If you are planning to contract the services of a disc jockey or musician, there are two important agencies you should be aware of: SOCAN and AVLA

SOCAN - Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada

AVLA - Audio Video Licensing Agency Inc.

Simply stated, SOCAN is a non-profit agency, which collects a fee, charged by your venue, to give you or your entertainer(s) permission to publicly play any kind of music during your reception or event. Your venue does not have a choice whether it charges the fee as they are responsible for collecting the fee for all events with music.

The AVLA is a non-profit agency responsible for issuing licenses to individuals, disc Jockey’s, bands or entertainers for the exhibition and duplication of music, whether it be for CD’s or videos. For more information, click on the links to your right.