Staying on top of regulations for one country can be a daunting prospect, staying on top of regulations for a whole continent can be near on impossible. Laws & regulations for something as niche as wireless licensing for PMSE and special events can be difficult to stay up to date on.
Here’s a quick FAQ on the basics on what we do and how we can help you.
Why do I need a license for my tour/event?
The short answer is it is a legal requirement. When touring in Europe & the United Kingdom you need a license to operate certain types wireless equipment. The type of equipment you are operating will determine the kind of license you require. The responsibility to have the correct license for your equipment lies with the operator. If you operate wireless equipment without the correct license you may be breaking the law which could result in heavy fines or in the worst case confiscation of equipment.
What kinds of wireless equipment needs to be licensed?
In Europe & the United Kingdom you will need to license all radios/walkie talkie systems. Additionally in some countries you may also be required to license Stage RF equipment such as wireless back line/ microphone systems, in ear monitor systems, wireless cameras and some communications gear.
Are these rules new? I have never heard of this.
No. These laws have been in place for many years.
I have toured Europe & the U.K. for years and I have never had a problem why should I get a license?
Remember this is a legal requirement. If you consistently break the speed limit in your car you might get away with it a few times but at some point you will get caught and fined. Just because you have gotten away with it so far is no guarantee you will do so in the future. Do you really want to have to explain to your client why you didn’t to license your wireless equipment and they now have to pay a fine?
This is a small tour/event and do we still have to get licenses?
Yes. It is a legal requirement.
How are the license costs calculated?
There is no short answer to this. Each country has its agency that deals with licensing and its own requirements, rules and licensing costs. These can be calculated per channel, based on the amount of bandwidth used, based on coordination time, population density around the venue, amount of transmitters used, or any combination of these variables.
Where does DarkSky fit into all this?
At Darksky what we do is take the pain of having to procure licenses away. Instead of having to deal with each countries application criteria and rules directly we make the applications and make sure that your tour/event is correctly licensed.
We need the following info from you;
- The name of your event, band name and or tour
- A count of radios/walkie talkies, make and model and the amount of channels you plan to use.
- A detailed count of all other wireless gear including make, model, tuning ranges and power output.
- A full itinerary with addresses of each venue including any production rehearsals(yes they will need to be licensed if you plan to use your wireless gear).
- An on site contact usually a production or tour manager with email and phone number.
- Client information for the bill payer including company registration number, address and contact info.
We will then prepare a budget for your tour based on the information you have provided. Please be aware we call it a budget rather than a quote because many of the agencies calculate the fees based on coordination time, this means that the final cost may vary from the original budget. Although we do our best to be as accurate as possible we cannot guarantee the budgets. We will always do our best to keep you informed of any changes to the cost as we go.
What do I get?
We will send you a copy of the license documentation for each country you have a licensed along with a channel grid listing all the radio frequencies licensed for your tour/event organised in banks by country for your radio vendor to program from. You will also receive a Combined Summary document outlining which radio bank you should use in which country and what the state of the Stage RF licensing in each country. Your licenses may also contain any specific frequencies licensed for your Stage RF/camera systems.
How do I keep the costs down?
The easiest way to keep costs down is to look at how many channels you are licensing. Asking for large channel counts is a sure fire way to make sure your costs are sky high. Ask yourself do I need this many channels?
If you have 24 radios out on tour, is having 16 channels necessary? In this example if you have a minimum channel occupancy of 2(it takes 2 people to have a conversation) the maximum amount of channels you can use at the same time are 12 and you have then licensed 4 channels that may not be used. There may be cases where this is necessary but it’s worth thinking about if costs are need to be managed.
All Call requires its own dedicated channel. Is this necessary for you?
You can also look at the amount of in ear monitor/guitar systems you are using. Do you really need an IEM channel for a TM or manager that only uses it once in a while? Can the backline rigs operate with less channels?
These are all easy ways to reduce the costs of licensing.
How long does it take to get the licenses/ How long should I allow?
You should allow a minimum of 14 days. Anything less will start to incur additional rush fees from the agencies involved. This is not necessarily 14 days from when your event/first show is for example;
Your radio/walkie talkie license will include the specific frequencies you are licensed to use in that territory, these will need to be programmed into your radios by the your radio vendor. This is very rarely done on the road you will need to provide your radio vendor with the info prior to them shipping your gear. In this case the shipping date is your 14 day deadline.
Our tour event has been cancelled can we get the license refunded?
Licensing agencies do not refund licenses once issued and therefore we cannot refund the license fees.
The gear list I submitted has changed since applications were sent/ licenses issued
If the gear on your event/tour has changed from the list submitted to us during the application process then your licenses are not valid. For this reason you need to be sure the list is correct, this includes frequency ranges, makes, models, etc. We will need to resubmit applications and start the process again so additional costs will be incurred. Once the licenses are issued they cannot be refunded.
A venue has changed/date moved what do I need to do?
We may need to submit new applications which will incur additional costs. In some countries the licenses may cover the time period/ location of the new venue but in most cases they will need to be resubmitted. There is no refund on licenses already issued.
I need to rent radios/ wireless as well as license gear in Europe can you help?
Although we don’t have a rental stock we do have a some rental companies we work closely with contact us on info@darksky.live for more info.
I want to operate legally get me a budget/ I need more info?
Contact us at info@darksky.live with details of your tour event as outlined above or any specific questions you may have and we will get back to you as soon as we can.