Music licensing in Switzerland
Streaming music in your business isn't the same as listening to music at home. When you play music for an audience with a business and commercial purpose, you need different licenses.
Play it right
Soundtrack is built to bring you music that’s legal for your business. In Switzerland, almost everything you need is included in your Soundtrack plan except for a public performance license.
Recording rights
Allows you to stream a specific sound recording of a song
Publishing rights
Allows you to stream the original composition
Change the way you play
Soundtrack offers an excellent selection of music because of our direct relationships with publishers, performing rights organizations and record labels. These include Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and more. Our technology accurately tracks your song plays, which ensures that music creators get the right payments from us. Soundtrack Unlimited makes royalty payments about 5 times higher than streaming services for private use.
Music for business
Avoid legal concerns when playing music in your business. Use a suitable music provider (like Soundtrack) and check that you have the correct licenses in place.
Personal music services including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer, are not approved for use in business environments.
Spotify
You can’t broadcast or play Spotify publicly from a business, such as bars, restaurants, schools, stores, salons, dance studios, radio stations, etc. To play in a commercial environment, check out our friends at Soundtrack.
Spotify for public or commercial useYouTube
You may access and use the Service as made available to you, as long as you comply with this Agreement and the law. You may view or listen to Content for your personal, non-commercial use.
YouTube Terms of ServiceDeezer
The use of the Site and Application is only authorized for a personal and private use, therefore any other use, particularly in public premises and for businesses, is strictly forbidden.
Deezer Terms and Conditions of UseApple
You may use the Services and Content only for personal, noncommercial purposes (except as set forth in the App Store Content section below or as otherwise specified by Apple).
Apple Media Services Terms and ConditionsAmazon Music
You may use the Services only for your personal, non-commercial purposes.
Amazon Music Terms of UseGet licensed
Get your correct business licenses
If you don't have a public performance license from SUISA , please visit their website.
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Music licensing in Switzerland
Switzerland is one of the simplest places to license background music. Five collecting societies represent the rights involved, but you only ever get one bill.
The license is Common Tariff 3a, which covers the songs, the recordings and the performances on them. SUISA issues it on behalf of all five societies and sends a single invoice. Paying it settles every claim, and rates are calculated per calendar month based on the area you're playing music in.
SUISA itself is a cooperative, founded in 1923, representing composers, lyricists and music publishers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. More than 45,000 authors and publishers are members, and through agreements with over 100 partner societies worldwide it administers the rights of around two million creators globally, not just those based in Switzerland.
The recording side is covered by SWISSPERFORM, founded in 1993 after a change in Swiss copyright law created neighboring rights for performers, producers and broadcasters for the first time. Six organizations founded it together, including Swiss performers' groups, IFPI Switzerland and Swiss film producer associations. A genuinely collective effort.
To get started, contact SUISA directly or use the fee calculator on its website to estimate what your business would pay.
Contact info
SUISA
SWISSPERFORM