1Two separate problems
Playing a consumer service in a venue creates two independent liabilities, and fixing one does not fix the other.
- Contract. You agreed to terms limiting the service to personal, non-commercial use. Breaching them lets the provider suspend or close your account.
- Copyright. Separately, the songwriters and publishers hold the public performance right. They are not party to your Spotify agreement and are not paid by it, so their claim survives regardless of what you pay Spotify.
2What the terms of service say
Every major consumer service restricts commercial use in near identical language. The services are provided for personal, non-commercial use, and public performance or broadcasting of the content is not permitted.
Spotify runs a separate product for venues through Soundtrack Your Brand, which was formerly branded Spotify for Business. That exists precisely because the consumer app does not cover commercial use. Pandora likewise sells a distinct business product rather than allowing the consumer app in venues.
3What copyright law says
Section 106(4) of the Copyright Act reserves to the rights holder the exclusive right to perform a work publicly. A performance is public if it takes place somewhere open to the public, or where a substantial number of people outside a normal family circle are gathered.
A cafe, a salon, a showroom and a gym floor all meet that description. So the question is never whether you paid for the music. It is whether you hold permission to perform it to other people, and a consumer subscription does not grant that.
4How venues get caught
Enforcement is more systematic than most owners expect.
- PROs employ field representatives who visit venues, note what is playing, and photograph speakers and equipment.
- Your own marketing is evidence. Social posts naming the playlist, or a website mentioning the music you play, get cited in demand letters.
- Staff and former staff report venues, and so do competitors.
- A licensing conversation that starts as a phone call becomes a federal filing if it is ignored, because that is what establishes willfulness.
5What it can cost
Statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c) run from $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, and up to $150,000 per work where a court finds the infringement willful. Costs and attorney fees can be added.
The multiplier is what hurts. An investigator who logs eight songs during one visit creates eight counts, not one. Continuing after a written warning is the classic route to a willfulness finding, so ignoring the first letter is the most expensive move available.
6The radio myth
The common belief that "the radio is fine" comes from a real exemption, section 110(5)(B), but it is narrower than the folklore.
- It covers ordinary broadcast radio and television only.
- Restaurants and bars must be under 3,750 gross square feet, other businesses under 2,000, excluding parking. Larger premises must stay within six speakers total and four per room.
- You must not charge anyone to hear it.
Streaming is not broadcast. An internet radio station, a Spotify playlist or a phone plugged into the amplifier all fall outside the exemption immediately, whatever the size of your room. Full detail is in our music licensing guide.
7What to use instead
| Route | Trade-off |
|---|---|
| Licence from all four PROs | Full mainstream catalog. Four separate bills, roughly $817 a year minimum before SESAC and GMR, and no music is actually supplied. |
| Commercial music service | PRO fees bundled into a monthly fee, typically $27 to $45 per location per month. Chart music included. |
| Royalty-free catalog | Music licensed at source and registered with no US PRO, so no performing rights royalty exists. One flat annual fee. Not chart music. |
Which one fits depends on whether your customers need to recognise the songs. Most venues do not need recognisable hits, they need the right atmosphere at a predictable cost.
Legal music, without the PRO relationship
RadioB2B gives you 1,200+ curated stations and background music video channels for a flat $249 a year, with a Music License Certificate you can hand to anyone who asks. Nothing in the catalog is registered with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR.
8Questions
What if I use my personal account on my own phone?
Whose account and whose device is irrelevant. What matters is that the performance is public. A staff member's personal Spotify through the venue's speakers is the same infringement.
What about a TV showing a music channel?
Broadcast television can fall under the same 110(5)(B) exemption within the size and equipment limits. Streaming music video services do not.
Does Spotify for Artists or a promo account help?
No. Neither grants public performance rights to a venue.
We are a small shop, surely nobody cares?
Small venues are routinely contacted. The economics of enforcement work fine at small scale because the statutory damages floor is high relative to a modest licence fee.
General information only, not legal advice. Statutory damages and the exemption are as set out in 17 U.S.C. 504(c) and 110(5)(B). See our Terms of Use.