Businesses that play music as part of their operations—from airlines and hotels to gyms and shopping centers—will need to pay licensing fees beginning December 2026 under a newly announced regulatory framework in the UAE.
Issued through Ministerial Resolution No. 136 of 2026, the Collective Management Guide for Music sets uniform licensing standards and lays out the procedures for collecting and distributing payments tied to music copyright and related rights. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism announced the rules on Tuesday.
Two authorized bodies—the Emirates Music Rights Association and Music Nation—will handle fee collection and rights management once the framework takes effect at the start of December. Both have secured Ministry permits allowing them to carry out collective management work, which includes distributing payments to creators and rights holders across the country. Licenses will run for a year and remain renewable under the relevant conditions.
According to the Ministry, charges will be organized into brackets determined by how music is used and the scale of the business involved. Specific fee figures were not disclosed in the announcement. Beyond the venues already named, the framework extends to floating hotels, concerts, radio broadcasters, television stations and comparable events where music use falls under copyright protections.
Not every user will be charged. The Ministry confirmed that government bodies, educational and academic institutions, music played during national events, and private non-commercial gatherings are all exempt. Additional exemptions may be introduced later through further decisions.
The guide also creates a Cultural Support Fund for Music, which will draw 10 percent of everything collected under the framework. This fund is meant to channel financial, technical and artistic backing into music composition, production, distribution and live performance, with particular attention to nurturing new talent. A joint committee drawing members from both the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and the Ministry of Culture will oversee it, and the two collecting organizations will maintain a dedicated bank account where the allocated sums are held.
Officials framed the measure as a way to give businesses clarity on the lawful use of music while strengthening protections for the people behind it—composers, songwriters, performers, musicians, record producers and publishers alike.
The Ministry will retain supervisory authority over the organizations running collective management, with powers that include conducting field inspections and examining records, documents, and financial and technical systems. Rights holders, users and other affected parties may file complaints with the Ministry, which can pursue a settlement or move to regulatory action when necessary.
Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri said the initiative advances a more coherent system for handling copyright in the country. “The Ministry’s launch of the Collective Management Guide for Music represents an important step towards developing an integrated governance framework for copyright and related rights in the UAE, enhancing the efficiency of rights management in line with international best practices, strengthening the principles of transparency and fairness in their distribution, and improving the regulation of the music sector in a way that supports its growth and prosperity. This is in line with relevant legislation and international agreements and further enhances the UAE’s position as a leading global hub for the creative economy and intellectual property protection.”
