Music Licensing Is Becoming a Brand Virtue, Not Just a Legal Box

New research on 1,250 shoppers, commissioned by licensing body OneMusic with Inside Retail, found that being licensed is now a trust signal customers reward, and its absence one they punish. The study was run in Australia and New Zealand, but the behavior it describes is about shoppers, not geography.

Most shoppers don’t know it’s the law

In the study, 56% of consumers didn’t realize that playing music in a commercial setting requires a license. The US is no different: plenty of operators still assume a personal Spotify account covers the sales floor. It doesn’t. Playing music in a US business normally requires licenses from the performing rights organizations, typically ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, unless the music is licensed directly by its owner.

That knowledge gap has created a gray zone where some operators gamble on not being caught. The research argues that calculation is getting short-sighted: as awareness grows, so does the expectation that businesses operate ethically and within the law.

Being licensed reads as doing the right thing

When shoppers were shown a “Licensed to Play” sticker in a business window, sentiment was strongly favorable. It signals a credible operator who respects the value chain and pays suppliers properly, whether that’s a coffee roaster or a songwriter.

Metric	Australia	New Zealand
View a licensed venue positively because it shows the business is “doing the right thing”	27%	30%
Would judge a non-compliant venue negatively and may take their spending elsewhere	11%	12%

There’s no reason to think a shopper in Chicago weighs this differently to one in Melbourne.

Gen Z can hear the difference

“Royalty-free” playlists are a false economy if your audience skews young. In the study, 75% of Gen Z consumers could instantly tell real music from generic elevator music, and to them stock tracks read as budget, uncool and inauthentic. If your brand is about quality, your playlist has to feature quality music.

Three takeaways for US venues

• Get compliant. Whether through the PROs or directly licensed music, compliance shields you from infringement claims.
• Show it. Displaying proof of your license is a low-effort trust signal that resonates with around 30% of customers and alienates almost no one.
• Train your team. “We support the artists we play” turns a legal obligation into a brand story.

Do both, in one subscription

The research points to a real tension: play licensed, real music that younger customers respect, and prove you’re compliant. Melodial does both for only US$6.99/month. Melodial owns its catalog outright, so your subscription is the license, with a professionally curated library and a Certificate of Compliance you can put in the window as your own trust asset.