HELP Licensing for Venues
This page includes information for HELP licensing for venues. If you are interested in a HELP license for mobile operators, such as DJs and KJs, please click here.
Sound Choice® HELP is our Hassle-free Easy Licensing Program.

HELP is designed to make it easier for venues that feature karaoke and professional karaoke operators (hosts or KJs) to comply with our rules for the use of the Sound Choice registered trademarks and the goods and services they're attached to. HELP provides licensees with permission to use our intellectual property in connection with goods and services we did not originally make or authorize. Stated another way, HELP is a way for operators to pay for the use of Sound Choice music they don't have discs for.

Current Pricing

Venue License

$299-$499
per month
HELP Venue Licenses are per fixed location. Exact pricing is dependent on the market where your venue is located. Contact Customer Care for details.
Apply Now for a HELP License
What HELP is about. Sound Choice® karaoke tracks were originally sold only on compact discs that included a warning against copying the contents. But CDs just aren't very convenient for a lot of professional karaoke operators, so most opt for copying the content over to a hard drive. That creates two problems. First, it's not legal to do that (and to use those tracks commercially) without our permission. Second, it makes piracy a lot easier to accomplish and harder for us to detect.

Instead of auditing and verifying 1:1 correspondence, through HELP, we set quality standards for Sound Choice karaoke tracks and trust you and your operators to meet them. This protects the integrity of the Sound Choice brand with minimum disruption to your business.
Consider Hiring a Licensee
If your venue features karaoke, instead of getting your own HELP license, you might consider hiring a Sound Choice Licensee instead. You can find licensees in our Licensee Directory. Using a current Sound Choice licensee means that you are covered when that licensee plays karaoke at your venue. If there are no current licensees in your area, please contact Customer Care to discuss hiring Sound Choice Entertainment to provide karaoke at your establishment. SCE can locate, screen, train, and supply a local host who fits your venue and market.

What about markets?

HELP Venue Licenses are issued on a market-by-market basis. Different areas of the country operate under different economic conditions. What might seem cheap in New York or L.A. might be unreasonably high for Tahlequah, Oklahoma or Montgomery, Alabama. So we charge different prices in different markets. Our goal is to charge a reasonable price for the use of our main brand, based on what licensees in a given market are able to pay.
Where do I get the tracks?

HELP is designed to cover the use of our intellectual property (and that of our participating publishers) in connection with karaoke shows at your venue, for Sound Choice-branded tracks you or your operator already possess. We don't supply you with the tracks, and we can't tell you where to get them. In our experience, finding the tracks isn't a problem for most people—ask around. You should be aware, of course, that a HELP Venue License covers mobile operators when they play at your venue.
HELP licensees are part of our
Licensee Directory
(and if you get licensed, you can be, too)
A HELP License is a good investment for your business.
When you consider what it costs to build a collection of legitimate original Sound Choice discs, the option to copy tracks from other sources, many of which are essentially free, can seem like a huge savings. Unfortunately, when you or your operator aren't paying for the tracks in use, that means that we're not being paid, the music publishers who own the composition rights aren't getting paid, and nobody who's responsible for the creation of this music is seeing the benefits of doing so. Plus, the operators who paid for their music have to compete against people who didn't. We designed HELP to remedy that situation. With HELP, you (and your operator, when on your premises) can use any of the more than 16,500 "red logo" Sound Choice tracks, regardless of where you got them, and rest assured that the creators of that music get compensated. HELP also helps to level the playing field for the operators who did business with us originally and the venues that hire them.

With your approved HELP License application, you get a license that allows you to use, at your venue location, the Sound Choice marks on tracks stored on non-original media, no matter how many of the more than 16,500 unique "red logo" Sound Choice tracks you have, no matter where you got them.

IMPORTANT: HELP licenses do not apply to GEM series ("blue logo") tracks or tracks from newer series, which must be purchased separately.
As a HELP program participant, you use the tracks you want to use, where you want to use them, in the format and on the media you choose.

Plus, HELP licensees get early or exclusive access to license the new Sound Choice tracks that are coming soon. (Additional charges apply.) HELP Licensees also get a detailed listing in our searchable Licensee Directory, so that potential patrons who are looking for a licensed show can find you and verify your license status.

Don't believe the myths.
Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who have a lot of time, energy, and money invested in trying to convince karaoke operators not to cooperate with us. These people like to get on karaoke-focused message boards and forums and spread disinformation about our brands, our company, and our licenses.

We've all heard the arguments. Don't be fooled by the hype.

MYTH    "You should just wait to be sued and then agree to sign up for HELP."

That's actually extremely dangerous advice. If we sue you for karaoke piracy, it will be a great deal more costly to resolve that suit than simply signing up for HELP. In fact, as a matter of policy, when we sue an operator, to settle the case, the operator has to address the past infringement and agree to a plan for future use. That's inherently more expensive. But if you sign up for HELP before we target you, we simply forget about what you might have done in the past.

MYTH    "I don't need a HELP license because PEP lost a lawsuit."

While it's true that we haven't won every case we've ever brought, the reality is that most courts agree that we have the right to pursue these cases. You should also be aware that we have begun to bring lawsuits for copyright infringement—and no court has ever ruled against us on those cases. The better course of action, if you aren't otherwise licensed, is to get a HELP license to ensure complete coverage for your Sound Choice tracks.

MYTH    "I already pay ASCAP and BMI, so I'm covered."

It's true that ASCAP and BMI collect performing rights royalties for music publishers. But they don't collect for us. You should continue to pay these companies the royalties they require. But if you use an unlicensed operator who plays Sound Choice tracks at your venue, you can and will be held responsible, whether you pay ASCAP and BMI or not.

As always, if you have concerns, talk to us, not some guy on the internet who has an agenda.



Ready for HELP?
Apply Now