If you loved the piece on producing events at non-traditional venues, this issue is the follow-up you didn't know you needed. We're digging into event licensing in the U.S., using music licensing as the core example and permits as the wider picture. Hotels quietly handle this for you. A former palace or a train station doesn't. I'm walking through what licenses you actually need, who's responsible for them, and what happens if you skip them, plus why the answer can change completely depending on which town you're in.

This is also the last issue before I take my usual August break. Event Pulse will be back in your inbox in September. Until then, have a great summer. Rest, recharge, and come back in the fall with new ideas and a fresh perspective. I always do.

See you in September!

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The License Hotels Give You for Free (And Non-Traditional Venues Don't)

A few weeks ago I wrote about producing events at non-traditional venues, places like Grand Central Station, Banqueting House in London, a historic hall at the University of Hong Kong. That piece struck a nerve. People love the idea of pulling an event out of a ballroom and into somewhere with real character.

What I didn't get into is what happens after you sign the contract. Specifically, the moment someone on your team asks, "wait, who cleared the music?"

If you've only ever produced events in hotels, you may never have had to answer that question. Hotels carry blanket licensing as part of doing business. They've already paid for the right to have music played on their premises, year-round, for any event that comes through. You don't see that work because it's baked into the building.

Move your event to a former palace, a train station, a university hall, and that safety net is gone. Nobody there has a blanket license, because nobody there hosts events for a living. You are now the one responsible for figuring out what's required. And this is where a lot of otherwise well-run events get into trouble.

One important note before I go further. I'm writing this from a U.S. perspective, because U.S. licensing works differently from the U.K., the E.U., or Asia, where I've also produced events. If you're working internationally, the categories below are a useful mental model, but you'll need to research the specific rules for that country. Don't assume anything transfers.

The three-license reality: music as the core example

"Music licensing" sounds like one thing. It's really a bundle of separate rights, and it's worth understanding the pieces before you assume you're covered.

Performance rights. In the U.S., these are managed by performing rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. If any song under their catalogs is played live or recorded at your event, someone owes a license fee, full stop. It doesn't matter if it's a live band covering a song or a DJ pulling from a streaming playlist. If it's a copyrighted composition, being performed publicly, it needs a license.

Venue-level vs. event-level coverage.

A hotel's blanket license typically covers everything happening inside its walls. A one-off rental at a non-traditional venue almost never comes with that. You are the event, not the venue, so the coverage responsibility often falls on you, unless your contract says otherwise.

Where the exposure actually comes from.

A live band changes your risk profile differently than a DJ, which is different again from a curated streaming playlist piped through the sound system. Each of those is a separate conversation with your vendor about what they have and haven't already licensed on their end.

The mistake I see most often isn't malicious, it's just an assumption. Someone assumes the band handles their own licensing. The band assumes the venue does. The venue, since they don't host events regularly, never even considered it. Everyone assumes, nobody checks, and the gap sits there quietly until it doesn't.

Widen the frame: permits are the bigger picture

Music is the clearest example because it's the one people forget most often, but it's really a stand-in for a wider category: permits.

Depending on your event, you may also need:

• Alcohol service permits, separate from whatever the venue itself is licensed for

• Fire and occupancy permits, especially if you're changing the layout of a space that wasn't built for events

• Noise and sound ordinance compliance, particularly for anything outdoors or in a residential-adjacent area

• Temporary structure or tent permits, if you're adding staging, tenting, or rigging

• Food service permits, if catering isn't already operating under the venue's existing license

The pattern is the same every time. A non-traditional venue gives you atmosphere, not infrastructure. Anything a hotel would have quietly pre-cleared, you now have to clear yourself.

And here's where it gets more complicated: location matters, a lot

Even within the U.S., there's no single rulebook. Licensing and permitting requirements vary by state, by city, and sometimes by neighborhood.

I like to use the Hamptons as an example because it makes the point vividly. Southampton and East Hampton sit right next to each other, feel similar, and are constantly lumped together. But their fire regulations are different. Their stage and structure licensing requirements are different. A permit process that's routine in one town can require an entirely different application, inspection, or timeline a few miles away in the other.

If you're producing events across multiple locations, you cannot treat "I've done this before" as proof you're covered. What worked in one town is a starting point, not a guarantee, for the next one.

Who is actually responsible?

This is the part planners get wrong most often, and it's rarely because they don't know licenses exist. It's because they assume someone else already has it handled.

The venue assumes the client or planner is bringing their own coverage. The band or DJ assumes the venue has a blanket license, the way a hotel would. The client assumes that's simply part of what they're paying the planner for. Everyone is technically right that someone should be handling it. The problem is that at a non-traditional venue, there usually isn't an in-house events team quietly making sure all of this happens in the background the way there is at a hotel.

My rule: assume nothing is covered until you've confirmed it in writing, with the specific party responsible named. Not "the venue will take care of it." Who, specifically, and where does it say so in the contract?

What happens if you skip it

This isn't about scaring anyone. It's about being clear-eyed on what's actually at stake.

I've seen a PRO representative show up mid-event asking questions nobody could answer. I've seen invoices land weeks after an event because a PRO found out music was played without a license, and now it's a bill instead of a budget line. I've seen insurance claims denied because the event wasn't properly permitted in the first place, which turns an ordinary problem into an expensive one. And I've seen venue relationships damaged permanently because a planner brought them a compliance headache they never signed up for.

None of that is hypothetical. It's the direct, predictable result of the same gap: nobody checked who was responsible until something forced the question.

A practical checklist before you sign

Before you commit to a non-traditional venue, confirm the following, and get the answers in writing:

• Does the venue have any existing licensing (music, alcohol, occupancy), or are you starting from zero?

• Who is contractually responsible for performance rights licensing, you, the venue, or the entertainment vendor?

• What are the specific fire, occupancy, and structural permit requirements for this venue, in this town?

• Are there local noise ordinances that affect your run of show?

• Does your insurance require proof of permits before it will pay out on a claim?

• If you're producing in more than one location, have you confirmed the rules separately for each, rather than assuming consistency?

If all you get are blank stares, or your venue partner is avoiding those questions altogether, know you are in trouble, expensive trouble. It’s time to look at other options.

The wow factor is only half the job

A non-traditional venue is what makes an event truly unforgettable. The licensing work is what lets you actually pull it off without a mid-event surprise or a bill you didn't see coming. If the last piece got you excited about moving away from ballrooms, this is the part that makes sure you get to keep doing it.

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