REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 1
What Does
Fully-licensed Music Mean?
A short guide to answer all your questions about licensing.

Contents: 03
07
14
Music streaming platforms
Which platform can I use in my for my business
Do you need a license to play music?
How do licenses work?
Is there an alternative?
Does this also bene
fi
t artists?
Manifesto
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 2

Music streaming
platforms

Which platform
can I use for my
business?
Alongside the creative process of choosing the
right music, there is also the intricate world of
copyright and licensing related to in-store music.
A s a b u s i n e s s o w n e r, y o u w a n t y o u r
establishment to have the perfect ambience. You
want your customers to feel comfortable and
relaxed, and music can be a great way to create
that atmosphere. But before you cue up your
favourite playlist on Spotify, there's something
you should know: according to copyright law,
businesses are not allowed to play music from
these types of streaming services. That means
no Spotify, no YouTube, and no Apple Music as
these services are only for personal, non-
commercial use. These music streaming platforms
do not hold licenses with the music industry that
allow their customers to stream music in public
places.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 4

According to a survey conducted by Statista, 83%
of small businesses are not adhering to copyright
laws by streaming music via personal service. This
means 1000s of artists are potentially missing out
on additional revenue they may have earnt from
their music being played in stores around the
world. It may appear easier for sta
ff
to connect
their own personal Spotify accounts to their
workplace’s AV system, however, with a
commercial streaming platform such as Rehegoo
Music, the process can be even simpler and the
business owner can ensure brand consistency by
preventing Sheila in Accounts from putting on her
favourite death metal playlist during peak trading
times. It’s worth remembering that the music on
commercial streaming platforms often contains
profane lyrics, which can bring a whole new set of
problems to a retailer, alongside the complexities
of licensing.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 5

Alongside selecting the correct type of
music streaming platform, businesses
need to obtain a licence from the entity
or entities that hold the rights to the
songs they would like to play. The cost of
the licence depends on the occupancy of
the establishment, sometimes also the
number of loudspeakers, and can cover
both live and recorded music.
Do I need a license
to play music in
my business?
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 6

This can be a tricky process, especially for
smaller businesses, and is different in each
country. While in the past it was enough to
have one licence issued by only one entity, in
some countries this is no longer the case.
There are many organisations (called
performing rights organisations, or ‘PROs’)
representing the various rightsholders and
each one issues its own licence for the
specific use. For those who do not want to
give up music in their shops, this increases
the burden of compliance and also the
costs!
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 7

How do licences work?
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 8

Deep breath….the process behind licences issued
by PROs starts with the songwriter and the
publisher (if any) granting authority to a PRO in
order to have their repertoire managed and their
royalties collected. The same thing happens with
producers of recordings (i.e. record label, if any)
and performing artists, who can grant authority
to neighbouring rights organisations (NRO).
These organisations, acting on behalf of rights-
holders, issue licences to business owners to
allow them to play music in stores legally.
Royalties are then collected by the same
organisations and shared among all the rights
holders according to reports of music played.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 9

1.
If the music played belongs to
various rights holders registered in
di
ff
erent collecting societies,
businesses have to obtain more
licences, bear more compliance, and
therefore more costs.
2.
The cost paid by businesses to
obtain licences includes both
royalties belonging to rights-
holders and a fee added by
collecting societies.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 10
This means that:

Is there an
alternative?
Yes. It is called ‘direct licensing’
A direct licence is issued by the author or the rights-
holder of the works and their recordings, without the
involvement of collecting societies.
Artists who are not registered with collecting
societies can independently grant direct licences to
users for the usage of their repertoire. Since there are
no intermediaries or other entities involved in the
licence, direct licensing also means fully-licenced.
Sometimes, confusingly, this is called ‘royalty-free’, or
‘royalty-paid’, but it’s the same thing.
Playing fully-licenced music in stores relieves business
owners of securing other licences or authorisations.
Once you are paying a subscription for the licence, you
are free to play that music in your business.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 11

Does this also bene
fi
t
artists?
Yes. Since there are no intermediaries and no other
parties involved, the artist and/or his or her assignee
can keep more of the fee paid by the business and do
not have to wait for the lengthy allocation times of
collecting societies.
Music transforms a chore into a dance party and we
can say with no doubt that it plays a big role in
creating and enhancing the customers’ experience: it
is the timbre of your business and, thanks to direct
licensing, you can rest easy that the music you play is
free from copyright infringement.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 12

Fully-licensed music
We like to keep things simple.
That’s why we started
Rehegoo — to make the once-
impenetrable world of licensing
as easy-to-understand and
hassle-free as possible.
made simple Businesses and creators pay a transparent fee to
access the fully-licensed music in our easy-to-search
library. The music you
fi
nd will always be of the highest
quality, in both sound and execution.
And there’s no complex calculations here, however big
or small your budget: no higher charges based on the
square footage of your space, no hidden fees.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 13

Manifesto
Music is powerful. It can take us back in time.
It can affect our mood. It can shape our behaviour.
But the world’s full of barriers that stop us sharing and enjoying it freely.
That’s why we set out to rethink the world of royalty-free music,
Opening it up to more businesses, artists and listeners.
We start by seeking out undiscovered talent.
We give them support, we give them tools, we
help them grow and pay them fairly.
And when they’re ready, we bring their music to new fans.
Because we’ve made it simpler for businesses to access and play it to their audiences.
We’ve taken away the hassle of licensing and wrapped it in a simple affordable payment
package. And we’re building smarter sounds for the future, making it easy for businesses to
play the right sounds at the right time, to drive their results.
This is music as it was meant to be.
Hassle-free for both listener and artist.
REHEGOO LICENSING GUIDE MUSIC FOR BUSINESS P - 14

Click &
Follow us!
rehegoo.com