1Do you need a music licence?
If customers can hear commercially released music, that is a public performance under section 106(4) of the Copyright Act, and you need permission. In practice that means licences from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR, because a normal playlist crosses all four repertoires.
The exemption in section 110(5)(B) covers other businesses under 2,000 gross square feet, excluding parking, or larger premises staying within six loudspeakers and no more than four in any one room. It applies to ordinary broadcast radio and television only. A streaming account, an internet radio station or a phone plugged into the system all fall outside it immediately. Our music licensing guide works through it in full.
RadioB2B removes the question. Every track is licensed at source through RadioPRO Ltd, a UK collective management organisation, and none is registered with a US performing rights organization, so no performing rights royalty arises on what you play through the service.
2Programming the showroom floor
A showroom is mostly hard surfaces, so level matters more than tempo. The aim is to take the echo off the room and give a salesperson something to talk across, never to fill it.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Opening | Low and warm near 75 BPM while the floor is prepped and the first appointments arrive. |
| Late morning | Around 90 BPM as walk-in traffic builds, confident without being loud. |
| Lunchtime | Hold near 90 BPM. The service area is usually at its busiest while the showroom quietens. |
| Afternoon | Back to 80 to 85 BPM for test drives and longer negotiations at the desk. |
| Close | Warmer and slower under 75 BPM, which lets a late conversation finish without pressure. |
You can try the scheduler on the live console on our home page before signing up for anything.
3Zones: showroom, service waiting, workshop, offices
Each independently controlled output is a zone, and each runs its own station and volume.
- The showroom floor on the schedule above, quiet enough to close a deal over.
- The service waiting area, warmer and slightly fuller, where customers sit for an hour or more.
- The workshop, out of customer earshot, on whatever the technicians actually want.
- Sales offices, where a low bed of sound stops the next desk hearing a finance conversation.
4Hardware you already own
There is nothing to buy and nothing to install. The player runs in any browser and casts directly to Sonos, Chromecast and AirPlay. There are iOS and Android apps as well, so staff can change a zone without opening a laptop, and when the internet drops the player keeps going from a cached queue rather than leaving you in silence.
5Offers and service reminders
Record your own audio and schedule it into the rotation. A finance offer on the showroom floor, a service plan prompt in the waiting area only, or a seasonal campaign that runs for a month and then stops on its own.
6What it costs
$149 a year, per year, flat, music included. That covers the full catalog, background music video channels for any screens, the scheduler, your own announcements, staff accounts and the Music License Certificate. It does not scale with your square footage or your occupancy, which is the mechanism that makes PRO fees climb.
For comparison, minimum ASCAP and BMI general licences alone totalled roughly $817 a year in 2026, before SESAC and GMR, and before any back-dated period they may assess. Bundled commercial music services typically run $27 to $45 per location per month. See how the routes compare.
Try it in your own space
Fourteen days free, no card required. Build a day's schedule, cast it to the speakers you already have, and hear how the room changes before you decide anything.
7Questions
Do car dealerships need a music license?
Yes, if commercially released music is audible to customers on the showroom floor or in the service waiting area. That is a public performance under 17 U.S.C. 106(4), and dealerships are licensed by PROs like any other commercial premises.
Can the workshop play the radio instead?
If the workshop is genuinely out of customer earshot and you are using ordinary broadcast radio within the size and equipment limits, the 110(5)(B) exemption may apply there. It does not extend to a streaming account, and it does not help the showroom floor.
Should the service waiting area sound different?
Usually yes. People wait there far longer than they stand in a showroom, so slightly fuller and warmer programming makes an hour pass more comfortably. It runs as its own zone.
What does it cost for a dealership?
A flat $149 a year, including the music, against roughly $817 a year for minimum ASCAP and BMI general licences alone before SESAC and GMR.
Cost figures are indicative 2026 published minimums and typical market pricing, not quotations. General information, not legal advice. See our Terms of Use and Service Agreement.