Christmas markets 2024: how market organisers can correctly license music use with GEMA

“Music is important for Christmas market ambience”: 91 percent of 405 market organisers who participated in a GEMA survey in June 2024 held this opinion. About 85 percent of the survey participants had used music events such as advent carol singing in 2023 (GEMA Survey 2024).

“Since there was uncertainty when applying the tariffs last year, we now wish to provide information to all organisers about music use at their Christmas markets early enough. This way, nothing should stand in the way for the 2024 season,” GEMA Managing Committee member, Georg Oeller says. “Our objective is to create certainty around the planning process so all organisers know which tariff is applicable and how music use needs to be registered. Music is used at Christmas markets in various ways: in the background, from speakers or as live performances on stage. We therefore offer a range of tariffs to represent this variety.”

Those who wish to organise a Christmas market in 2024 and use music at it need to notify GEMA about this and obtain a licence. The following principles apply for music use in 2024:

• Those wanting to play music must adequately pay the music creators who composed the melodies and wrote the lyrics. GEMA sets tariffs for music use and negotiates them with the respective trade and industry associations. It then distributes the licence fees to its approx. 95,000 members. Such royalty payouts are an important component of music creators’ income all over the world.
• On days when music is performed live, the tariff for town festivals (U-ST) is applicable. The assessment criterion for the tariff for town festivals (U-ST) is the entire Christmas market event area.
• If the music is not performed live but piped in via speakers as background music only, straight from sound recordings or the radio, the market is not deemed to be an event subject to the tariff for town festivals (U-ST), but other tariffs apply. Detailed information on how the tariffs are applied

On the GEMA website, market organisers can check out background information, tutorials, checklists, sample calculations and FAQs. The offer is rounded off with webinars (live and on demand on 1 October at 10am and on 22 October at 1pm) and a personal telephone service  (“callback”).

Go to the online information service regarding music licences for Christmas markets

Background

It’s hard to imagine Christmas markets without music. Music is an emotional factor that puts visitors in a Christmassy mood. It is also, however, an economic factor that boosts sales of goods and increases the time visitors stay at the market. GEMA licensed music use for about 4,000 Christmas markets in Germany in 2023, covering pretty much everything, from live performances to music and DJs. Christmas markets usually covered 100 to 3,000 square metres, in some cases even up to 10,000 square metres.

The type of music matters, but it is mainly the area covered by the market and the number of opening days that are most important when calculating the licence fee. In 2018, Christmas markets, which fall into the category of funfairs, generated an average of 18 euros per visit (acc. to a study of the German Fairground Association, a registered association) By comparison, the cost of GEMA licence fees for Christmas Market music is in many cases just 2.5 cents per visit.

Press downloads

Press photo Georg Oeller (c. Sebastian Linder)
Results of the GEMA survey on music at Christmas markets (Juni 2024; only in German)
Study of the German Fairground Association (2018; only in German

In Germany, GEMA represents copyright for over 95,000 members (composers, lyricists and music publishers), and over two million copyright owners from all over the world. It is one of the largest societies for creators of musical works in the world.