Your Questions About Licensing Andrew’s Shows: Answered

Thinking about bringing one of Andrew’s shows to life in your own production? Whether you’re investigating on behalf of an amateur or youth group, a school or even a potential professional production, we’re here to take you through what you need to know. Here we go!

Do I Need A Licence To Perform A Show?

In short, yes!

All performances of stage musicals that are protected by copyright must be approved and licensed by the copyright holder. This is so that the creators are properly credited and paid for the use of their work.

Licensing a show avoids things like copyright infringement claims and various other legal repercussions. That’s why it’s super important to avoid preparing for a production until you have confirmed that the rights are available and have secured your performance licence.

How To Apply For A Performance Licence 

For those based in the UK and Eire, and in most countries around the world, you can apply for a show licence by registering or logging into your account and completing the online application form. You will then be provided with a quote, which you can save and discuss with necessary colleagues etc. If you choose to accept the quote, your application will be submitted to us and will be reviewed by the ALW Show Licensing team. 

If you’re based in any of the below territories, you’ll need to contact the relevant licensing agent to obtain a licence:

North America, Canada & Mexico – Concord Theatricals 

Australia & NZ – Origin Theatricals 

Germany, Austria & Switzerland – Musik & Buhne 

Scandinavia – Nordiska

South Africa – DALRO 

If you’re unsure whether to contact ALW Show Licensing or a licensing agent, you can select your country in the Show Licensing Around The World tool on our website (at the bottom of the page) for information on who to contact. 

Is It Expensive To Get A Performance Licence?

The price that we charge varies, and comes down to a few variables, such as the type and scale of your proposed production. Here’s a main overview of how we break down our pricing:

• For schools and some smaller scale productions, we charge a fixed fee per performance
• For amateur companies and larger productions, we charge a percentage of the gross box office receipts – which is the total amount of money you take in ticket sales. This varies depending on the show, country etc.
  

The price will be determined during the application process, and we will ask simple questions to help us calculate this. After your performances, you will be provided with a royalty statement for the calculation of the royalty payment.

Do Performance Licence Applications Ever Get Denied?

Yes – but only for a handful of reasons.

Some shows have limitations – such as what sort of groups can license them, or in what countries they can be licensed. Others haven’t been developed for licensed productions, or their rights are withheld due to an upcoming planned professional production. For some musicals, the subject matter might also not be suitable for junior groups.

A licence application can also be declined if there is a clash between amateur societies – for example, two companies wishing to perform the show in close proximity. We may, in this case, decline the second application in order to give everybody the best chance of performing to as many people as possible, but if this happens, we’ll try to suggest an alternative show for you to stage instead!

Still Got Questions?

If we haven’t answered your burning question here, you can head to our FAQ page. Here, we can show you how we break down costs, provide information on whether filming is allowed, take you through hiring music materials and more.