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 for calm, not for atmosphere
Nothing here should build. The schedule exists to hold a steady, low, predictable level across the day, because sudden change is what unsettles animals.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Opening | Quiet ambient near 60 BPM. Early appointments are often the anxious ones and the drop-offs. |
| Morning clinic | Hold 60 to 70 BPM, instrumental. Consistency matters more than variety. |
| Midday | Unchanged through the quiet surgical period, kept low near the kennels. |
| Afternoon clinic | Steady 65 BPM as the waiting room fills again for evening appointments. |
| Overnight | A very low ambient bed in the kennels, which is calmer for boarded animals than silence. |
You can try the scheduler on the live console on our home page before signing up for anything.
3Zones: waiting room, consulting rooms, kennels, prep
Each independently controlled output is a zone, and each runs its own station and volume.
- The waiting room on the calm schedule above, low enough to talk over.
- Consulting rooms, where a steady bed of sound keeps a difficult conversation from carrying.
- The kennels and boarding area, quieter still, and running overnight if you board.
- The prep and surgical area, on whatever the clinical team prefers.
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.
5Reminders and seasonal advice
Record your own audio and schedule it into the rotation. A vaccination reminder in the waiting room, a flea and worming prompt in season, or fireworks advice that runs for a fortnight and stops on its own.
6What it costs
$99 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 veterinary clinics need a music license?
Yes, if commercially released music is audible to clients in the waiting room. That is a public performance under 17 U.S.C. 106(4), the same as any other business premises.
Does music calm animals, or is that a myth?
There is genuine evidence that steady, slow, low-volume music reduces stress behaviors in kennelled dogs, with classical and ambient programming performing better than silence or talk radio. The effect is real but modest, and habituation means variety within a calm range works better than one repeated playlist.
Can the kennels run overnight?
Yes. The kennel zone can hold a very low ambient station outside opening hours, which is usually calmer for boarded animals than an empty building.
What does it cost for a clinic?
A flat $99 a year, including the music, with no ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR fees on anything played through the service.
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.