Start with the classics

Understanding the significance of traditional holiday music is key because these classics have shaped what we consider the quintessential holiday experience. Christmas music playlist encompasses a wide array of styles and genres, offering everything from solemn hymns to jolly pop tunes. If you’re unsure about where to begin, starting with iconic albums and tracks is a wise choice. Familiarizing yourself with these classics not only gives you a solid foundation of universally loved tunes but also helps inspire your own selections by highlighting what resonates most with listeners during the holiday season.

While it may seem exhausting to sort through these myriad options, especially during the busy holiday period, organizing your favorite classics is a rewarding first step. Begin by compiling a list of must-have albums or songs that evoke the spirit of Christmas music playlist for you. Once you have your essential classics lined up, you can then delve into curating your playlist more creatively. Extract individual tracks from these albums and begin assembling them into a dedicated playlist folder, such as one named “Christmas Playlist Hits” in your preferred music service. This method allows you to mix and match songs from various albums and artists, crafting a personalized playlist that captures the essence of the holiday as you see it, ensuring your Christmas soundtrack is as festive and unique as your celebrations.

Remember the newer hits

It is crucial to explore newer hits when expanding your Christmas music playlist to include fresh and contemporary sounds. Keeping up with the latest releases can breathe new life into your holiday music collection, ensuring it remains vibrant and engaging. If you’re not sure where to start, using a music service like Jukeboxy can be extremely helpful. Jukeboxy curates a wide range of music, including the newest hits and trends, making it easier for you to discover recent tracks that might resonate with your holiday spirit. This approach ensures your playlist is not only rich in classics but also brimming with modern flair that can appeal to a diverse audience.

Additionally, consider leveraging popular online shopping platforms such as Amazon Music to scout for new music. These platforms often have sections dedicated to top-selling albums, complete with user reviews and detailed descriptions. This feature allows you to see what’s trending globally and provides insights into each album, helping you make informed decisions about which new songs might deserve a spot in your Christmas music playlist. By exploring these reviews and top album lists, you can gauge public sentiment and popularity, ensuring that the newer additions to your playlist are well-received and enjoyed by listeners who appreciate current musical trends alongside timeless classics.

Make sure you add in some new favorites every year

Every year brings a slew of new holiday songs and covers from a variety of artists, and these tunes can quickly become new classics if given a chance. Adding them to your playlist not only keeps your selection up-to-date but also enriches your holiday experience with modern takes on the festive season. If you notice a new song gaining popularity upon its release, particularly if it climbs the charts on platforms like Apple Music or Spotify, it’s a good indicator that it resonates with listeners. Such tracks are likely to maintain their appeal for some time, making them perfect additions to your Christmas music collection.

Incorporating these new hits early ensures your playlist remains relevant and engaging. Songs that debut with high ratings often reflect current musical trends and public preferences, making them ideal candidates for inclusion in your playlist. Pay attention to these trends and user feedback on music streaming platforms, as they provide valuable insights into what’s capturing the audience’s interest during the holiday season. By continually refreshing your playlist with new and popular songs, you not only keep the holiday spirit alive but also connect with a wider audience who appreciates staying current with the latest music developments.

Think about what your customer wants to hear

Customers are more likely to listen to music they like, so it’s important that you keep this in mind when making selections for the playlists. You can also see which artists and songs are most popular, which will give you some ideas on where to begin with curating a Christmas music playlist. If possible, ask customers what kind of music they’d like as well!

Extra Resource: How To Soundtrack Your Brand?

Make it a collaborative process

Making your Christmas playlist a collaborative process can significantly enhance its appeal and inclusivity. The best way to create an all-time great Christmas playlist is by involving others in the selection process. If you’re curating this playlist for a business setting, consider asking your customers or employees about their favorite holiday songs. This not only makes your playlist more diverse and representative of your community but also boosts morale by showing that you value their input. For a more personal touch, engage family members in the process. They can offer up fresh suggestions and share recent discoveries that might blend perfectly into your existing mix. This approach is particularly beneficial if you’re crafting a Christmas music playlist for the first time and need a broad base of ideas to ensure it’s well-rounded and enjoyable for everyone.

Additionally, involving others in the playlist creation can spark conversations and build a sense of community around music, which is especially meaningful during the holiday season. Whether it’s through informal polls, social media interactions, or direct conversations, gathering music suggestions can turn playlist building into a fun and engaging activity. This collective effort not only results in a playlist that’s rich with varied musical tastes and styles but also enhances the holiday experience, making it more memorable for everyone involved. By making playlist creation a collaborative endeavor, you not only capture the magic of Christmas music playlist but also foster a shared holiday spirit that resonates well beyond the music itself.

Make sure you are playing music legally at your business

Whether playing from a CD, downloaded Content or a music service, make sure you comply with the Music Copyright Law. 

In the USA, there are four organizations that collect royalties on behalf of copyright owners: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. In order to play music in a business establishment, including Christmas music, a business must obtain blanket licenses from these organizations. If not, consequences could be harsh, as we covered in one of our articles, “What To Know About Music Licensing.”

Creating your own Christmas music playlist might sound like a fun activity; however, there are a few things you should consider:

• Time spent – do you have the time to create the ultimate Christmas playlist? 
• Licensing budget – do you have the budget to cover the fees for all four organizations? A medium-sized business spends a few thousand dollars annually for blanket licenses.
• Explicit Content – did you know that there are explicit Christmas songs in personal use music services? 
• Expertise – creating a playlist for business use is much more complicated than making one for your own entertainment.

Subscribe to a business music streaming service

Now that you’ve made your list and settled on a few songs to include, the next step is finding a music streaming service with all of these features. 

• Commercially licensed background music for business use
• A wide range of tracks 
• Good user interface (UI) for browsing through playlists and choosing songs
• Good mobile app so you can listen on the go without having to open up another app or browser window.
• Customer support

Christmas Playlist

Creating your own all-time Christmas music playlist is an excellent way to start the holiday season. However, a business must keep in mind the consequences of streaming music from their personal library, whether it is from CDs or a music service like Spotify.

Subscribing to a business music service provider as Jukeboxy will:

• Prevent copyright infringement, 
• Give you more time for other aspects of your business and 
• Give you a piece of mind knowing appropriate songs will play throughout the holiday season.

Jukeboxy ensures that there are tracks from different genres and eras in every playlist. This way, you can keep things fresh even after years of listening to the same old hits on repeat!

Did you know? You could transfer your own playlist to your Jukeboxy Music for Business account. 

Suggested Article: Christmas Music – A Checklist to Help You Find The Perfect Christmas Music for Business

The post How To Create An All-Time Christmas Music Playlist appeared first on Jukeboxy Blog.

We’ve all heard the old saying, “music is the lifeblood of a business.” If you’re worth your salt in the corporate world, you’ve made the business decision to use copyrighted music in your business, and you likely have invested in the proper equipment to do so. This is because you probably know that consumer experience changes with background music. The following facts show how music affects your business

• if customers feel the music is well selected, 40% of them spend more time in the store, which leads to more sales
• 31% return to the store if they enjoy the music
• about half of the customers leave the business establishment because the music selection bothers them, and a third of them do not return ever
• the best retailers in the world agree that music enhances their brand personality

It doesn’t matter if you operate a restaurant, a hotel, a retail store, or you need music for a bar – background music is definitely a great way to boost your customer experience. Your employees and customers will both appreciate a great in-store musical atmosphere.

That’s probably no surprise to you. However, it may come as a surprise to you that 80% of business owners are unaware that B2C music services are not licensed for commercial purposes. It means that Spotify, Apple Music, or Pandora cannot be played in restaurants, gyms, and stores.

The rise of streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music has put an end to the days of illegally downloading music. On the other hand, it’s not widely known that streaming background music for business purposes is subject to entirely different rules than listening to music at home. How familiar are you with the legal background of music commercial use?

These questions come up all the time when this topic arises:

“Can I play Apple Music as background music in my coffee shop?”
 “It is legal for my business to play Pandora in my gym, isn’t it?”
 “Can I use Spotify playlist in my bar to play background music for my guests?”

In a nutshell… obviously not! Let’s look at the hard facts. With the ongoing war against illegal music streams, it’s more important than ever for businesses to be aware of the legal options available to them.

Background music in business and copyright laws

Music streaming services are legally required to pay artists fair license fees to use their musical work under copyright laws. Pandora, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, and other mainstream streaming services meet the requirements for private music playback.

Nevertheless, you should be aware that these B2C streaming services don’t pay the higher license fees, corresponding to the broadcasting rights, for the public reproduction of music in a business. Thus, you can use these streaming services at home, but you cannot use them in a commercial setting, such as a shop or in a bar. These services do not belong in a commercial context since they only pay artists a small amount per stream, a micro compensation per each unique listener at home.

According to the law, music may not be broadcast in public places like a hotel, gym, café, or store without a specific license. Therefore, businesses cannot use Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, or any other personal use music service in their establishments. Doing so may result in severe penalties, such as monetary fines ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than a hundred thousand dollars.

Per song!

Companies are sued frequently by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), GMR (Global Music Rights), or SESAC (The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada). Why? Because they ignore the law by using personal use music services and don’t acquire the necessary licenses for background music for business. Business owners who choose to play unlicensed music on their premises without permission can be held accountable for $150,000 in damages for each song played.

For your customers and employees to enjoy your music in public places, you should have a Public Performance License (PPL). Considering the high fines, it’s not worth the risk of a few dollars a month to get a business license for streaming. We’ll tell you below how much the legal way will cost you. Keep reading!

Bonus Read: What is a BMI licensing for businesses, and why do businesses need to comply with Copyright Law?

How to get peace of mind: use a legal music service in your business

Obtaining the public performance license for playing music in a business can be accomplished in several ways. Depending on your needs and budget, you can choose the right path:

• Business owners have traditionally had to negotiate licensing fees directly with each major Performance Rights Organization (PROs). Over $2000 per year is easily spent on this option, and it requires a great deal of work and effort.

If you would like to obtain blanket music licenses for businesses offered by all four PROs, you can subscribe to a licensed business music provider for a convenient monthly subscription fee.

If you’re looking for convenience and cost savings, there is no doubt which option is the best.

Save thousands of dollars with Jukeboxy

… and prevent copyright infringement.

Solving the above problem is relatively straightforward. You need to find the best Spotify music alternatives for your business. Rather than making you search for too long, we will show you the answer. The solution is to subscribe to Jukeboxy, a licensed business music provider, which you can try for 14-days for free. 

Over 350 professionally curated playlists and 45+ million fully licensed songs are included in the Jukeboxy subscription package priced at $29.99 per month. That sounds a whole lot better than thousands of dollars a year, doesn’t it?

The perfect three-in-one: low price, in-store audio messaging, legal business music

Using a web browser or apps, users can mix unlimited playlists, schedule background music by day-part, and control background music remotely with Jukeboxy. The app lets users manage multiple accounts from one platform, send audio messages to play in-store for marketing purposes, and create their own playlists based on moods, genres, and decades. You can also use Jukeboxy in SONOS speaker systems.

Can I Play Spotify in My Restaurant? 

Playing Spotify in a restaurant or any other commercial establishment is generally not permitted under Spotify’s terms of service. Here’s why:

1. Spotify’s Terms of Service:

Spotify is intended for personal use only. According to their terms, the service is designed for private, non-commercial use. This means playing Spotify in a public setting like a restaurant violates these terms.

2. Licensing and Copyright Laws:

Commercial establishments need to comply with public performance rights. When you play music in a business, you need to have the appropriate licenses from performing rights organizations (PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC in the United States. These organizations ensure that composers, songwriters, and publishers get paid when their music is played publicly.

3. Business Music Services:To legally play music in a restaurant, you should use a service specifically designed for commercial use. These services provide the necessary licenses and often offer features tailored to business needs, such as curated playlists and background music solutions. 

4. Consequences of Non-Compliance:

Playing music without the proper licenses can result in significant fines and legal action. Performing rights organizations actively monitor businesses to ensure compliance, and they can take legal steps to enforce licensing requirements.

Using a service like Jukeboxy Music ensures that you are compliant with copyright laws, providing a seamless and legal music experience for your customers. 

Jukeboxy’s expert music curators have designed playlists for businesses of all sizes, including Fortune 500 organizations, and are happy to help you create the fitting soundtrack for your company. Jukeboxy offers background music solutions for hotels, coffee shops, spas, grocery stores, restaurants, retail stores, practically all types of businesses.

Final thoughts

Goldman Sachs forecasts a $75 billion streaming market by 2030, with a consumer market increasing from 370 million to 1.2 billion paying customers. If enough people become aware of and adopt the B2B model, the sector’s leadership will be able to bring a significant amount of change in the music business globally, and musical artists, composers, songwriters will receive the royalties they deserve. 

The post Background Music for Business: Can I use Spotify, Apple & Others? appeared first on Jukeboxy Blog.