Can I stream music in my bar?
The short answer is yes, but youâll need the right setup and music licenses.
Why bars can't use personal music streaming accounts
There's a big difference between listening to music for your own personal enjoyment and playing it for customers. Remember the terms of service you glossed over when you signed up for your favorite music streaming app? That's why you can't play Spotify in a business setting.
The problem stems from the terms of the big streaming companies. When you agree to their conditions, you confirm that you'll only use the service for personal, private use. That means streaming music is perfectly fine on your headphones or home stereo, but not in a front-of-house setting.
The "we thought it was fine" approach isn't an excuse for using unlicensed music in your bar. These are all regular occurrences in bars these days: staff using Bluetooth/AirPlay to stream from their phones, playing a playlist you made yourself in a music streaming app or putting on music from your own personal music library.
While these are all easy ways to fill your bar with music your team enjoys, they put your bar at risk of not just violating the terms of service of a music streaming app, but also legal action from a performing rights organization (PRO) who holds the rights to the music.
What's the safest bet for playing music in a bar, then? Use a top-shelf music streaming service that's built for business use.
What music licensing means for my bar
Listening to music at home isn't the same as choosing music for your guests sitting at the bar. Like other types of businesses, bars need to have a public performance license in order to play music on-site.
When you listen to music through your headphones, you're enjoying the music in a private setting: there's no commercial intention behind the music choice, you're just listening to something that you like.
Playing recorded music in a bar means you're playing music in a public place: the music complements your bar's ambience and drink menu, which ideally prompts your guests to stay longer and order more.
Music licensing is different in every country, but public performance licenses are usually available directly from PROs. These PROs collect fees via music licenses and distribute royalties to the music creators and publishers they represent. Using music that's licensed for business use means your bar compensates music creators correctly and avoids the "we thought it was fine" approach.
Do I need a music license to play music in my bar?
In most cases, yes: bars do need to have music licenses in order to play music for customers. Licensing requirements vary from country to country, so itâs best to confirm what the rules are with your local PROs.
Not complying with local music licensing rules can have negative consequences for a bar. In some countries, local PROs conduct audits of bars to see whether or not they are properly licensed to play music. Lawsuits are not unheard of (see: this one in Canada and this one in the United States) and the financial and reputational damages to a bar not having their music licenses in order can be severe.
How much is a license to play music in my bar?
This is hard to answer because there are so many factors that can affect the price of a music license. Just like the licensing requirements differ across borders, so too do the ways in which PROs determine how much a music license costs. In most countries, there isn't a single universal price for a music license as fees are structured differently for each PRO.
Some things that can affect the price of a music license include:
The size/area/capacity of your bar where music will be heard
The number of staff
How music is played
Whether the music is played outside of your bar
If your bar hosts events with a cover charge
If your bar hosts live music
If your bar hosts karaoke nights
If you run a bar in a country with multiple PROs, costs may be higher because you need to buy licenses from each PRO. The United States, for example, has more than a handful of different PROs, which means that an American bar would likely need licenses from ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESAC just to have permission to play music from a catalog that's even remotely comparable to the most popular streaming services.
In many countries, a business music streaming service can help simplify licensing coverage and payments by bundling these licenses into their product.
Streaming music for bars: what to look for in a bar-ready service
Now that you know how important licensing is for your bar, let's turn to the fun part: playing the music. Regardless of the concept or floor layout, every bar needs a music streaming service that's built for the needs of the staff. A bar-ready music service should deliver reliable, high-quality sound to every corner of the room.
The most important aspect is control: a bar should be able to schedule the music down to the minute or filter out songs with explicit lyrics as you see fit. Whether the vibe changes by the hour or your staff are turning over, a bar-ready music service can help you maintain the right vibe at the right time.
When you're evaluating the options available on the market, here are some of the main capabilities that a bar-ready music streaming service should include:
Curated playlists
Device integrations
Music scheduling
Offline mode
Volume leveling
Fewer repeated songs
Ultimately, a business music streaming service should offer much more to your bar staff than a consumer music streaming app. After all, your bar needs a lot more than year-in-review GIFs in November; it needs solutions for your team's pain points.
Music strategy for bars: how to choose the right sound by daypart
A thoughtful approach to playing music in bars involves dayparts. Dayparting is a concept that comes from the broadcast industry, where broadcasters typically divide the day up into distinct sections with unique audiences that require different programming.
Even if you aren't using the name, your bar probably already uses dayparts to make it through the day. Some common dayparts for a bar include the pre-open setup, happy hour, dinner service, late night and close down. Each of these dayparts has a unique clientele, so your bar adapts to their tastes and expectations by changing the drink menu, assigning the right staff or, yes, changing the music.
Your bar's music strategy can have a lasting impact on your guests, whether positive or negative. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you're picking the best music for your bar:
Keeping the tempo aligned with the crowd
Playing familiar musical artists when the time calls for it
Knowing when to blend music from similar genres together
Avoiding sudden mood swings or volume changes
Different bar concepts need different approaches when using music to set the right ambience. Guests might be caught off-guard by hearing grandiose classical music or trendy nu jazz in a sports bar or pub, just as patrons of a cocktail bar or hotel lobby bar might raise an eyebrow after hearing raw hardcore punk or uptempo garage rock. Stick to your bar's concept: think about your guests expectations and don't try to force your own musical taste on them.
At the heart of any bar, there should be a core sound, so music for bars is undeniably important. Using your music streaming app, find a few safe default stations that match the genres, energy levels, eras and instruments that fit your bar's vibe best. Having a handful of approved swaps at the ready for your staff gives your team the ability to match the music to the vibe on the fly.
Background music for bars: playlists that build ambience without killing conversation
Don't think of background music as an afterthought: the background music in your bar plays an important role in setting up the experience for your guests. In practice, good background music plays at a comfortable volume with consistent sound levels. Music shouldn't always take center stage, though, because you'll want to leave guests with enough space to hear themselves think or chat with their friends. Consider music that causes minimal lyrical distraction during peak conversation hours (like for the after-work drinks crowd) and avoid harsh transitions between songs or musical styles.
When you're picking the right background music, use a streaming service with a deep music catalog that gives your bar plenty of options. A good business music streaming app should have intuitive ways to browse the catalog so it's easy to discover playlists that suit your bar's atmosphere.
Music genres are great launching points for discovery, as they can help you find the right balance between different styles of music. Playing the same genre all night might bore bargoers (not to mention the staff), so consider blending genres together to find your bar's true sound. Here are a few genre combinations to sip on:
Mix some vintage hard bop and vocal jazz with nu jazz or chill hop for an elegant, modern vibe that suits a trendy establishment serving fine wines or bespoke cocktails
Blend the hits of classic rock with uptempo indie rock or dance punk to keep everyone pumped up for the big game at a sports bar
Combine some definitive deep house tracks with nu disco or dub techno if the crowd's getting in gear to head out clubbing later in the evening
These genre pairings are by no means definitive; every bar should mix and match musical styles until you reach the right balance. Regardless of your bar's vibe, even the perfect sound system setup is only as good as the music coming out of it.
Bar music apps: giving staff control without the chaos
Here's a problem most bars eventually encounter: everyone wants to be the DJ. It makes a lot of sense because it's fun to set the atmosphere, especially when you love the songs you're playing.
The problem with this approach is that nobody owns consistency. Letting your staff pick the music means regulars might hear delta blues on one visit and pop punk on the next. Even if guests enjoy the eclectic music selection, it doesn't help your bar make a lasting impact. Your customers want to hear music that enhances their experience, not music that inspires singalongs in the staff room.
What's the best way to deal with too many DJs behind the bar? Permission. The first place to start is by designating a set of approved playlists or stations that bar staff can choose from, which gives staff enough autonomy to set the overall mood but prevents them from putting on music that prompts every guest to settle up.
After setting these guardrails, consider other more subtle ways to keep the music on the right track, like limited skip controls, manager overrides or even remote control. These kinds of controls are incredibly important around shift handovers, as you'll ensure what music plays and who changes it is aligned with your bar's sound. Using the right music app should give your bar control exactly when you need it, and it reduces the risk of surprise mood swings, random explicit tracks or staff going rogue and using their personal accounts.
Single-device setup vs. multi-zone setup
When you're thinking about playing music in your bar, one key consideration is how you divide the space. It's easy enough to just play the same music throughout the bar, but even the smallest of watering holes could benefit from unique background music.
Think about every possible type of space in the bar and whether or not you want the experience to be different there, including in these areas if they're applicable:
Bar area
Dining area
Outdoor seating
Kitchen
Washroom
Staff room
Back office
If you opt for a speaker setup that plays the same music everywhere, control is much more simple. But if you split your bar into separate zones with different music playing in each one, then you need a hardware setup (not to mention a streaming service) that excels in every room.
Downloading background music for your bar: what's realistic
People and businesses alike have wholly embraced music streaming services over playing music from CDs or vinyl, and that's no different for the hospitality industry. There are practical advantages for bars like size (your phone is smaller than an LP) or cost (a monthly subscription usually costs about the same as a single album), but a weak internet connection is a legitimate concern when relying on a streaming app.
For that reason, some bars resort to downloading music. No, this doesn't mean sailing the high seas and downloading music illegally or ripping tracks from physical media, but using a music streaming service that allows offline playback.
Downloading via your background music app can be a boon. Whether it's a hectic night at the bar or you've been battling with bad Wi-Fi the entire shift, an app that works offline can be your safe backup. If you download a playlist for offline use, just make sure you test that it works before opening and that you avoid device updates during peak hours.
Legal exceptions and special cases in bars
Are there exceptions to every rule? Maybe, but let's be clear: any legal exceptions or special use cases in bars that exist are completely dependent on the country your business is in, the local copyright laws at play and the way local PROs structure their music licenses. Confirm with your local PROs and read the fine print of their licenses before playing music in your bar.
With that said, the rules are often not as simple as pressing play. There are typically different rules between playing recorded background music and having a band play music live on stage. If your bar hosts events like live music, DJ sets, karaoke, live sports or private events, then it's worth being extra careful about how your bar plays music.
Live music
Standard public performance licenses typically don't cover live music performances in a bar. Some PROs may charge a different (often higher) fee if your bar hosts live music, while others might require a separate license on top.
Either way, live performances of a song still require a public performance license and your bar may need to report setlists to a local PRO. Be careful with cover bands, as they can't perform songs that aren't in a catalog covered by your bar's music licenses.
There are plenty of moving parts when you're planning live music performances (fees for the performers, promotion budget, complying with local noise regulations), so make sure you don't neglect the licensing aspect either.
DJ sets
Even though a DJ plays recorded music for the audience, music licensing rules often differentiate between music played by a DJ and background music. Just like live music or background music, a DJ set is also a public performance.
Your local PROs may distinguish between background music, live music performances and DJ sets, though. If they do, there might be higher fees involved or even additional licenses required. Check with the DJ what their setlist will be in advance to make sure they're not playing songs that your bar doesn't have permission to play.
Karaoke
Karaoke nights at a bar are public performances of music, even when they're wildly off key. Karaoke nights require proper licensing, which means getting public performance licenses (for playing the music) and synchronization licenses (for syncing with the lyric displays on-screen).
Avoid common mistakes like using a home karaoke machine at your bar, as the tracks arenât licensed for use in a business. Use a legit karaoke provider and make sure to keep documentation of your music licenses.
TVs, radio and sports broadcasts
The game starts in five minutes and your regulars won't stop asking you to put it on the TV, but local rules can vary widely from those for streaming music. In some countries, it's as easy as pressing the power button on your remote, but other countries require proper licensing separate from your bar's public performance license and may limit you to certain channels.
Check with your local PROs for more information about TV and radio broadcasts.
Private events in a bar
Just because you close your doors for a private event doesn't mean that the music becomes a private performance. Whether you use your background music service or a band/DJ, you'll still need public performance licenses to play music.
Bars inside restaurants and hotels: how to manage music across spaces
If your bar is part of a hotel or restaurant, playing the same music in every space isn't necessarily the best strategy. If you're using house music to keep the energy up by the bar, you might not want the same music playing in the restaurant, spa or gym.
The best plan of attack is to divide each hospitality area into different zones (think: bar, restaurant, bathrooms, lobby). By dividing the hotel into zones, your team can use background music in a more bespoke way by scheduling music for the right place at the right moment.
Giving your bar a unique sound within the hotel gives you a chance to deepen the connection with guests. The right music can put the hotel's brand in a different light, giving guests another way to experience the local flavors.
A simple setup guide: start streaming music in your bar the right way
How do you get started with playing music in your bar? Just take it step by step:
Define the zones where different music will play
Choose the audio equipment that works best for the space
Pick a few core playlists that sound like your bar
Schedule playlists across all dayparts
Set permissions for changing the music
Make sure your system for controlling the music is simple and intuitive. Use lock screens and pincodes so the tipsy guy at the end of the bar can't put on "Africa" by Toto on repeat.
Stay compliant. Make sure your bar's music licenses are in order before you start playing. Keep receipts or subscription records on-hand where all staff can reach them in case of a licensing audit.
Use a licensed business music streaming service to keep the barflies happy. Try Soundtrack free for 14 days and get access to our unbeatable music catalog, daypart scheduler and explicit lyric filter.
