The music on a flight carries its own royalty bill

Airlines choose music much as any other business does, but playing it to passengers creates a different sort of copyright bill. The Copyright Board approved SOCAN Tariff 13.A on May 29, 2026 for aircraft music use from 2026 to 2028. Its annual rates are $3.05 per seat for music used while an aircraft is on the ground and $7.22 per seat for music in onboard programming, adjusted for time in service. An airline paying the in flight rate for an aircraft doesn’t also pay the ground rate for that aircraft.\n\nThe decision also addresses a practical difficulty for music rights administrators. Airlines don’t always know which songs passengers actually played, so the tariff permits reporting of the digital files offered when actual use data isn’t available. The reporting details can help distribute royalties, though they don’t make an individual passenger’s choices into a separate fee.\n\nThe approved Canada Gazette tariff sets out the precise reporting and payment requirements. This is a Copyright Board tariff approval, not a ruling about a particular airline’s alleged infringement.