Why Nova owns its catalogue
Every song on Nova belongs to Loopcode Bilişim Yazılım Mühendislik Eğitim ve Danışmanlık A.Ş. (Lodos Nova). Here is why we built a streaming service this way and what it means for listeners, artists and businesses alike.
Most streaming services are, at heart, shop windows for other people's music. They license recordings from labels and publishers, pay for every play, and build their apps around that arrangement. Nova works differently. Every song in the Nova catalogue belongs to Loopcode Bilişim Yazılım Mühendislik Eğitim ve Danışmanlık A.Ş. (Lodos Nova). That single decision shapes almost everything else about the service, so it is worth explaining.
What "our own catalogue" means
The Nova catalogue today holds around 1,726 songs on 188 albums by 70 artists. On top of that sit about 30 public playlists, five radio stations that play around the clock and three podcasts. All of the music is wholly owned by Lodos Nova. There is no licensed back catalogue from outside, and no song that might vanish because an agreement elsewhere has ended.
It is a smaller catalogue than the largest services, and we do not pretend otherwise. What it offers instead is coherence: music that we know well, that has been analysed track by track for genre, mood and instruments, and that we can stand behind in every context where it plays.
Why it matters for businesses
The clearest benefit is for venues. When a café, shop or hotel plays music to its customers, that is a public performance, and it normally needs permission from the people who own the rights. With most music, those rights are spread across many owners and represented by collecting societies such as MESAM and MSG in Türkiye, GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, SGAE in Spain, SIAE in Italy, PRS and PPL in the UK, or ASCAP and BMI in the US. A business usually pays them separately from whatever service it streams from.
Because Lodos Nova is the sole rights holder for Nova music, the licence can come from one place: us. A Nova Business subscription costs $30 per venue per month, includes unlimited listening, and includes the public performance licence for Nova music at that venue. There is no collecting-society fee for Nova music, because nobody else needs to be asked.
Two honest limits are worth stating. First, this covers Nova music only. If a venue also plays the radio, a television channel or another service, those need their own licences. Second, the licence is for playing music in the venue. Broadcast, use in videos, adverts or social media posts, and redistribution are not covered. The licensing page sets out the details, and our article on background music licensing explains the wider picture.
Why it matters for listeners
For listeners, owning the catalogue lets us keep Nova free with an account. You can play full songs, albums and playlists, build your own lists, follow podcasts and tune in to the radio on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android. Paid Lodos plans add higher audio quality, but the music itself is available to everyone who signs up.
It also means the catalogue is stable. When you add a song to a playlist, it stays there. And because we know every track, we can describe it properly: the genre and mood pages on this site, such as ambient, are built from that analysis.
Why it matters for the music
Owning the catalogue means we are responsible for it in a way a pure distributor is not. We decide what joins it, how it is grouped into albums and playlists, and where it plays. That includes our radio stations, which draw their music from the same catalogue, and the venues that use Nova Business every day.
It also keeps the arrangement simple to explain. One owner, one set of terms, one place to ask questions. If a business needs written confirmation of its licence, we can provide a licence confirmation letter on request at info@loopcode.co.
What this does not change
A personal account is still a personal account. Free listener accounts are for personal use, and using one to play music in a shop or café is not allowed, even though the music is ours. Businesses need Nova Business, which exists precisely to give them the right to play in public. Our guide to personal streaming versus business music goes into the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the music on Nova? Lodos Nova owns every song in the Nova catalogue. The service is operated by Loopcode Bilişim Yazılım Mühendislik Eğitim ve Danışmanlık A.Ş. in Istanbul and is part of Lodos.
Do businesses pay a collecting society for Nova music? No. Nova music is licensed directly by its owner through Nova Business. Any other music a venue plays still needs its own licences.
Can I use Nova music in a video or advert? No. The Nova Business licence covers public performance at your venue only. Broadcast, sync uses such as videos, adverts and social media, and redistribution are not included.
