---
title: Radio and broadcast play on the Basic (MP3) tier: capped
publisher: RapCanon
canonical: https://rapcanon.com/tools/beat-license-checker/radio-basic-mp3/
license: CC-BY-4.0
retrieved: 2026-08-12
---

> Can this song be played on the radio? On the Basic (MP3) tier: permitted up to a cap. Broadcast is usually restricted by station count on lease tiers and unrestricted on exclusive. It is one of th

Beat licence matrix

 
# Can this song be played on the radio?

 
Basic (MP3) licence

 Permitted up to a cap 

 
On the Basic (MP3) tier, radio and broadcast play is permitted up to a cap as these agreements are ordinarily written. Broadcast is usually restricted by station count on lease tiers and unrestricted on exclusive. It is one of the few places the tiers still differ sharply.

 
## The trap

Entry leases often cap radio at a specific number of stations, which is a number nobody tracks and everybody exceeds the moment a record catches.
 

 
## What to check in your agreement

 
Whether broadcast is capped by number of stations rather than by plays.

 
## The same question on every other tier

 Licence tier | Radio and broadcast play | 
 Free (tagged) | Not permitted | 
 Premium (WAV) | Permitted up to a cap | 
 Trackout / Stems | Permitted up to a cap | 
 Unlimited lease | Permitted | 
 Exclusive rights | Permitted | 
 

 
## What this tier is

 
The entry lease. Mixed MP3 only, hard caps on streams and sales, and the beat stays on sale to everyone else. Typical price: $20–40.

 
Scope limit. This models the STANDARD form of each tier. Any individual agreement overrides it. Where a cell says 'depends', the answer is genuinely contract-specific and no general resource can resolve it.

 
Part of the Beat Licence Checker and
 an open dataset published under CC-BY 4.0. Reuse it, including commercially, with attribution.
 Last reviewed 2026-08-12.

---

## How to cite this page

**APA**
RapCanon. (2026). Radio and broadcast play on the Basic (MP3) tier: capped. Retrieved from https://rapcanon.com/tools/beat-license-checker/radio-basic-mp3/

**BibTeX**
```bibtex
@misc{rapcanon-radio-and-broadcast-play-on-the-basic-mp,
  title  = {Radio and broadcast play on the Basic (MP3) tier: capped},
  author = {{RapCanon}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://rapcanon.com/tools/beat-license-checker/radio-basic-mp3/},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-08-12}
}
```

**Wikipedia**
```
{{cite web |title=Radio and broadcast play on the Basic (MP3) tier: capped |url=https://rapcanon.com/tools/beat-license-checker/radio-basic-mp3/ |publisher=RapCanon |access-date=2026-08-12}}
```

Licensed CC-BY 4.0. Reuse it, including commercially, with attribution and a link back.
Canonical HTML: https://rapcanon.com/tools/beat-license-checker/radio-basic-mp3/