How to Play Music Legally in Your Business: A Step-by-Step Guide

Why business music requires different licensing than personal use

Playing music for yourself — through headphones, in your car, at home — is covered by the streaming subscription you already pay. The license that comes with a personal Spotify or Apple Music account covers exactly that: personal, private listening.

The moment you play music in a public commercial space — a restaurant, retail store, gym, hotel lobby, waiting room, or office — the legal situation changes entirely. That is a "public performance," governed by copyright law separately from personal listening rights.

This distinction exists because the rights to a piece of music are not a single unified license. Songwriters have rights. Record labels have rights. Music publishers have rights. Each type of right can be licensed separately for different uses. Personal streaming services purchase licenses for one type of use. Public performance in a commercial space requires a different set of licenses — and those are not included in any consumer subscription, regardless of what tier you pay for.

What is a public performance?

A "public performance" in copyright terms means playing music in a place where people outside a normal circle of family and friends are present — or transmitting music to such a place. This is a deliberately broad legal standard. It includes:

• Playing music in a restaurant, cafe, bar, or pub
• Background music in a retail store, shopping centre, or supermarket
• Music in a gym, fitness studio, or sports facility
• Background music in a hotel lobby, spa, or common area
• Music in a waiting room — a medical practice, a car dealership, a hair salon
• Music in an office or corporate workspace with multiple employees
• Music played at a conference, trade show, or business event

If you have any doubt about whether a specific situation counts as a public performance, it almost certainly does. Legal interpretations are consistently broad, and collecting societies apply the standard widely.

The two types of rights your business needs

Performance rights — the composition

Performance rights cover the songwriter and music publisher — the people who wrote and own the composition: the notes, the melody, the lyrics. These rights are managed by performing rights organizations, commonly called PROs or collecting societies. Each country has its own:

• United States: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR
• Sweden: STIM (compositions) and SAMI (sound recordings)
• United Kingdom: PRS for Music
• Germany: GEMA
• Australia: APRA AMCOS
• Canada: SOCAN

Most commercially released music is registered with one or more of these organizations. When you perform that music publicly in a commercial space, the relevant PRO is entitled to collect a fee on behalf of the songwriter. These fees are typically annual, calculated based on venue size, type, and hours of use.

Master recording rights — the recording

Master recording rights cover the actual recorded performance — the specific version of a song as it was recorded in the studio. These rights belong to the record label (for commercially released music) or directly to the artist (for independent releases).

In practice, if you are using a business music service, the service's subscription covers the relevant recording rights for its catalog. You do not need to negotiate these separately. If you are paying PRO fees directly to songwriters' societies, those fees cover composition rights — a separate matter from master recording rights, which is a nuance that matters in certain digital broadcast contexts.

Three ways to license music for your business

Option 1 — Pay PRO fees directly

You can contact your local PRO — ASCAP, BMI, STIM, PRS, GEMA, or whichever applies in your country — and purchase a blanket performance license. This covers public performance of any music registered with that organization, which covers most commercially released music.

Cost varies significantly by country, venue type, floor area, and annual revenue. In the US, a small restaurant might pay combined ASCAP and BMI fees of several hundred to over a thousand dollars per year. In Sweden, STIM fees are calculated as a percentage of turnover. In the UK, PRS fees are based on venue size and seating capacity. In Germany, GEMA has a detailed tariff system based on venue capacity and frequency of use.

One important caveat: in most countries you need separate licenses from multiple PROs to cover the full range of commercially released music. In the US, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC each represent different catalogs of songwriters, so full coverage typically requires paying all three. This multiplies the administrative work and the annual cost.

This route makes sense if you specifically want to play commercially registered music — chart hits, identifiable artists — and you are comfortable managing annual renewals across multiple organizations.

Option 2 — Use a business music service with a label catalog

Business music services such as Soundtrack Your Brand, Rockbot, Mood Media, and others license content directly from record labels and publishers. Their subscription fee includes the right to play that music commercially. You pay the service a monthly fee; they handle the licensing relationship.

However, the scope of what the service's license covers varies by market and service. In some jurisdictions, using a licensed business music service satisfies PRO requirements for the music in their catalog. In others, PROs may still claim fees regardless of the service's direct licensing arrangements, because those organizations collect on behalf of their members independently. Before subscribing, ask the service directly: does using your service mean I do not owe separate collecting society fees in my country?

Option 3 — Use a service with a royalty-free owned catalog

Some music services use a catalog that is not registered with collecting societies at all. Track Studios, for example, uses an owned AI music catalog that has never been submitted to STIM, ASCAP, BMI, GEMA, or other PROs. Because the music does not exist in those organizations' registries, they have no right to collect fees for its performance — regardless of where or how often it is played.

This is structurally different from Option 2. It is not that Track Studios has negotiated special terms with the PROs — it is that the music in the Track Studios catalog is simply outside their system. You are not performing "their" members' music, so they have no claim.

The tradeoff is catalog type: you will not have chart music or identifiable artists. Track Studios offers professionally produced original music organized by mood and energy level — designed specifically as background music rather than as a listening experience. For most commercial venues, this is actually what you want: music that creates the right atmosphere without demanding the audience's attention.

What happens if you do not have the right license?

Collecting societies in most countries actively monitor commercial venues. Methods include field representatives who visit businesses, reports from registered members who identify their work being played commercially without license, and in some markets, technical monitoring tools. If a venue is found playing unlicensed music, the society typically issues an invoice for back-dated fees, often with an administration charge or penalty for the unlicensed period.

In the US, the copyright infringement framework provides for statutory damages starting at $750 per work infringed — and a single playlist in a commercial venue might include dozens of registered works. In practice, collecting societies pursue compliance through invoices and licensing agreements rather than litigation, but the financial exposure is real and cumulative.

The practical risk for most businesses is a retroactive invoice covering the period of unlicensed use. For a business that has been playing Spotify in a restaurant for two years, that invoice can be substantial. The cost of a legitimate business music service, by comparison, is predictable and modest.

Which consumer services are not legal for business?

None of the major consumer streaming services are licensed for commercial business use. This includes:

• Spotify — personal, non-commercial use only per terms of service
• Apple Music — personal use only per terms of service
• YouTube and YouTube Music — personal use only; the free tier includes advertising, not commercial performance licensing
• Tidal — personal use only
• Deezer — personal use only (Deezer has a separate business product)
• Amazon Music — personal use only
• SoundCloud — individual creator content; not licensed for commercial playback

A premium paid subscription to any of these services does not grant commercial use rights. The premium tier removes advertising for personal listening. It does not change the license type or extend coverage to public performance in a commercial space.

A compliance checklist for business owners

1. Stop playing consumer streaming apps in your business today. Disconnect any device playing Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or similar services from your commercial audio setup.
2. Choose your licensing approach. Decide whether you want chart music (which means either paying PRO fees directly or using a service with a label catalog) or the simpler route of a royalty-free service like Track Studios where collecting society fees do not apply for the included music.
3. Sign up for a business music service — or contact your local PRO if you are going the direct-license route. If using a service, verify exactly what rights their subscription covers in your jurisdiction.
4. Document your compliance. Keep your subscription confirmation, invoices, and any compliance certificates on file. Track Studios provides downloadable certificates for each active subscription, which you can use if a collecting society contacts you regarding the included music.
5. Enable automatic renewal. A lapsed license means you are unlicensed again. Business music service subscriptions typically renew automatically, but confirm this is the case for any service you use.

Frequently asked questions

Is playing music in a waiting room illegal without a license?

Yes. A waiting room — whether in a medical practice, dental surgery, car dealership, or hair salon — is a public commercial space. Playing music there is a public performance and requires appropriate licensing. The same legal requirements apply as for a restaurant or retail store.

Does a Spotify Premium account cover my business?

No. Spotify Premium covers personal, non-commercial listening. It does not grant commercial performance rights. Playing Spotify in your business — through any device or speaker system — violates Spotify's terms of service and does not satisfy your public performance licensing obligations, regardless of how much you pay for the subscription.

How do collecting societies know if I am playing unlicensed music?

Collecting societies use several methods: compliance officers who physically visit commercial venues, tip-offs from members who recognize their music being used commercially, and in some markets, digital monitoring tools. In Sweden, STIM actively checks restaurants, cafes, and retail businesses. In the US, ASCAP and BMI have active field programs. In the UK, PRS regularly pursues venues for unlicensed performance. The risk of detection varies by country and venue size, but it is not negligible — and the invoice covers the entire period of unlicensed use, not just the moment of detection.

What is the difference between royalty-free and licensed music for business?

"Licensed music for business" typically refers to music from a catalog licensed from rights holders for commercial playback — a business music service has negotiated with labels and publishers for the right to stream their music commercially. "Royalty-free business music" in the Track Studios sense refers to music not registered with collecting societies, meaning no PRO can invoice you for playing it. The first model may still involve collecting society fees depending on jurisdiction; the second does not, for the included catalog. Track Studios uses the royalty-free model: the AI music catalog is owned by Track Studios and has not been submitted to any collecting society.

Can I play music in my business for free legally?

Some options exist, but with significant practical limitations. Creative Commons-licensed music is available in various catalogs, but finding consistently high-quality, appropriate business background music that is genuinely free for commercial use takes considerable effort. Some radio services include commercial use for certain contexts, but coverage is not universal. For most businesses, a dedicated music service at €25 to €50 per month is the most practical path to consistent quality and verified compliance. The alternative — managing licenses yourself or curating free music — typically costs more in staff time than it saves in fees.

Track Studios provides a straightforward path to legal business music. The included royalty-free AI catalog is not registered with collecting societies such as STIM, ASCAP, BMI, or GEMA — meaning venues using the included music do not receive invoices from those organizations for it. Every subscription includes browser-based playback with no app or hardware required, streaming URL support for Sonos, daypart scheduling, custom audio ads and announcements, multi-location management, and a downloadable compliance certificate. Plans start at €25 per month per location with a 7-day free trial.