Why do I have to pay to play music in a commercial space?
Think of it like this: when you play music for your customers, you’re sharing someone else’s creative work - and just like you’d expect to get paid for your job, musicians and artists deserve compensation for theirs. That’s where music licensing comes in. Every track Vellar Sound adds to your playlist is covered for you, fully licensed and legally sound thanks to our partnership with Soundtrack. We can also help you in the process of obtaining your Performing Rights Organisation (PRO) license if you're not already set-up.
What could happen if I play music from my personal account in a commercial space?
Penalties for violating copyright and neighbouring rights laws vary by country, as copyright falls under civil law, which is highly localised. Typically, businesses caught playing music illegally face two types of fines. First, they’ll be required to pay double the amount of what a legal license would cost. Or they could receive a court-issued fine, which can range from hundreds to millions, depending on the business size, duration of infringement, and any intentional illegal actions.
In the UK, fines and fees for playing unlicensed music are managed by PPL and PRS for Music, the two main organisations responsible for licensing music in public venues. They work together through the joint venture PPL PRS Ltd. Public performance revenues collected by PPL and PRS have seen a strong post-COVID recovery, reaching around £111.7 million in 2023, including not only fines but also licensing fees from businesses that use music without proper authorisation.
So what kind of license do I need to play music?
We have your playlist licenses covered. You'll need to directly purchase a Public Performance License to legally play music in any business setting. This covers the right to play music for public enjoyment, which includes background music, live performances, and radio or TV broadcasts.
- U.S and Canada - our partner Soundtrack covers the necessary commercial music licenses for most venues in the U.S and Canada. This means you're covered per venue for playing licensed music without needing to get additional public performance licenses from Performing Rights Organisations like ASCAP or BMI. You can see more details and where exemptions apply here.
- U.K - While you historically had to obtain separate PPL and PRS licenses, you can now do this with just one: TheMusicLicense, making it so much easier.
- Rest of world - each country has its own Performing Rights Organisation (PRO). Vellar Sound can help you facilitate these conversations or you can locate your country’s PRO and contact details here.
As we've outlined, you also need a license covering each royalty payment to the copyright holder - thankfully all of the music we curate for you is commercially licensed via Soundtrack and is part of your paid subscription when you partner with Vellar Sound.
