Can you play Spotify in your business? Not on a personal account. Spotify's own terms say the service is for personal, non-commercial use and can't be played publicly from a business, and that's true in every country it operates. A OneMusic licence doesn't change it: the licence covers the copyright in the music, not Spotify's terms. Here's how those two permissions fit together, what getting it wrong risks, and what you can put on the speakers instead.
Spotify's rules and the music licence are different things.
Spotify is unusually direct about this. Its help page on public and commercial use says the service is "only for personal, non-commercial use" and that you can't play it publicly from a business, and it names the places it means: bars, restaurants, schools, stores, salons, dance studios. It doesn't matter which plan you pay for. Premium buys you no ads, not a shop floor.
The music licence is a separate question. In Australia, playing recorded music in a business is a public performance, and the permission for most of the world's commercial catalogue comes through OneMusic Australia, whatever the source of the music. OneMusic's own guidance is careful not to oversell what that licence does: it says using a service like Spotify in a commercial setting "is likely to be a breach of the terms and conditions of the service's end user agreement", licence or not.
So there are two questions, and a personal Spotify account fails the first one before you get to the second. Does the platform allow business use? Does the copyright owner give permission? The licence answers the second. Only the platform can answer the first, and it already has.
What if only your staff can hear it?
It's the most common workaround, and it doesn't hold. Spotify's terms draw the line at business use, not at who's listening. And OneMusic's myth-busting guide is explicit that music played for staff in a café or restaurant is generally a public performance too; for offices, factories and lunchrooms there's a separate Music in the Workplace licence. The back of house is still the house.
What happens if you're caught.
Usually a letter first, and a backdated fee. Sprintlaw's guide for Australian businesses warns that the wrong licence, or none, "can lead to backdated fees or claims for infringement". It can go further than that. OneMusic points to a Melbourne hospitality venue ordered to pay nearly $200,000 for playing music without a licence. Most businesses never get near a courtroom, but the number tells you the societies are prepared to go there.
The same answer in the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
Spotify's terms don't change at the border, so the first answer is the same everywhere: a personal account isn't for your business. Only the name on the music licence changes. It's TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS in the UK, Entandem in Canada, and OneMusic NZ in New Zealand. We've set out who covers what, country by country, in the rule is the same everywhere.
What you can play instead.
- A business music service. Spotify's own help page points businesses to Soundtrack. OneMusic notes that some background music suppliers include its licence in the price and others don't, so ask which before you sign up.
- The radio. Still needs a licence, because the broadcaster's licence covers the broadcast, not your speakers. In Australia it's OneMusic's cheapest tier; we ran the numbers in background music for cafés.
- Music licensed to you directly. Music whose rights holder licenses it to your business themselves. Check the wording, though: OneMusic's guide warns that "royalty free" doesn't automatically mean free to play in public.
Spotify at work, briefly.
Does Spotify offer a business account?
Not one for playing in your venue. Spotify's help page sends businesses to Soundtrack, a separate background music service built for commercial use.
I already pay for a OneMusic licence. Can I use Spotify now?
The licence covers the copyright in the music. It doesn't override Spotify's terms, which still limit personal accounts to private listening, and OneMusic itself says commercial use of a service like Spotify is likely to breach its terms.
Can I play Spotify in the staff room or back office?
Spotify's terms still apply, because it's still a business. OneMusic also treats music played for staff as a public performance and licenses it separately as Music in the Workplace.
Can I just play the radio?
Yes, with a licence. The broadcaster is licensed to broadcast, not to play the music through your speakers, so in Australia you'd still need OneMusic, though the radio-only tier is its cheapest.
Is royalty-free music automatically fine for a business?
Not always. OneMusic warns that royalty-free music may still need permission to be played in public. Check that the licence names business use, and keep a copy.
The honest bit at the end.
We run a music service for exactly this problem, so weigh all of the above with that in mind. Spotify is a brilliant app for the commute; it just isn't licensed for your shop floor, and Spotify says so itself. If your business needs the commercial catalogue, a proper business service and the right OneMusic licence is the way to do it. If it doesn't, every R FM track is licensed to you directly by R FM for business use, at one flat $13 a month for every location, with no APRA, PPCA or OneMusic fees and a printable licence document in your dashboard for the day someone asks.