Music Rights in Businesses
How to play music legally in your business and avoid heavy fines
Music rights in business in US and Canada
If your business is located in the US or Canada, and you subscribe to a music service legal for business use, all the copyright fees and public performance rights are included in your subscription. You do not need to pay additional copyright fees on top (like for instance BMI, ASCAP, GMR, SESAC, SOCAN or Re:Sound).
Music rights in businesses in the rest of the world
In the EU and the rest of the world, you do need to pay a license fee to your local PRO (Performing Rights Organization, e.g. GEMA, SACEM, KONA, STIM, etc.) to play legally background music in your business, and this even if you use a legal B2B music service.
Are consumer services like Spotify legal for businesses?
You cannot use mainstream streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, or Amazon Music in your business because they are only licensed for private use.
In order to play legally background music in a commercial venue (e.g. store, hotel, gym, etc.) or a public space (e.g. airport, school, office, medical practice, etc.), you have to use a solution licensed for business purposes.
Why a professional music solution?
Using a professional music service helps you simplify your business life on three levels:
- Music rights
- Music branding: find the right music for your location / brand / audience, sort these music files into coherent mood playlists, schedule these playlists along your business rhythm, and of course regularly update these playlists to avoid annoying your staff and clientèle.
- Music controlling: decide which music schedule plays in which locations and in which zone, and decide which controls your staff should have on the music (e.g. via app, switch between schedules, stations, playlists, play-pause-skip-like-ban a song, etc.).
Why top tier brands opt for Soundsuit?
Soundsuit is one of the top rated professional music service on the market: create, schedule and control premium music across all your locations and zones, the easy way.
As a user of Soundsuit you benefit from the same premium music catalogue that top tier brands like Mercedes-Benz, LVMH, Accor Hotels, BoConcept, and Asics. Differentiate from the competition through a custom made music experience that engages your customers and motivates your employees.
Do you want to learn more about music copyrights?
Unlike Soundsuit, Spotify – and other maintrain (B2C) music services like Apple-Music, Youtube, Pandora, Deezer and others – are not legal for commercial use. It is clearly stated in Spotify’s Terms And Conditions and in Spotify’s FAQ section.
In US, if you use Soundsuit, the relevant copyright fees (reproduction fees + performance fees) are included in your Soundsuit subscription. You do not need to pay additional fees on top (e.g. BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, GMR).
In the rest of the world, you do need to get a music license (performance fees) from your local Copyright Collecting Society, such as PRS-PPL (UK), GEMA (DE), SACEM (FR), APRA AMCOS (AU), etc. Soundsuit covers in this case only the Reproductions fees.
When you subscribe to Soundsuit, you receive a confirmation email. The invoice will be attached to this email.
As a music service for professionals, Soundsuit delivers business-compatible invoices, with all necessary information to comply with any international accounting standards.
Useful remark:
If on the day of your subscription your free trial is not ended yet, you will receive the email with the attached invoice on the day when your subscription will officially start (i.e. the day when your free trial will end).
No, Soundsuit’s trial is absolutely free of charge and without any binding nor obligation to purchase. To start your free trial, no credit card is required, so you do not need to share any banking details. And the transition from the trial to the subscription is NOT automatic!
If your business is located in the US: the Soundsuit fee includes the relevant licenses to legally play music in your location. You do not need to pay additional copyright fees on top (e.g. BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, GMR).
If your business is located in the rest of the world: you will need to get an additional music license from your local Performing Rights Organisation (PRO), e.g. PRS-PPL in the UK, GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, etc.
The notice period reads
- for a monthly subscription, 14 days to the end the subscription.
- for a yearly subscription, 3 months to the end of the subscription.
You can pay yearly or monthly using:
- VISA credit card
- MasterCard credit card
- AMEX credit card
- ACH direct debit (USA)
- SEPA direct debit (Europe)
- iDEAL (North Europe)
- Apple Pay (Apple users)
Yes, you can easily use Soundsuit with your Sonos sound system. As a certified premium partner of Sonos, Soundsuit is fully compatible with all Sonos devices.
Yes, Soundsuit is seamlessly integrated into the Loxone system. As a certified premium partner of Loxone, Soundsuit is fully compatible with the Loxone system and all the Loxone speakers.
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