Background music is music played in commercial or public spaces with a view to creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Background music is mainly used in:

• shops,
• bars and restaurants,
• lobbies and waiting rooms,
• offices and workstations, and
• over the phone, as music on hold

There are no exceptions for small shops or offices. The minute you start playing background music or running films and TV broadcasts on your premises you become liable for fees under Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a), available only in German, French and Italian.

In exchange for these fees, you are entitled to use the entire world repertoire of music – for a very low price.

Revenues collected under CT 3a (Common Tariff 3a) are distributed to the composers, lyricists, and performers of the music, and to the producers, screenplay writers and actors of the films and broadcasts concerned.

In Switzerland, these creative artists are represented by five collective management organisations: ProLitteris, SUISA, SUISSIMAGE, SOCIETE SUISSE DES AUTEURS (SSA) and SWISSPERFORM. Since CT 3a is by definition a common tariff, you receive a single invoice, from SUISA. By paying SUISA's invoice, you extinguish the claims of all five organisations.

For further information, see the SUISAblog: "How SUISA distributes fees collected for background entertainment"

If you use musical works or services in your business or in public, the relevant composers, lyricists, performing artists, or screenplay writers and producers, and their publishers, are entitled to remuneration by law.

You have to pay fees under Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a) if at least one of the following circumstances applies to your business:

• background music is played in your restaurant, store or other business premises,
• you play films, radio or TV broadcasts on your premises;
• you have guestrooms, holiday homes, rooms for patients, or the like, equipped with devices for playing films and radio and TV broadcasts,
• you play music on hold on your telephone waiting loop,
• your company cars are equipped with radios.

Fees under Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a) are charged based on the surface area on which the music, film, or TV broadcast is played.

In this context:

• the surface areas per location, including any guestrooms, are added together.
• If a customer operates several locations (e.g. business premises, shops, factories, branches, etc.), remuneration is charged separately for each location.

The fees and particulars are set out in the tariff information (available only in German, French and Italian) CT 3a.

For music on hold (phone waiting loops), the reference basis is the number of active lines on the exchange.

You must automatically contact SUISA if you use music or audiovisual content in your business; the simplest way to do so is online at
www.suisa.ch/3a

As part of our marketing strategy, we also contact businesses directly. If you use music without the requisite licence from SUISA, you can be charged double the applicable rate.

If you have forgotten to register, please contact us promptly.  We will invoice you for your prior unlicensed usage at the normal CT 3a rate.

Tip: If you register via the SUISA customer portal, you will be granted a 5% discount on your invoice.

No. There are no exemptions from the obligation to pay the fee.

Whoever uses music or audiovisual works commercially or publicly is required by law to pay a fee to the rightholder(s). This obligation is statutory and the remuneration is set in the relevant tariff.

By law, authors and other rightholders are entitled to remuneration for their work.

No. There are other tariffs for live music. Just as there are various kinds of music uses, there are various tariffs for the different uses.

Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a) does not apply to live music; the relevant tariff is either the concert tariff (CT K) or the tariff for events with live music (CT H).

Find more information here:

When you buy a CD, you acquire the right to play it in your private sphere, i.e. at home or in your car. Use outside the private sphere is not included in the price of the CD. To play the CD elsewhere, you have to pay a licence fee under CT 3a.

No. Unless otherwise stipulated in the licence, SUISA generally does not need programme listings.

SUISA invoices Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a) fees once a year. As a rule, the licence is granted for a full calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December.

For businesses or holiday homes that do not play background music or films all year round, the fee is only charged for the actual months of use.

Important: If anything changes (e.g.  duration of use, location, surface area) you must notify SUISA by 15 January of the following year at the latest. Otherwise, you will be invoiced the same fees as the year before.

In the case of single uses, for example at fairs or events limited in time, a single invoice is issued for the relevant time frame. The fee for a fraction of a month is due for the full month.

The minimum amount is one month’s fee.

Relevant changes must be notified to SUISA via the customer portal www.suisa.ch/kundenportal by 15 January of the following year at the latest.

If you have not paid your invoice yet, we will cancel it and issue you a new revised one.

If you have already paid the invoice, we will refund the difference or carry it forward to the next invoice.

The fee paid to SERAFE is based on the Federal Radio and Television Act (RTVA). Its purpose is to fund radio and TV broadcasting in Switzerland. The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) distributes these funds to the SRG SSR and other broadcasters with a performance mandate to enable them to produce and broadcast their programmes.

The remuneration charged by SUISA serves a different purpose: SUISA’s fees are based on the Copyright Act and are distributed to the composers, lyricists, and performers of the music, and to the producers, screenplay writers and actors of the films and broadcasts concerned.

These persons are entitled to remuneration when their works are used outside the private sphere, e.g. in shops, restaurants, lobbies and waiting rooms, in offices and on-hold.

No. The fees payable to SUISA are separate from the radio and television fees.

Even if a business is not required to pay any reception fees, the remuneration under CT 3a is still due for any music, films or TV broadcasts played outside the private sphere – for example, on business premises, in restaurants or offices.

No – the obligation to pay remuneration also applies to holiday home rentals and guestrooms.

If the holiday home or guestroom is equipped with music devices or TV screens, the landlord must pay licence fees in accordance with Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a).

Yes. If you organise a public viewing (by definition outside the private sphere), you need a licence from SUISA

The type of licence depends on the size of the screen:

1. Screens under 3 metres in diagonal
You need a licence in accordance with Common Tariff 3a (CT 3a).
If you are already a customer of SUISA and have a CT 3a licence, no further action is required.

2. Screens over 3 metres in diagonal
In this case, Common Tariff 3c (CT 3c) applies.

For further information, see: Public viewing on large screens

How much you have to pay depends on how you use the music. For example, using music at a concert costs more than using it as background music in a shop. This is because the music is the focus of attention at a concert, whereas when you go shopping, it plays a minor, background role.

For a rough idea of how much the remuneration for your use might be, you can contact SUISA's customer service department.

The exact fees for the different types of use are set forth in the official tariffs.
Tariff overview
 

The law requires all Swiss collective rights management organisations, SUISA included, to issue tariffs for their royalties. These tariffs are negotiated together with the main user associations.

The tariffs are then reviewed and approved by an independent body, the Federal Arbitration Commission for the Management of Copyright and Related Rights (ESchK). The ESchK is appointed by the Federal Council and assures equal representation of the parties, i.e. it is composed of representatives from both sides.

Once the tariffs have been approved by the ESchK, they are published in the Official Journal.  This ensures that tariff rates are not abusive.

The tariffs of the five Swiss collective management organisations must be adequate – this is required by the Federal Copyright Act (Article 59 CoPA).

In practice, in setting tariff rates, SUISA takes the following points among others into account:

• how much money is earned by the use of the works, or alternatively, the costs associated with such use;
• the type and number of works used;
• what portion of the music is protected and what portion not.

As a rule, fees for the use of music should not exceed 10% of the proceeds from such use (for example, ticket sales) or costs (for example, performers' fees).

Do I have to pay royalties as an organiser, if:

• admission is free
• in the case of not-for-profit events
• for events that make a loss?

Yes. The economic success of an event is the organiser’s affair. Royalties are fixed costs like beverages and lighting and must be paid whether or not the event turns a profit.

Do I have to pay royalties, if:

• it was a private event, or
• for club events that are not open to the general public?

For private events you do not need a licence and you do not have to pay royalties.  However, the term “private” is restrictively defined under copyright law:  it applies only to a single individual who enjoys music with a small circle of close friends or relatives.

It follows that, even though they are not open to the general public, events organised by clubs, associations, companies, army units and the like do not qualify as private events.

In case of doubt, it is best to contact SUISA and ask if royalties are payable for the planned event.

Generative artificial intelligence is trained on works that are protected by copyright. AI-generated songs may therefore contain recognisable copyrighted works or parts of works.

Consequently, SUISA cannot forgo licensing unless users can credibly demonstrate that no copyrights are being infringed.

Musicians receive a fee for their performance – the fee is payment for their work as performers. However, this does not automatically cover the creative work of the composers and lyricists (the authors) or the work of the music publishers.

From a legal perspective, performers and authors are two different persons who must not be identical, but can be. This means that two different persons or groups receive money:

• the authors receive remuneration for the use of their works.
• the performers receive a fee for their performance.

Both are entitled to their individual payment.

Yes. If the performer is also the composer, lyricist or arranger (i.e. the author), and is a member of SUISA, he or she has assigned his or her rights to SUISA and SUISA asserts the royalty rights royalties on his or her behalf.  Accordingly, the author no longer holds those rights and cannot settle directly with the organiser. The royalty settlements are thus handled through SUISA. It is important to understand that, a musician onstage is often both performer and  author in one natural person; legally speaking however, the performer and the author are two separate juridical persons. 

No. But you still have to provide SUISA a complete, detailed list of all the works. If the musicians only performed works in the public domain, naturally you will not be charged for royalties.

Yes. You have to send SUISA a list for all the artists. SUISA is entitled to collect royalties even for authors who are members of foreign collecting societies. If the author has not transferred his rights, you have to pay him individually. Royalties are not due for works which are not arranged and whose author has been dead for 70 years or longer.

SUISA can take legal action against you if you do not declare an event and/or do not pay royalties.  SUISA can also impose a 100% surcharge if the requisite information is not provided despite a reminder. If payment is refused repeatedly, SUISA may issue a music ban and prohibit you from using music publicly.

andres.pfister@suisa.chSUISA does not publish scores or sound recordings, nor does it sell any. SUISA is always pleased to provide information on Swiss works (composers, authors and publishers) and can tell you where you can buy their scores and CDs.

For an overview of the works of Swiss composers, we invite you to visit SUISA's online database at the following link: https://pws.suisa.ch

Our music department will be happy to assist you with any further inquiries (available scores, search by musicians, etc.) E-Mail Music Department