Music misuse costs the US music industry $1.4 billion a year
Most American businesses play music that isn't licensed properly.
Music matters for your business. The US Music in Business Report 2025, the latest Soundtrack research report, shows how central it is to the way American businesses look, sound and feel.
Together with the research firm Sago, Soundtrack surveyed 1,525 decision-makers responsible for the music at businesses in the United States. Between them, they cover nearly 15,000 locations in retail, hospitality, fitness, wellness and more.
A dysfunctional market with a meaningful revenue opportunity
97% of US businesses play music for their customers, with 77% playing it every day. That's a market of around 3.8 million business locations where music is embedded in the daily routine. Clearly, an overwhelming majority of American businesses recognize the value that background music can bring to their brand.
But there's a problem: 79% of those businesses use a consumer streaming service like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music or YouTube Music. These services are licensed for personal use only, which means using them for background music goes against their terms of service. Relying on a music streaming service while breaking the terms you agreed to is a business risk.
In total, 81% of US businesses play music from a source that isn't licensed for business use. The price tag is an estimated $1.4 billion a year in lost revenue for the music industry.
Widespread misunderstanding of legal requirements
What's behind the gap? It isn't that businesses don't care: 90% say it's important to be compliant, while 75% say it matters to them that artists receive appropriate compensation.
The problem is confusion. 78% are confident their music is legally compliant, but 58% believe a personal streaming account is fine to use at work. A quick glance at the terms of service of the leading consumer platforms would highlight the disconnect.
Public performance licenses (and the lack thereof) lie at the crux of the problem. Just 5% of licensed businesses hold licenses from the four major American performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESAC), the entities that collect fees when music is played in public. Playing music in a business without the right public performance licenses is a business risk and can leave a business vulnerable to demands for payment from PROs.
The ideal music streaming service for business
The research also shows what businesses want from a music service. Ease of use (42%), price (40%) and playlist choice (39%) came out on top. Habit plays a part, too: 37% picked their current service because they already used it at home. And the payoff is clear: 90% say music lifts staff motivation, while 87% say it shapes the energy and atmosphere of their business.
Many businesses just don't know that music streaming built for business exists. Soundtrack solves problems a personal app can't, with multi-location control, music scheduling, overhead messaging, offline playback and an explicit lyric filter.
Soundtrack is licensed for business use and includes public performance rights in the US, with some exceptions. Getting the music right is well within reach. Try it free for 14 days.
