Get Legal: Why Can’t I Just Play Spotify in my Store?

There are three main reasons you can’t or shouldn’t just play Spotify playlists in your store. 

1. It’s illegal.
2. It’s not scalable.
3. Your store employees are not creative directors.

The most important reason you shouldn’t play a personal music service like Spotify or Apple Music in your store (or any business environment) is that IT IS ILLEGAL. Personal services are designed for single-person use and do not have the proper licensing for business use. Background music services like Activaire especially license music for use in business establishments where many people hear music in an environment designated to earn profit. The use case is vastly different, and the licensing organizations are vigilant about ensuring businesses pay for the use of music properly. There are six general sides to licensing music for businesses, and skipping out on any of them, can land you in hot water.  

Question: Have you acquired ASCAP, SESAC, BMI, and GMR licenses? Hopefully, you have because it’s your legal responsibility to maintain these licenses so that you can play music in your stores. However, these licenses are only half of what you need, so having them doesn’t mean that you are fully covered, and it definitely doesn’t mean that you can play Spotify or any other personal music streaming service in your stores. Learn more about licensing here.

Obtaining these licenses on your own will generally cost $1200 or more annually. An Activaire Curator subscription comes bundled with these licenses and all other licensing you need for a fraction of that cost.

The second reason is that personal services are not SCALABLE because they’re designed for individual use. A personal music service requires someone to sign in, start a playlist, manage the continuous playback, and update the playlist content.

• What happens when your playlist ends?
• Does it start playing random songs, does it repeat, or does it pick another playlist randomly?
• What happens when you’re tired of the music that you picked out?
• What happens when your staff decides to play whatever they’re in the mood for?

What seems like simple tasks for your personal use can make the music come to a grinding halt in the store environment, and that’s just for one location! Trying to manage and coordinate a consistent music presence across multiple locations with a personal service is impossible. 

Activaire delivers a consistent music program with site-specific requirements like opening and closing times, automatic playback, day-parting for times with higher foot traffic, and playback for special events. Content updates happen automatically, and your schedule shifts according to the design parameters of your brand environment. Your operations and IT team can simply set up Actvaire and let it work smoothly.

Sonos is a popular option for many business owners, and unfortunately, it’s incredibly easy to load music services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud, but just because you can doesn’t mean it’s legal. To solve this problem, you can use Activaire Curator for Sonos to provide legal and expertly curated music. One of the coolest features of our Sonos service is that you can completely bypass the Sonos APP and control your music from any device using the Curator dashboard. So goodbye to rogue music choices and hello to on-brand experiences and happy customers.

No Sonos? No problem. You’ll love our Epicentre Media Player. Even more advanced? We’re impressed! Our Q-SYS plugin is for heavyweights like you.

The third reason you shouldn’t just have a personal service in your store environment is all about DESIGN. If you are running a personal music service, it’s too easy for anyone who works for you to “put on their playlist.” Meanwhile, every other aspect of your brand experience from your logo, to your store layout, has been designed by knowledgeable and experienced professionals. Music should be no different. Music has such a strong impact on behavior and brand recall that it shouldn’t be left to the chance or whim of your employees. As expert music curators, we’re not curating music simply according to our subjective tastes! We have a design process to identify and update your Music Position so that your music works for your brand. 

Employees may not be creative directors, but they ARE brand ambassadors. It is wonderful when employees love the music because they’re happier and more focused. We understand that music is a psychologically personal medium, so Activaire Curator is a control designed for employee use. They can see the song playing, provide feedback about what they like, and even change up the vibe; these options are designed within the parameters of the brand music position we develop with you. The result is a dynamic, on-brand music experience that engages your employees and customers.