Sharing playlists online as a business

[djeanc97]

Hello all!

I was curious as to how any business could post a playlist on their website to share with the public and have that playlist available to play for events.  Would they need licensing for the music or would they just need to purchase a premium plan? I know most music services do not allow bars or business to play the music to the public without additional consent/fees. How does that work with Spotify? 

Thank you!

[Sebasty]

Hey @djeanc97! Good question, thank you for asking. 🙂

Spotify's Terms of Service says the service is for personal use only and commercial usage is not allowed.

That means businesses cannot play or broadcast music from Spotify at events and any other occasion.

For more info, check out this article; for businesses seeking for music there is Soundtrack Your Brand, brought out in the article.

Let me know if you have any additional questions! 🙂

[djeanc97]

@Sebasty Thank you so much! Is Soundtrack Your Brand like a third party platform to share music on a website or at an event? Is it a separate music platform all together? I know Spotify used to have a "business" plan do they have anything like that still?

Thanks again!

[EthanS1]

Hey!

Ethan here, jumping in. 👋🏻

Soundtrack Your Brand, is the team that deal with a 'Business' plan as you mentioned and they are experts in the business side of the music world so will be best placed to help you as they deal with this day in day out. You can reach the Soundtrack Your Brand team here. 

[Npillarella]

Hello, 

I have an online product business and I would like to provide links to Spotify playlists that I have created and share them with my customers. Am I allowed to post links to Spotify playlists from my business website for my customers to explore? The playlists would have to be used personally by customers and would not be played in any physical store or public place.

Thanks,

Nick

[Johandg]

Hi Nick,
I have the same question. Did you get your answer? If yes, can you share it?

Thanks in advance

Cheers, Johan

[MafeG]

Hi folks,

Thank you for posting on the Community. Sorry for the late reply, we just came across this thread. 

As other folks explained it, if your intention is playing music from Spotify on a business, you can get a legal licensing through Soundtrack your Brand. This is the website that explains it. 

Now, you can also embed a play button or a Spotify widget on your website. In this and this article you can find the instructions. 

Lastly, if you'd like to generate a Spotify Code to share, this website explains it. It's FAQ can give you the guidelines to take into account if you want to use it in a commercial site. 

Hope this helps!

[Npillarella]

Thanks so much. I appreciate all of the information that you provided. To
make sure I am interpreting this correctly, it seems like I would be
compliant with Spotify's TOS by either embedding a playlist on my business
website, or by providing a URL link to a Spotify playlist that a consumer
can play on their own personal device with their own Spotify subscription.
If I am using the Spotify Code on any product packaging, I would need to
have it approved by Spotify.

As long as I am not playing music out loud in a public space, I would
not need a legal license. Is that the only time a legal license is required?

[CarlosE]

Hey @Npillarella,

You're right.

In this scenario, that's the only time you'd need a legal license.

Hope this info was useful. If you need anything else, the Community is here for you.

Cheers 🙂

[BrooklynDJ1]

This reply is very late but just in case others have this issue, I'll provide a little extra info.

If you're having an event, you will require licensing that is different from business establishment music. It also depends on certain factors about the event. For example, if it is a ticketed event, you will need a specific license to place music. I know this doesn't seem like a big deal but, it's not uncommon for small events to have a lot of issues for not acquiring the appropriate licenses. 

If you're looking for music for your place of business, all of the licensing you need will be covered by a curator service.

[BDMPLS]

I'm a little confused by "In this scenario, that's the only time you'd need a legal license" as there were 2 questions asked. To clarify, is it within the Spotify TOS to include a link or code to a Spotify playlist on product packaging? To be privatly played by the consumer.