your certificate. On Starchild, every license comes with a certificate that names the song, its writers and the license you hold, and anyone can confirm it at starchild.music/verify, which is useful if a promoter or venue ever asks.
If you are planning a large tour, a televised performance, or anything you are unsure about, it is worth asking a music attorney to look at your situation.
Backing tracks, recordings and livestreams
Many solo artists and smaller acts perform over a backing track. That brings in the sound recording, which is a separate copyright from the composition. If the track is one you recorded yourself, you control it. If you are playing the instrumental that came with your Starchild license, your live performance is covered. For an instrumental from any other source, check that the license covers using it in performance before you build a set around it.
Filming or streaming a show adds another layer. A video of a performance pairs music with picture, which moves into territory platforms police with their own rules and that the music business usually handles as synchronization. If you plan to post full-song performance videos or stream your set, read what sync licensing is and check how your license treats video.
Help the writer get paid
Live performance royalties depend on knowing what was played. ASCAP runs a program called OnStage that lets writer members report setlists from shows at ASCAP-licensed venues of any size, and pays a royalty based on the license fee the venue paid. Only one writer needs to submit for all the registered writers and publishers on a song to be paid. Other PROs run their own setlist reporting programs.
If you perform songs written by someone else, the simplest courtesy is to send the writer your setlists and dates. It costs you nothing and makes sure the person who wrote the song you are playing can collect for it.
A pre-tour checklist
Touring multiplies small paperwork questions across dozens of rooms. Settling them once, before the first show, means you are not hunting for answers in a green room. If you are still building a set, Starchild's songs for artists are original songs written for other people to record and release, with many styles of each to audition, so you can find songs that suit your live sound before you license them.
- Confirm you hold the license to record and release any song you are selling at the merch table or on streaming.
- Keep your license certificates somewhere you can pull them up on a phone.
- Ask promoters for private or unusual events whether PRO licenses are in place.
- For songs licensed anywhere other than Starchild, check how the license treats backing tracks, and check any license before posting filmed performances.
- Share setlists with the writers of songs you did not write so their PRO can pay them.
- Keep a simple log of every show: date, venue, city and setlist. It makes royalty reporting and any later questions easy.