Licensing & royalties
Background Music for Business
Background music for business is music played publicly in a commercial space — a shop, restaurant, bar, gym, hotel, clinic or office. Public playback is a use of copyright regardless of the source, so a consumer streaming subscription does not authorise it, and most countries require licences from one or more collecting societies.
In practice
In Italy a venue typically pays both SIAE, for the authors, and SCF, for the recordings; Germany combines GEMA and GVL, the United Kingdom PRS and PPL. Tariffs scale with surface area, opening hours and equipment, and inspections are routine in hospitality. Consumer accounts from mainstream streaming services expressly forbid commercial playback. The compliant options are a licensed background-music service, paying the tariffs, or playing music that no society represents.
How SoniBuyout® handles it
Sonify tracks are not registered with any collecting society, so there is no author or producer repertoire to declare or pay for. Buy the tracks you want for your space once, play them during all opening hours in every location, and keep the certificate as your answer to an inspection.
Real questions
Can I use Spotify in my shop?
No. Consumer streaming terms are limited to personal use; commercial playback requires a business service and the applicable society licences.
What if I only play the radio?
Radio playback in a public commercial space is still a public performance in most jurisdictions and usually carries its own tariff.
Related terms
Own the track instead of renting it
Sonify Music sells exclusive buyouts of catalogue tracks: one payment, full ownership, the track removed from sale and a named certificate of ownership.