Lower overall licensing costs
Our combined licensing model is designed to reduce what your business spends overall.
A new kind of music supplier
Background music that pays artists directly.
Fair Play Aotearoa brings music supply, direct licensing, playback reporting and artist royalty distribution together in one integrated service. Heart Music Group represents the participating independent artists and rights holders and connects their music more directly with the businesses that play it.
FAIR PLAY
AOTEAROA
We represent the musicDirect relationships with participating rights holders
We record its usePlayback reporting by song and participating location
We distribute royaltiesDirectly licensed value calculated and paid to participants
From in-store play to artist payment
One connected service. A more direct relationship.
Most background-music suppliers provide playlists and playback technology but do not represent the artists or distribute the copyright royalties generated by the music. Our model is different.
Heart Music Group directly represents participating artists and rights holders, while Fair Play Aotearoa supplies the music and records what is played. This gives us greater precision in understanding which represented recordings are being used, where they are being played, and how the directly licensed royalties should be distributed.
01Artist and rights-holder representation
02Professionally managed background music
03Media player and playback technology
04Direct licensing of participating music
05Song and location playback reporting
06Royalty calculation and distribution
Direct artist authorisation
A more direct path from business to artist
Most background-music suppliers obtain their music-supply rights through collective licensing arrangements. HMG’s model is different: participating artists and rights holders authorise us directly to represent and license their music.
Participating artists
Heart Music Group
Fair Play Aotearoa
Businesses
Artist royalties
For businesses
We aim to reduce your total licensing spend and make compliance easier.
HMG works with each participating business to structure its direct licence so that the combined cost of its HMG licence and any adjusted OneMusic licence is designed to be lower than its previous overall music-licensing cost. We also help with music supply, playback reporting and the notification process, reducing the compliance burden and making the move to direct licensing practical. Any OneMusic adjustment remains subject to eligibility and OneMusic’s applicable requirements.
See how HMG helps businessesLess compliance work
Detailed playback reporting helps separate directly licensed music from other repertoire.
Hands-on support
HMG helps your team through setup, licensing notifications and ongoing reporting.
Playback intelligence for direct licensing
See what is played and where royalties should go
Fair Play Aotearoa records completed plays across participating locations and categorises the music according to its licensing status. This enables Heart Music Group to identify when directly licensed repertoire is used and calculate the royalties attributable to participating artists and rights holders with greater precision. This detailed reporting may also support a proportionate reduction in a participating business’s current OneMusic licence fee where eligible directly licensed repertoire is used and OneMusic’s applicable requirements are met.
Example reporting dashboardIllustrative test data
The dashboard contains illustrative test data only and does not represent Heart Music Group’s total current commercial activity.
Practical commercial value
Direct licensing can reduce duplicated licence costs
Heart Music Group has worked with OneMusic New Zealand to establish a process for businesses using directly licensed HMG repertoire. Where music is eligible and the applicable requirements are met, a business may receive a proportionate reduction in its OneMusic licence fee to reflect the music licensed directly through HMG.
Fair Play Aotearoa provides the detailed playback reporting needed to distinguish eligible directly licensed music from repertoire that remains covered by OneMusic. Heart Music Group can also support participating businesses through the notification and reporting process.
HMG works with each participating business to structure its direct licence so that the combined cost of its HMG and adjusted OneMusic licences is designed to be lower than its previous overall music-licensing cost. This means a business can reduce its total licence expenditure while increasing the proportion of its licensing payments distributed directly to participating New Zealand artists and rights holders.
By choosing to play and directly license more New Zealand music, businesses can help keep a greater share of their music-licensing expenditure within New Zealand’s creative economy.
Lower overall licensing costs
The combined HMG and adjusted OneMusic licensing model is designed to cost less overall.
More reaches New Zealand creators
A greater proportion of the business’s licensing expenditure can be distributed directly to participating New Zealand artists and rights holders.
More value stays in Aotearoa
Playing and directly licensing more New Zealand music helps retain a greater share of music expenditure within the local creative economy.
Track actual playback
See which songs and artists have been played across participating locations.
Separate licensing categories
Distinguish directly licensed HMG repertoire from music covered through other licensing arrangements.
Support royalty distribution
Use verified playback information to calculate payments to participating artists and rights holders.
Introducing Fair Play Aotearoa
More than playlists and a media player.
Fair Play Aotearoa is Heart Music Group’s music-supply and playback platform. We provide businesses with professionally managed music, dedicated playback technology, direct access to participating repertoire and reporting that supports accurate royalty distributions.
How it works
From representation to royalty payment.
We represent the music
Heart Music Group works directly with independent artists and rights holders who authorise us to license their recordings.
We supply the experience
Fair Play Aotearoa delivers professionally managed background music through our dedicated media player and playlist platform.
We record what is played
Playback reporting helps identify which represented recordings are played, when they are played and at which participating locations.
Businesses license the music directly
Businesses obtain direct permission to use HMG’s participating repertoire, alongside any other licences required for the remainder of their music use.
We pay artists and rights holders
Heart Music Group calculates and distributes the royalties attributable to the directly licensed repertoire.
Built around the people who make the music
When local music works for business, it should work for local artists too.
Heart Music Group represents participating independent artists and rights holders, licenses their music directly to businesses and distributes the royalties attributable to that directly licensed repertoire. Fair Play’s reporting helps us understand where represented music is being used.
Learn more and join the HMG artist communityAbout Heart Music Group
A music company combining creative ambition with commercial strategy.
Heart Music Group is a New Zealand artist-representation and direct-licensing company working to make business music more transparent and sustainable.
Through Fair Play Aotearoa, HMG brings representation, music supply, playback technology, direct licensing, usage reporting and royalty distribution into one integrated model.
News & Progress
Work that moves the model forward.
HMG is developing new licensing and reporting infrastructure, contributing to industry reform and working to create more direct commercial opportunities for New Zealand artists.
Heart Music Group listed by IPONZ as a New Zealand licensing agency
Heart Music Group is proud to have been added to the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand’s information page on copyright licensing, giving artists, rights holders and businesses greater visibility of HMG as an artist-founded music licensing platform.
Read more →
Heart Music Group signs partnership with Retail NZ
Heart Music Group is delighted to be partnering with Retail NZ as we work to create greater choice, transparency and value for New Zealand retailers using music in their businesses.
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HMG advocates for practical direct licensing in ACCC review of APRA AMCOS
Heart Music Group is participating in the ACCC’s current authorisation process concerning APRA AMCOS, advocating for greater transparency and practical pathways for artists, rights holders and businesses to use direct licensing.
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