Thousands of shops, cafes and gyms simply press play on the owner's personal Spotify account. Understandable — but Spotify's own terms, and the way public performance licensing works in the US and the UK, say something different. Here is how it actually works, in plain language, and what you can do instead.
Spotify's Terms of Use are explicit on one point: an account — Free or Premium — is licensed for personal, non-commercial use. Playing music for customers in a shop, cafe, restaurant, gym or office is not personal use: at that moment the service is being used commercially.
This is not specific to Spotify. The same applies to Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and virtually every other consumer streaming service. The subscription you use at home and in the car was simply not built — or licensed — for the shop floor.
The question, in other words, is not whether the speakers work. It is what the account behind them is licensed to do.
Playing music in a business is, in legal terms, a public performance. In the United States that normally means licences from performing rights organisations such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR. In the United Kingdom the equivalent is TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS. These licences apply to the songs themselves, whatever device or subscription plays them.
So a venue playing mainstream repertoire faces two separate layers: the streaming account's own terms, and the performance licences for the music. What those licences typically cost is set out in our guide to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC fees and in the wider overview of music licensing costs for business.
Spotify does not offer a subscription for background music in commercial premises: it remains a consumer service. Third-party business streaming services do exist, working with the collecting societies' repertoire — in which case the subscription sits on top of the usual performance fees for that repertoire.
My Corporate Radio takes a different route. Our background music for business comes from a proprietary music library: productions made in our own house, sitting outside the repertoires administered by the collecting societies, with commercial use included in the subscription.
And it is not an algorithmic playlist. Channels are curated by an editorial team with decades of radio experience, led by Emanuele Carocci (RTL 102.5, Italy). New music every day, matched to the rhythm of a venue: calm over morning coffee, energetic at peak hours, elegant where the room calls for it.
You try it free for 7 days: no credit card, no automatic renewal. Leave your email, open the player, listen.
Spotify's Terms of Use license the service for personal, non-commercial use, so a consumer account is not licensed for a shop, cafe or gym. Playing mainstream repertoire in public also normally requires performance licences such as ASCAP, BMI or SESAC in the US and TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS in the UK.
No. Premium removes ads and adds features for the subscriber, but it remains a personal, non-commercial licence. Upgrading the plan does not change what the account may be used for.
Those licences cover the public performance of the songs, which is one layer. The streaming account's own consumer terms are a separate layer and remain non-commercial regardless of the performance licences the venue holds.
The same principles apply, with a few sector details covered in our dedicated guide: Can I use Spotify in my coffee shop?
Our library is produced in house and sits outside the repertoires administered by the collecting societies. We promise no exemption: what applies to your venue depends on your situation. What we provide is a proprietary catalogue outside those repertoires, with commercial use included.
Immediately. You leave your email address, receive your personal player and are listening within a minute. The trial lasts 7 days, with no credit card and no automatic renewal.
Editorial radio built on a proprietary library, outside the collecting societies' repertoires. Try it free for 7 days and hear the difference on your own shop floor.
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