The most important facts at a glance
What does GEMA cost your pub each month? A small pub with 50 square metres pays around €22-28, with 100 square metres it is around €35-45 and with 200 square metres it is already €60-80 per month - and the trend is rising, as GEMA increased its tariffs again by 4% in 2025.
Do I really have to pay? Yes, as soon as your guests can hear music - whether radio, Spotify, CD or live band. GEMA does not differentiate between "background music" and "active sound reinforcement".
What are the consequences of not registering? GEMA carries out regular checks. If you are caught, you will be fined up to 100%, have to pay the full amount and face possible legal consequences. The times when you could get away with it are over.
The intelligent alternative? GEMA-free music saves you up to 100% of costs - with professional quality and complete legal security. Sounds too good? Then read on.
→ Discover GEMA-free music for your bar
Music in the pub is more than just background noise - it creates atmosphere, attracts guests and demonstrably increases sales. A recent study by GEMA itself shows that targeted music increases turnover in catering establishments by an average of 5.4%. Your guests stay longer, feel more comfortable and order more.
But this background music comes at a price - and not just a technical one. As a pub owner, you operate within a complex legal framework that surprises many and can be expensive for some. GEMA fees for the pub are a reality, not an option. The only question is: how do you deal with it?
This guide shows you not only what you need to consider legally, but also how you can save intelligently - without having to compromise on good music.
When pub owners have to pay GEMA fees
The answer is soberingly simple: Whenever your guests can listen to music. GEMA defines any music playback as "public" as soon as it is accessible to a "not very small number of people". In your pub, this is the case from the first guest.
It doesn't matter how the music reaches your guests. Radio via the old system? Subject to GEMA. Spotify via Bluetooth box? Subject to GEMA. The TV is on for the Bundesliga? Subject to GEMA. A band comes once a month? Even more subject to GEMA - and as a separate event that you must also register.
Even seemingly harmless situations can become a trap: If your bartender connects his smartphone to the system and plays his playlist, you are using music commercially. If the radio is playing while you are remodelling and three workmen happen to be in the room, GEMA could already consider this to be a communication to the public.
The good news: GEMA does not differentiate between large and small establishments. Your 40 square metre corner bar does not pay the same fees as the 300 square metre scene bar - the graduation according to area makes it possible. The bad news: everyone has to pay.
What GEMA fees will really cost in 2025
GEMA has adjusted its tariffs again as of January 2025 - as it does every year. The average increase is 4%, which sounds moderate at first glance. But for a pub that already pays €600 a year, that's another €24 - year after year, with no end in sight.
The amount of the fee depends primarily on the size of your pub and the way you use the music. GEMA offers three package models that cover different forms of use.
The basic package S: Music only
If you only play music - whether radio, streaming services or CDs - the smallest package is sufficient. For a 50 square metre pub, you pay around 22 euros per month, for 100 square metres it is around 35 euros and for 200 square metres it is already 60 euros. That sounds manageable, but adds up to between €260 and €720 per year.
An important savings tip: an annual contract is significantly cheaper than monthly payments. The difference can be up to 180 euros per year - money that you can invest more wisely.
Package M: Music plus TV
As soon as a TV is running in your guest area, you need package M. This also applies if the TV is only used for sports broadcasts or news programmes - GEMA does not differentiate according to content, but according to use. Here you pay around 20-30% more than for the basic package.
By the way: The screen size plays a role. Televisions up to 65 inches (165 cm diagonal) are included in the M package. Larger devices require the next higher package.
Package L: The full programme
If you use large screens over 65 inches or also play video streaming services such as YouTube or Netflix for your guests, you will need package L. The additional costs compared to package S are around 40-50%.
The special case: live music and DJ events
This is where it gets really expensive - and complicated. Live events are not covered by your background music contract, but must be registered separately. For a band in a 200 square metre pub without entrance fees, you pay at least 53 euros per evening. The amounts are similar for DJ sets.
The trick is in the detail: you must register such events at least three days before the event. If you forget to do this or register too late, GEMA will charge a surcharge. Unregistered events may even be subject to the infamous 100% surcharge - so you pay twice.
An example calculation makes it clear: a medium-sized pub with 120 square metres of space, TV broadcasts and live music once a month costs around 540 euros a year for the background music plus a further 636 euros for the live events. That adds up to 1,176 euros - almost 100 euros per month.
→ Free advice: save on your music costs
The five most expensive mistakes made by pub owners
Error 1: "Spotify runs via my private account"
This is the most common and most dangerous mistake. Many restaurateurs think that their private Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube Premium account entitles them to play music in the pub. The opposite is the case.
Consumer streaming services are expressly licensed for private, non-commercial use only. Anyone using them commercially is committing a triple offence: violating the terms of use of the streaming service, copyright law and the GEMA obligation. The consequences can be draconian - from warnings and contractual penalties to claims for damages.
The streaming providers themselves are increasingly taking action against commercial use. Spotify has brought several cases against restaurateurs in recent years. The combination of GEMA back payments and damages to the streaming service can quickly run into five figures.
Error 2: "Radio is free"
A widespread myth. Radio is free for private individuals, not for businesses. As soon as you run radio in your pub, you pay GEMA fees. The difference to private households: your use is public and commercial.
Some pub owners argue that they "only" play the radio and do not actively select music. GEMA is not interested in that. Public performance is public performance - regardless of the source.
Mistake 3: "There's not much going on here"
The number of your guests does not matter to GEMA. What matters is the area of your pub and the potential public. Even if there are only two regulars sitting at the bar on a Tuesday evening - the music is accessible to the public and therefore subject to GEMA.
This mistake often leads to nasty surprises during GEMA inspections. "But we're a small shop" is not an argument that protects you from having to pay extra.
Error 4: Live events not registered separately
This is particularly tricky: many pub owners with a GEMA contract for background music think that this also covers occasional concerts or DJ evenings. Far from it.
Every event with live music, a DJ or even just special musical performances must be registered separately - at least three days in advance. If you forget to do this, it will be expensive. GEMA imposes surcharges for late registration and the dreaded 100% control cost surcharge for complete failure to register.
Mistake 5: "Nothing has happened so far"
The most dangerous attitude of all. GEMA controls systematically and increasingly. The fact that things have gone well so far does not mean that they will stay that way. GEMA works with professional inspectors who specifically visit catering establishments.
An inspection without a valid GEMA licence can be really unpleasant. You must immediately prove that you are registered. If you are unable to do so, a process begins that ends with additional payments for several years, control surcharges and possibly legal proceedings.
GEMA can reclaim up to three years' worth of fees retrospectively. So if you have played music for three years without registering and are caught, you will not only have to pay the current fees, but also for the past - plus surcharges.
The smart alternative: GEMA-free music for your pub
Now it gets interesting. What if you simply no longer had to pay GEMA fees? No registrations, no rising tariffs, no fear of controls - and still professional music at chart level?
It sounds too good to be true, but it has long since become reality. In recent years, royalty-free music has developed from a niche alternative to a serious standard. And not just for small pubs with a tight budget, but also for upmarket bars that value quality.
What is GEMA-free music anyway?
GEMA-free music are compositions for which the rights are not administered by GEMA. There can be several reasons for this: The composer is not a GEMA member, manages his rights himself, or the music is so old that it is in the public domain.
Important to understand: GEMA-free does not mean free of charge. You acquire the rights of use directly from the rights holder or via specialised platforms. The difference: these costs are calculable, often significantly cheaper and do not increase annually.
Why sonicsense is the best solution for your pub
sonicsense has understood what pub owners need: professional music that suits the bar atmosphere without the financial and bureaucratic hassle of GEMA. The concept is elegantly simple.
You get access to over 30 individually curated premium channels with thousands of tracks by international artists. These are not amateur productions or cheap stock music, but professional tracks at chart level. The difference to music subject to GEMA? For your guests: none. For your wallet: considerable.
The channels are specially curated for bars and pubs. Lounge and chill for relaxed afternoons, rock and alternative for regular guest evenings, pop and charts for the younger crowd at the weekend. You choose according to the time of day and mood - just like you would with Spotify or Apple Music, only legal and without GEMA.
The concrete advantages for your company
Massive cost savings: While you pay GEMA between 400 and 1,200 euros per year, depending on the size of your pub, a professional GEMA-free licence from sonicsense often costs only a fraction of that. For many businesses, the saving is between 70-90% - in some cases even 100% if you previously had GEMA fees plus event costs.
Zero bureaucracy: No registrations, no deadlines, no documentation requirements, no setlists. You start the player, the music plays, done. If you want to organise live events, you no longer need a separate registration. The licence covers everything.
Full legal certainty: sonicsense provides you with complete proof of licence for every use. In the event of an inspection - whether by GEMA or other organisations - you can immediately prove that you are using legally and properly licensed music. No grey areas, no excuses necessary.
Professional quality: This is the crucial point where many GEMA-free offers fail. sonicsense works with real international artists, not hobby producers. The result is tracks that are on a par with anything on the radio in terms of quality.
Planning security: GEMA increases its tariffs every year. With sonicsense, you know what to expect. No nasty surprises, no creeping cost increases.
→ Listen to GEMA-free sample playlists for bars
A practical example from real life
The "Bar Bergblick" in Munich, a typical district pub with 120 square metres, knew the problem: the owner Thomas paid around 540 euros a year for GEMA background music, had a TV for sports broadcasts and organised an acoustic evening with local musicians once a month.
The live music evenings also cost him around 53 euros each in GEMA fees. That makes twelve events at 53 euros each: another 636 euros a year. Together with the background music, Thomas paid 1,176 euros in GEMA fees per year.
In addition, he constantly had the administrative workload: live events had to be registered three days in advance, setlists had to be submitted, documentation and invoices had to be checked. When he once made a mistake when registering and had to pay a surcharge, the barrel was full.
Thomas switched to sonicsense. The GEMA-free licence now costs him 180 euros a year - for everything. Background music, the acoustic evenings, everything is covered. His savings: 996 euros per year. That equates to around 2-3 beers per evening, which he would have to sell more of to achieve the same effect.
The highlight: his guests didn't notice a thing. The music sounds just as good as before, the atmosphere has remained the same. Only Thomas' bank account and his stress levels have improved.
Your most frequently asked questions answered
Do I really have to pay GEMA if I only play the radio?
Yes, definitely. That's one of the most common misconceptions. Radio is free for private individuals, not for businesses. In your pub, radio playback is public and commercial - and therefore subject to GEMA. It does not matter that you do not actively select the music or that the radio station itself already pays GEMA fees. You use the music commercially, so you pay.
GEMA distinguishes between two types of use here: the radio station pays for broadcasting, you pay for public playback in your pub. This may seem like double payment, but it is legally required.
Can't I just leave YouTube music playing in the background?
No, this is actually particularly risky. YouTube is not licensed for commercial background music. YouTube's terms of use expressly prohibit commercial playback. In addition, most videos on YouTube are accompanied by GEMA-licensed music - so you would be committing two legal offences at once.
YouTube has massively improved its detection systems in recent years and can certainly recognise when content is being used outside of a private context. The legal consequences can be considerable - from warnings to contractual penalties.
What exactly happens in the event of a GEMA inspection without a licence?
GEMA inspectors have the right to enter your pub during opening hours and check whether music is being played. They must identify themselves and must not act aggressively, but you can't simply throw them out either.
If music is playing during your inspection and you do not have a valid GEMA licence, the inspector will record the situation. You will receive a letter from GEMA with a request for a licence. In addition, GEMA will demand back payments for the past years - up to three years retroactively are possible.
The 100% control costs surcharge is added to this additional payment. So if you theoretically have 1,500 euros to pay for three years of use, this becomes 3,000 euros. There may also be reminder fees and interest.
Anyone who does not pay even after being requested to do so will have to deal with lawyers and, in the worst case, the courts. GEMA is known for its consistent enforcement.
What about self-created playlists of well-known songs?
No matter how you compile the music - as soon as the individual songs are protected by copyright, you pay GEMA. Your playlist from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music or even purchased CDs: all subject to GEMA.
The thought "But I bought the songs legally" is understandable, but legally irrelevant. You purchased the songs for private use. Commercial, public reproduction is a completely different type of use that must be licensed separately.
Is classical music automatically GEMA-free?
This is complicated. The composition itself can be in the public domain - for example, if the composer has been dead for over 70 years. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven: their works are in the public domain.
However, in the vast majority of cases, the actual recording you play is protected by copyright. The orchestra's interpretation, the conductor's work, the sound mix - these are all protected performances. You would therefore not only have to prove that the composition is in the public domain, but also that the specific recording is free of third-party rights.
This is almost impossible in practice. It is safer to either pay GEMA fees or rely on professional GEMA-free offers.
Is an annual contract with GEMA worthwhile?
If you want to stay with GEMA: absolutely. The savings compared to monthly payments can be up to 180 euros per year. That's real money that you can better invest.
However, you should first calculate whether a complete switch to GEMA-free music would save you even more. In many cases, even the cheapest GEMA annual contracts are more expensive than professional GEMA-free solutions.
What about the licence fee - isn't that the same as GEMA?
No, these are two completely separate things. The licence fee (formerly GEZ, now Beitragsservice) is a public levy for the reception of radio and television. You pay this regardless of whether you use the devices or not.
The GEMA fees are a licence fee under private law for the use of copyrighted music. One fee has nothing to do with the other. So you pay both - the licence fee for your business premises and the GEMA fee for the use of music.
Do I also have to register GEMA-free music somewhere?
Formally yes, in practice this is not a problem with professional providers such as sonicsense. In the case of GEMA-free music, GEMA requires proof that the tracks are not actually subject to GEMA.
With sonicsense, you automatically receive all the necessary licence documents and proofs. When a licence is checked, you present them - and you're done. The administrative effort is minimal compared to normal GEMA licensing.
Are there any exceptions or special cases where I do not have to pay?
Practically no. The only real exception is if you only play music that is demonstrably in the public domain or GEMA-free. But as described above, this is practically impossible to prove with classical music or well-known songs.
Some are hoping for the „exception for small businesses“ - but there is no such thing. Even a 20 square metre corner bar pays GEMA, just less than a large bar.
Concrete savings tips for clever pub owners
If you want or have to stay with GEMA for the time being, there are a few things you can tweak.
Annual contract instead of monthly contract: We've mentioned it before, but it's important enough to repeat. An annual contract saves you up to 180 euros a year. GEMA rewards longer-term commitment with significantly more favourable conditions. So if you are sure that you will be playing music all year round - and that is probably the case with a pub - go for the annual contract straight away.
Check DEHOGA membership: The German Hotel and Catering Association DEHOGA has negotiated a framework agreement with GEMA. As a DEHOGA member, you receive a 20% discount on GEMA fees. Membership itself does cost a little, but with higher GEMA fees it quickly pays for itself. You also benefit from other DEHOGA advantages such as legal advice and industry contacts.
Exact area specification: That sounds banal, but it's important. GEMA scales its fees according to surface area. If your pub has 190 square metres, you don't need to book the 200 square metre level. Measure carefully - every square metre counts.
By the way: adjoining rooms, storage areas or kitchens that your guests do not enter do not count as part of the sound reinforcement area. Only the actual guest area where music can be heard is relevant.
Strategically bundle events: If you have regular live events, a flat-rate contract for events can be worthwhile. Instead of registering each event individually for 50-80 euros, you pay a flat rate. This becomes cheaper from around 10-12 events per year.
However, you should still check the GEMA-free alternative. Even a flat-rate event contract is often more expensive than a complete switch to sonicsense.
The best solution: GEMA-free music: All of the above savings tips together will save you perhaps 200-300 euros per year. Switching to professional GEMA-free music can save you 500-1,000 euros and more - with significantly less effort.
Act now - before it gets expensive
GEMA will not stop monitoring. On the contrary: the density of controls is increasing. GEMA knows that too many restaurateurs have been getting away without a licence for years. Now they are systematically catching up.
You have two options, and both are legal and legitimate.
Option 1: Stay with GEMA
This is the classic way. You register properly, pay your fees on time, document your events and live with annually rising costs. This gives you access to the entire world repertoire, you can play whatever you want.
The price: 400 to 1,500 euros per year depending on size and utilisation, administrative effort, and the certainty that the costs will continue to rise every year.
Option 2: Switch to GEMA-free music
This is the modern way. You use professional GEMA-free music from providers such as sonicsense, save massive costs, have zero bureaucracy and enjoy the same atmosphere as before.
The price: A fraction of the GEMA fees, one-time changeover, then routine.
The limitation: you can't play just any chart hit. But let's be honest: do you need that? Your guests want atmosphere, not top-40 radio. Professionally curated GEMA-free music offers you exactly that - and your guests won't notice the difference.
The most successful pub owners we've spoken to say the same thing: „Why didn't we switch earlier?“
Your next step
Music belongs to your pub like beer belongs to a bar. But you don't have to pay every price and take part in every bureaucracy just because „that's the way it's always been“.
GEMA has its justification, no question about it. Musicians deserve fair remuneration. But as a pub owner, you also have to keep an eye on your own costs. And if there is a legal, professional alternative that saves you thousands of euros - why not?
Find out about GEMA-free music for your pub without obligation. Listen to the playlists. Let us advise you. Then make your decision.
→ Request a free consultation now
→ Listen to GEMA-free bar playlists
About sonicsense
sonicsense is your specialist for professional, GEMA-free music solutions in the catering industry. We understand that you want to concentrate on your core business - serving great drinks and offering your guests an unforgettable evening. The sound system should not be a cost factor or a construction site.
With over 30 individually curated premium channels, thousands of titles by international artists and complete legal security, we offer pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants the intelligent alternative to rising GEMA fees. Without compromising on quality, without bureaucracy, without hidden costs.
Our customers save an average of 60-90% on their previous music costs. But most importantly, they can finally concentrate on what they do best - making their guests happy.
Checklist: Sound reinforcement in your pub
□ Analyse current music usage (radio/streaming/live/TV)
Precisely measure the area of the pub
□ Calculate GEMA costs for your company
□ Check Sonicsense alternative and listen to sample playlists
□ Create a cost comparison: GEMA vs. GEMA-free
□ Make and implement a decision
□ For GEMA-free: Have licence documentation ready
□ With GEMA: Register all events in good time
