SIAE PRIVATE PARTIES

Here’s one of those questions we’re always asked when we’re hired as DJs for your private parties (or corporate, public, etc.): how do we organise ourselves with the SIAE? Do we have to pay for it? And how?

SIAE PRIVATE PARTIES: ONLINE PAYMENT, PRICES. THE 2026 GUIDE

First of all: Why do you have to pay the SIAE?? And when Don’t you have to pay it?

The songwriters,  have  the right to derive financial benefit from one’s own works and, to put it simply, to make money from them; without their songs, there’d be no party! SIAE’s role is to process licence applications and collect the relevant royalties to be paid   to the composers of musical works

PS: Until recently, the SIAE It had the exclusive right to run this business, but a recent European Union regulation has liberalised the market… we will be sure to keep you updated on any developments.

If you’re organising a private party You do not have to pay copyright fees in your own home.

However, if a public venue (for example, a restaurant, a function room in a hotel or similar) is chosen to host private parties with access by invitation only, permission must be sought from the SIAE. This procedure is mandatory if a DJ (as in our case) or a live band, but also in the case of a “DIY party”, with songs played via a simple “USB stick” or playlist.

It should be noted that this tax is payable for both free and paid events.

HOW TO PAY SIAE FEES ONLINE

The’organiser of the event, which may be the guest of honour the same, or the party planner; it may be a natural person  who acts in their own name or on behalf of a company.

The management of the Music Programme  Registration for the event can be completed entirely online, and you must pay in advance, by credit card, directly via the SIAE website. We would like to let you know straight away that We recommend that you print out the summary page of your paid licence and keep the document to hand at all times during the event in case of any checks by the SIAE.

STEP 1: REGISTRATION

First of all, go to  https://www.siae.it/it/servizi-online and click, from the menu on the left,  in “Registration”

Professionals already registered with the SIAE as authors or publishers should click on “PARTNER/PRINCIPAL”;

The users of the works (in other words, anyone organising a party who is not registered with SIAE must click on: “Private” (if you are an individual, i.e. the guest of honour or the person organising the party) or “Company“  if you are a representative or delegate of a company  (for example, a company that needs to use songs for events or adverts )

Let’s say we want to register as private individuals:

Tax reference number Please have the following to hand and fill in the details: first name, surname, email address and telephone number.   

Once you have registered, you can log in to the portal: this screen will appear:

Click on “Permits for Private Parties” and on the “button”Start” to request the creation of a new permit.

STEP 2: WHERE THE PARTY IS HELD

At this point, you need to enter the local, starting from the province, the municipality e the address (if you don’t know the street name, simply state the name of the venue) and also specifying the hall where the party will be held (in the case of large venues, it is possible to hire several separate spaces, which will be automatically suggested in the menu: if you are unsure, please contact the venue and specifically ask for this information).

In this case, your search may not be successful at the first attempt: sometimes villas and restaurants are listed under names other than their “trade” names, or they have changed their names over time and the portal has not been updated accordingly. NIf the item is not listed, please call 0659905200.

The “journey” towards formalising the festival is not yet over: we now need to move on to completing the next form:

– Type of event  (weddings, christenings, confirmations, birthdays, graduation parties and similar events, celebrations).

– The day of the event.

– The’now start and end.

– The number of people who will be taking part in the event.

You will then be asked whether or not the dance. Whereas in the past, the option to include a dance would have pushed up the cost of the licence even further, this is no longer the case.

At this point, once it is clear the organisers the party and where it will take place, it is no longer necessary (from July 2023) to submit to the SIAE a list of the songs to be played at the event, in order to “private events” (events held in public venues exclusively for the benefit of guests: birthdays, graduation parties, company parties, weddings). Until 8 July 2023, however, it had to be assigned to the person responsible for the music played during the event (as shown in the screenshot below).

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: SHOULD NO LONGER BE APPOINTED IN 2026

You no longer need to access the control panel for “Permits for private parties” or “Music Programmes”(Don’t worry: it’s a very “easy” process)" and assign the programme. Previously, one had access to the list of Digital Music Programmes that were to be submitted to the so-called Project Manager, who was to be appointed. The music programme (set list) could be assigned to oneself or to a music professional, who might be a disc jockey or a musician.

Whether you play your own music, for example from an iPod or a Spotify playlist, or leave the evening’s entertainment to a DJ, so it no longer makes any difference to SIAE. So if the DJ you’ve hired still asks you to assign the music programme… well, you should know that they’re out of date!

BEFORE… THIS IS HOW IT WAS DONE’

For information purposes, the previous procedure – where the performance director was a different person – involved assigning the musical programme to the person responsible for the music performed during the event and completing the search form by entering:

SURNAME

NAME

EMAIL

COMPLEX

If the user being searched for was already authorised to use the “mioBorderò” feature, their name was displayed automatically  by selecting one of the search fields

All you had to do was click on “Confirm” to  Easily send the document to your DJ.

The DJ would immediately receive an email setting out the procedures (which were, in truth, very simple) for signing up to the service and taking charge of the document, which was then completed and returned to the event organiser (i.e. the person who had previously sent the form to be completed). In this case too, a notification email confirmed that the document had been submitted (it could be found in the “To be returned” section).

SIAE FEES FOR PARTIES AND EVENTS: HOW MUCH WILL THEY ACTUALLY COST IN 2026?

Not everyone realises that for birthday parties, a reduced rate applies if the event takes place within 15 days (either before or after) the birthday boy or girl’s birthday: do bear this in mind!

For weddings and other types of events, there are two categories based on the number of guests attending the celebration.

For the Weddings The rates are as follows:

For the other types of events which do not fall within the scope of the weddings and the birthdays:

WILL WE STILL HAVE TO SUBMIT THE SET LIST IN 2026? AND THE PERMIT WITH THE LIST OF SONGS?

From 8 July 2023, artists performing in private settings are exempt from completing the ’Borderò“ – the musical programme in which the tracks performed are listed to ensure the correct distribution of royalties. Therefore, the’event organiser You no longer need to worry about submitting the declaration as you did in the past: previously, you had to return the paper declaration to the SIAE office or, if the declaration was digital, you had to log in to the “To be returned” and click on the “ button“Return“.

Please note: all images of the licence forms are the property of Siae, with which we have no affiliation whatsoever. This guide sets out our personal recommendations regarding the use of the platform.