What will not change?

Congregations will be able to continue accessing most, if not all, of their favourite music on a single online platform: https://www.onelicense.net. Our goal is to make the transition to the new ONE LICENSE as seamless as possible for you.

Your current Calamus licence will continue in force until its regular expiration date, at which point you will receive a renewal notice from ONE LICENSE.

What do I need to do?

It is critically important that you follow the instructions in the cover letter to activate your account via https://www.onelicense.net/activate. Via the ONE LICENSE website, you will be able to access new features, including the ability to download music, report use, and pay your invoice. For a helpful tutorial video on how to activate your account, watch this video.

What will change?

The biggest changes are as follows:

  1. Use a new web platform with industry-leading technology to report the music you use with your reprint licence.
  2. Download thousands of songs for use in worship aids, or to project on a screen…all included with your reprint licence!
  3. Use our robust tools to quickly find the titles you need, or to create templates of your favourite songs.
  4. Access a database of repertoire that is vast, accurate, and continually updated. (And if you don’t see a title that you believe is covered, you can manually submit the title to be reviewed by our team.)
  5. There is no need for an additional licence if a church event is held outside of the church grounds. 
  6. We offer an online secure payment portal, and accept payment via credit card or bank transfer. (We do not accept payment via cheque.)
  7. We send regular updates via a monthly online newsletter.
  8. Our reporting is organised by week, to support better planning.

Does ONE LICENSE offer additional licence types?

Yes! In addition to our Annual Reprint Licences, we offer 24-hour Single-Use Licences and week-long Event Licences. We also offer a Podcast / Streaming Licence, which will give your congregation permission to podcast or stream religious services containing covered songs. Our Practice-Track Licence gives you permission to share recordings of covered songs for practice and rehearsal purposes.

Will the cost of the licence change?

ONE LICENSE offers a new and improved online experience, including access to image and text files for thousands of songs by leading composers and publishers, and robust online tools to make downloading and reporting song use easier. For these reasons, Calamus customers will experience a price increase when their current licence expires, to bring pricing closer to other English-speaking communities, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US. Rest assured that pricing will be competitive with other music licensing services and an excellent value.

Who are your Member Publishers?

ONE LICENSE is proud to represent the leading publishers of music for Roman Catholic and ecumenical churches. Member Publishers include Oregon Catholic Press (OCP), GIA, Oxford University Press, the Royal School of Church Music, The Taizé Community, The Iona Community, Hope Publishing, Kevin Mayhew, and many more.

Our Member Publisher list may differ from the list of publishers who were part of Calamus. Please check our website at https://www.onelicense.net/publishers for a current list of our Member Publishers in the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe. This list is continually being updated and expanded.

Will the reporting process change?

Accuracy in reporting is extremely important, as this ensures that composers and publishers receive fair compensation for their wonderful contributions to the global church. As a result, our licence will continue to require churches to report 100% of what they use. Song data accuracy is a hallmark of ONE LICENSE, and we provide a variety of tools to make reporting quick and easy on our platform. We do ask licence holders to report the frequency each song is used each week, for those churches that have more than one service. ONE LICENSE includes the ability to create and copy service lists, and keep track of your most frequently used songs and hymns.

How can I log into the website, https://www.onelicense.net? 

First-time users of our licence will need to activate their account by entering a unique code and adding their email address and password to complete a member profile. The cover letter included with this FAQ contains special instructions. Go to https://www.onelicense.net/activate to access your account. For help with this process, there is a link to a brief video on the activate page. If you need help, contact us at infoeurope@onelicense.net. 

Note that if you ever need to reset your password in the future, you are welcome to do so by clicking on “Forgot Password” on the https://www.onelicense.net/login page. 

When you are logged in, you can click on “My Account” at the top of the ONE LICENSE screen, and then the Licenses tab to review your licence. We have made every attempt to map your Calamus licence to the closest category in ONE LICENSE. If you see any errors in your assigned category, please email us at infoeurope@onelicense.net.

What happens to my licence number from Calamus?

We ask that as you reprint and create new programs, you include the following information underneath songs reprinted under your ONE LICENSE number, in addition to the copyright information for that song:

© 2003, ABC Music Co., Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
ONE LICENSE #A-63XXXX

In this example, XXXX is your current four-digit Calamus licence number. The year and “ABC Music Company” relate to the year and copyright owner of the specific song you are reprinting under the licence. If you have any questions, please email us at infoeurope@onelicense.net.

 What if I don’t have a computer? Can I report manually?

We require online reporting as the best and most accurate way to record the music you use, with a simple reporting platform. We can no longer accept manual or handwritten reports. Our quick video tutorial will walk you through the reporting steps. To view our video, click on “How It Works” from the home page and then click on “Watch How It Works.”

What will happen to the Calamus Taizé-only Licence?

Customers with the Taizé-only Licence will continue to be able to use this licence until it expires. This licence, however, will be phased out. In the future, Taizé-only Licence Holders will need to purchase a Single-Use Licence, an Event Licence, or an Annual Licence, depending on the length of their needs. These licenses include Taizé repertoire plus access to over 80,000 titles from more than 160 Member Publishers and their catalogs. The letter included with this FAQ contains special details along with a special code and first-year discount for Calamus Taizé-only Licence holders.

Can more than one person report songs from my congregation?

Yes! The main user of your licence can assign other users on the account via our website, and those users can then report. To add users to your account, click on “My Account,” then “User Accounts,” and then click on the “Add User” button.

How are you planning to grow?

Our goal is to continue making it easy for congregations, schools, and communities to use music to its fullest. We continue to explore a range of innovative licence options and technologies to help our customers make the most of their music, legally and easily!

We are also excited to appoint Christian charity and publisher Hymns Ancient & Modern as the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe agent for ONE LICENSE. They will help us coordinate all sales and marketing efforts in Europe. All of us at ONE LICENSE are thrilled about this partnership and the implications it has for bringing awareness of the benefits of ONE LICENSE to churches and schools throughout Europe. 

Who should I contact with additional questions?

For the quickest response, please email us at infoeurope@onelicense.net. You should receive an email response within one business day.

ONE LICENSE is operated out of our headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, United States, but will continue to partner with the team at Calamus / Decani Music as well as Hymns Ancient & Modern, based in London. Depending on your questions, you will receive a response either from our Chicago offices or our partners in the UK.

You may also email our General Manager, Brenna C. Cronin, with additional questions via infoeurope@onelicense.net.

You will be receiving an email invitation to informative webinars in the near future, as a way to learn about ONE LICENSE.

We are excited and honoured to serve you and will do everything in our power to make the transition to ONE LICENSE as smooth as possible!