Be Confident About Music Rights & Your Responsibilities

 Over the coming season, there will be some changes introduced to how BIS process entrants’ music for skating competitions. We’re aware that there have been concerns amongst members about music licensing requirements, so we wanted to take this opportunity to help refresh your understanding and provide some useful resources to ensure you can be confident about how you choose and secure the rights for your performance music.

There are a few key principles to remember when it comes to music licensing:

1. Securing the correct rights to use music for performance purposes is a legal requirement under copyright law.

2. Ensuring the correct rights are held is the skater’s responsibility.

3. The production of most music involves numerous individuals, including the songwriter(s), the recording artist(s) and the record label/publisher – permission from all of these is required to legally use a song.

4. Additional rights are needed to edit or adapt music, for example by using it in a mix or medley.
   

We know this can sound daunting! But securing the correct rights for music doesn’t need to be complicated, particularly as dedicated services now exist that simplify the process. We would strongly recommend members review the ISU’s short e-course Music Rights in Sports which provides a clear and simple summary of why correct music licensing is important, what your responsibilities are, and how you can secure the music rights you need. The course is free, you will just need to create an account if you don’t already have one.

The course references Click’n’Clear, a music licensing service who the ISU are partnered with. British Ice Skating have also now partnered with Click’n’Clear to make securing music rights as simple as possible for our members – with Click’n’Clear you can secure all the rights you need in one place at a reasonable price.  More information on this partnership and what it means for members will be circulated soon, though you can still use the service independently in the meantime.

You can review BIS’ current Music Guidance here. We will be providing further education resources and guidance over the coming months to keep you informed of upcoming changes and to support you in this area.

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Please note that for Performance Pathway skaters, Advanced Novice and above, whose goal is to compete internationally in the season 2025/26, it will be a mandatory requirement to provide advance evidence of appropriate licenses for all music to be used in competitions. If this applies to you or your skaters, additional guidance can be found here.

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You may have noticed that recent BIS events have been livestreamed without audio. This will continue to be the case as we revise our processes for checking music license details; we hope to be able to resume full audio for our livestreams once this has been completed.