Can I Play Spotify in My Business?

Short answer: no. Spotify, including Premium, is licensed for personal, non-commercial listening only. Playing it in a shop, café, salon, gym or any business where customers or staff can hear it breaks Spotify’s terms of service, regardless of which plan you are on. The same applies to Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon Music. A personal subscription covers you at home, but never across a commercial floor.

Two separate problems

First, Spotify’s terms explicitly prohibit commercial use. Second, even if Spotify did allow it, you would still need a public performance license from your local collecting society. Spotify covers streaming rights, not the commercial right to play music where the public can hear it. Almost every country has a collecting society that administers this public performance right, and it is actively enforced under your national copyright law.

Collecting societies actively contact businesses playing unlicensed music. Inspectors visit premises in person and document unlicensed playback, and societies also use letters, phone calls and music recognition technology. “Too small to notice” is not a real category.

These services also log when an account streams the same playlist for eight hours a day, seven days a week, and licensing bodies treat that for exactly what it is: a business playing music without a license. See the real penalties businesses face for playing music without a license.

What playing music legally normally costs

Business type	Local license + music source (per year)	Melodial (per year)
Small retail shop (under 100m² to 1,000m²)	$800 to $2,000+ USD	$69.99
Café or restaurant (15 to 35 seats)	$900 to $1,800+ USD	$69.99
Hair or beauty salon	$400 to $2,000+ USD	$69.99
Gym or fitness studio (recorded music, with or without classes)	$2,000 to $5,000+ USD	$69.99

Collecting society fees vary by country, business type, size and music use, and do not include a music source.

And that is just the license. You still need a music source on top.

What to use instead

Melodial is built for exactly this problem. Every track in the catalogue is owned or directly licensed by Melodial, and none of it is registered with your local collecting society or any other collecting society. Your subscription is your license: the music, the commercial rights and a downloadable Certificate of Compliance, all for $6.99 per month.

1. Subscribe to Melodial, $6.99 per month, no contracts.
2. Play Melodial exclusively and switch off Spotify, radio and CDs.
3. Download your Certificate of Compliance as instant proof you are fully licensed.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play Spotify in my business?

No. Spotify’s terms of service prohibit commercial use, even with Premium. You would also need a separate public performance license from your local collecting society, which costs hundreds or thousands per year on top.

Can I play YouTube or Apple Music in my business?

No. Their terms do not cover commercial use either. Playing them in a business is copyright infringement under your national copyright law.

Will Spotify know I am using it in my business?

Streaming services log usage patterns, and a consumer account streaming the same playlists all day every day leaves a clear record of commercial use. Licensing inspectors also visit venues in person.

What is the legal alternative to Spotify for business?

A directly licensed service like Melodial. It includes the music and the commercial license in one subscription for $6.99 per month, with a Certificate of Compliance you can download instantly.