The short answer is no. Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music are consumer services, licensed for personal use only. The moment a song plays in a room open to the public, a different set of rules applies. In New Zealand those rights are licensed to businesses by OneMusic NZ, the joint initiative of APRA AMCOS, for songwriters and publishers, and Recorded Music NZ, for artists and record labels. This is not a grey area: it is written in the terms of service you accepted when you signed up.
No credit card required for the trial. Cancel anytime. Catalogue documentation included with every subscription.
Most café owners in New Zealand only find out about this when a licensing letter arrives. The clause has been in the Spotify contract from day one, and it is binding the moment the account is created.
The Spotify Terms of Use, accepted by every user at signup, state that the service is provided "for your personal, non-commercial use only". The same restriction appears in the Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music terms. It is the legal foundation of the consumer price: a personal subscription is priced as a personal licence, not as a licence to play music to the public.
A café is, by definition, open to the public. The music heard by customers ordering a flat white, working on a laptop or waiting for takeaway is a public performance of copyright works, and in New Zealand that right is protected by the Copyright Act 1994. The Spotify subscription does not travel with the music into the room: it stays with the individual account holder, in private.
Paying for Premium does not change this. Premium removes ads and unlocks offline listening, but the licence remains personal. Nor does a low volume or a speaker at the back of the room: if customers can hear the music, it is a public performance.
New Zealand licenses public performance in two layers: one for the songs, one for the recordings. Both reach a café through OneMusic NZ.
On OneMusic NZ's published retail rates for 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, a shop of up to 49 m² pays NZ$375.95 a year including GST, plus NZ$360.93 per premises a year if the music is streamed from a digital service. Premises whose only device is a terrestrial radio pay half the background rate.
Rates rise with floor area (NZ$451.14 for 50–99 m², NZ$541.37 for 100–149 m², NZ$691.75 for 150–499 m²) and are adjusted for inflation each year. Cafés, bars, gyms and salons are each priced on their own scheme. The OneMusic licence covers the public performance side; it does not change Spotify's own consumer terms, which still limit the account to personal, non-commercial use.
Figures checked against OneMusic NZ's official rates on 6 October 2026; this is not a quote. Sources: onemusicnz.com, apraamcos.co.nz, recordedmusic.co.nz. Full breakdown: how much a OneMusic NZ licence costs.
The My Corporate Radio catalogue is produced in-house and sits outside the repertoires licensed by OneMusic NZ.
Every track broadcast on My Corporate Radio is produced in-house under the creative supervision of Emanuele Carocci, an Italian radio broadcaster with over twenty years on national radio. The catalogue is not part of the repertoires administered by OneMusic NZ.
Every customer receives written documentation of the subscription, issued in the business name, describing the catalogue and where it comes from. If you also play radio, TV, live music or other recorded music in the venue, those follow their own rules: check with OneMusic NZ what applies to you.
Curated stations, each designed for a specific mood and moment of the café day. Weekly updates, no ads, no interruptions.
Light, warm and positive. The right tempo for the morning rush, when customers want a lift before the day starts.
Subtle and instrumental, for the hours when customers work on laptops or stay for a second coffee.
Calm and ambient, for slow afternoons and rainy days when the room should slow down.
Jazz and lounge, for venues that turn into a wine bar or a quiet dinner spot after six.
Higher tempo and brighter dynamics for busy service and takeaway counters.
Groove and rhythm for weekend brunches and special events, never cheesy.
The music on our stations is AI-crafted under human creative supervision, using professional tools. The creative direction — the mood of each station, the rotation, the weekly updates — is the work of a radio broadcaster with twenty years of experience. We state this openly on every provenance document.
No. Spotify Free, Premium, Family and Student are consumer subscriptions, restricted to personal, non-commercial use under the Spotify terms of service. A café open to the public is a commercial venue, so playing a personal account there breaches the Spotify contract, and the public performance of the music is a separate matter licensed in New Zealand by OneMusic NZ.
On OneMusic NZ's published retail rates for 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, a shop of up to 49 square metres pays NZ$375.95 a year including GST, plus NZ$360.93 per premises a year if music is streamed from a digital service. Rates rise with floor area, and cafés, bars, gyms and salons are each priced on their own scheme.
The My Corporate Radio catalogue is produced in-house and is not part of the APRA AMCOS or Recorded Music NZ repertoires, and you receive documentation in your business name describing where it comes from. What applies to your venue depends on your situation: if you also play radio, TV, live music or other recorded music, those follow their own rules. Check with OneMusic NZ what applies to you.
The plan is NZ$49.99 per month per location, billed in NZD, or NZ$499 a year on the annual plan. Seven-day free trial, no credit card required, cancel anytime. No setup fee and no lock-in.
No. Your subscription covers the My Corporate Radio service only. Live music, DJ sets with third-party tracks, karaoke nights and radio or TV played in the venue follow their own licensing rules, so check with OneMusic NZ what applies to you.
One plan, one price, all our curated stations. Catalogue documentation included. No credit card required for the trial.
For independent cafés, small restaurants, boutiques, salons and studios with a single location.
No credit card required for the trial.