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Hair salons should pay up before they turn on the tunes for their customers, the organization that collects copyright fees in Canada says.

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, known as SOCAN, is sending letters to salons countrywide reminding them that under Canadian copyright law, they are supposed to pay royalties for playing recorded music on their premises.

And that's got some people stickier than a well-coiffed beehive.

"Where is that going to stop, as far as extracting money from the consumer?" said Raffaello Marrello, owner of Raffaello Salon in Toronto's Yorkville area, adding that salons already paid for the CDs once, when they bought them.

Many salon owners say they had no idea they were supposed to pay to play their background music.

SOCAN's Anne Richard said the law has always required hairdressers and barbers to pay for playing CDs, MP3s or other recordings in public. "They just didn't know about it."

The organization launched public-awareness campaigns to remind people of their obligations.

"We don't have a huge staff for this, so each year we target different music users," Ms. Richard said. "Last year, it was dentists, this year it's hairdressers."

Any person who plays recorded music publicly is expected to pay royalties. Salons or retailers are required to pay an annual licence fee that is calculated based on the establishment's square footage.

The minimum fee is about $95 for salons up to 825 square feet.

The fee gives a business access to music from all over the world, because SOCAN has deals with companies internationally.

"The great thing for music users is it's almost one-stop shopping. It's a blanket licence that covers them for everything," said Bill Wilson of SOCAN.

And many companies are willing to pay once they understand the issues.

"We have 30,000 plus customers in good standing," he said.

Giving more money to artists is not what Mr. Marrello opposes. What frustrates him is that he feels hairdressers have been targeted.

"If they're going to charge salons for listening to the airwaves, they should charge car drivers, they should charge the whole world for music," he said.

But, said Mr. Wilson, "the hairdressing industry is by no means the only one we try to communicate with or educate," it's simply the latest on the education campaign stop.

Many salons in Toronto hadn't heard of the issue and often play whatever their customers enjoy.

"We have employees bring in whatever music they like and play it," said Tristan Drocklehurst, the manager at Toni & Guy on Bloor Street West in Toronto.

A Calgary salon manager said music is essential to the business. "Music sets the mood. There's no way we cannot play music; it sets the tone for the day," Michelle Mayne, manager of Hedkandi Salon said.

"If it's going back to the industry that doesn't seem terrible to me, but how are they going to enforce that? Do you know how many salons there are in the country?"

Salons are not charged a fee for playing the radio unless they use a sound system rather than a standard radio.

But will the campaign stop hair salons from plugging in their iPods to their sound system while plugging in their curling irons?

"I think it's getting a little bit greedy because when you buy it and play it at home, wouldn't it be the same thing? You're not playing it for profit," said Stephen, a receptionist at Robin Barker salon in Yorkville. "I kind of get what they're getting at, but I still think it's a little much."

With a report from Canadian Press