If you run a café, hotel, gym or shop in the UAE and love having music playing for your customers, there’s a major update you need to know ASAP. From December 2026, UAE’s Ministry of Economy and Tourism is rolling out a new nationwide framework that means businesses will need to pay an annual licensing fee to legally play protected music. Fees can go up to AED 50,000 a year, depending on your type of business and its size. Keep reading to find out exactly how it all breaks down.
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What’s Changing & When
Starting December 2026, restaurants, cafés, hotels, gyms, shopping centres and other businesses across the UAE will need to pay an annual licensing fee to legally play music for their customers. The new rules come from the Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s Collective Management in Music Guide, which sets out a nationwide tariff system for any business using copyrighted music as part of its day-to-day operations. Depending on the type and size of the venue, fees can reach up to AED 50,000 a year.
1. Restaurants & Cafés
If you’re running a restaurant or café, your annual fee depends on how many seats you have:
- Up to 50 seats: AED 1,500 a year
- 51 to 100 seats: AED 2,700 a year
- 101 to 200 seats: AED 4,800 a year
- Above 200 seats: an extra AED 20 per seat, capped at AED 6,000 a year
Got a DJ on the decks or run more of an entertainment-club setup? Fees are a bit higher here:
- Up to 50 seats: AED 2,500 a year
- 51 to 100 seats: AED 3,500 a year
- 101 to 200 seats: AED 6,500 a year
- Above 200 seats: an extra AED 20 per seat, capped at AED 8,000 a year
2. Retail Shops & Shopping Centres
For retail spaces and commercial complexes:
- Up to 300 square metres: AED 1,700 a year
- 301 to 700 square metres: AED 3,400 a year
- Beyond 700 square metres: an extra AED 60 for every additional 25 square metres, capped at AED 20,000 a year
Major shopping centres have their own tariff:
- First 100 square metres of common areas: AED 625
- Every additional 25 square metres: AED 50
- Annual ceiling: AED 50,000
3. Gyms, Hotels, Airlines & Broadcasters
Fitness centres:
- Up to 300 square metres: AED 1,700 a year
- Every additional square metre: AED 5, capped at AED 6,000 a year
Hotels and floating hotels, charged by star rating and number of rooms:
- One- and two-star properties: AED 50 per room
- Four- and five-star properties: AED 150 per room
- Annual maximum for the top category: AED 25,000
Radio & TV stations:
- General-programming radio: 1% of annual income
- Music-focused radio: 3% of annual income
- General-programming TV: 1% of annual income
- News channels: 0.25% of annual income
- Minimum annual fee for radio and TV: AED 1,700
Airlines with in-flight entertainment:
- Fees start at AED 5,000
- Go up to AED 45,000 a year, depending on seats covered
Why This Is Happening
The catch is just because you or your business has a personal music-streaming subscription doesn’t mean you’re covered to play that music publicly for customers. Personal listening and public performance are treated as two very different things under the law, which is exactly what this new framework is addressing.
The fees collected will go through the UAE’s two licensed collective music management organisations, the Emirates Music Rights Association and Music Nation. These organisations will then distribute royalties to the people behind the music, composers, lyricists, performers, musicians, producers and publishers, depending on what rights apply. Businesses that pay up will get a one-year licence, renewable under the applicable terms.
Who’s Exempt?
Good news if you fall into one of the following 3 categories, you won’t need to pay. The ministry has also left the door open to exempt other categories down the line through a separate decision.
- Educational and academic institutions
- Government entities, national occasions
- Personal, non-commercial celebrations
Where Your Money Goes
Part of the funds collected, 10% of the total, will go toward a newly established Cultural Support Fund for Music before royalties are paid out. This fund, which forms part of the 25% share outlined in the executive regulations, will support music composition, production, distribution and live performances, along with backing emerging talent, training programmes, and promoting Emirati music both regionally and internationally. It’ll be jointly overseen by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and the Ministry of Culture.
Beachside cafés to five-star hotels, the deadline is the same for everyone. From December 2026, playing music for your customers in the UAE will come with a price tag. And this new framework is all about making sure the right people get paid for it.
