MUSIC BUSINESS · ·Billboard
Soundtrack study finds 19% of US businesses fully license music
A Soundtrack study released Thursday, Nov. 5, reports that only 19% of U.S. businesses that play music are fully compliant with commercial music requirements.
Ola Sars, founder and head of Soundtrack, says the music industry is missing out on $1.4 billion in royalties that go uncollected in the United States every year from businesses illegally playing copyrighted music. A new study released Thursday (Nov. 5) by Soundtrack reported these figures.
Soundtrack is a commercial music streaming platform backed by Spotify that is used by 60,000 businesses in 75 countries. The independent study commissioned by Soundtrack surveyed around 1,500 representatives of some 15,000 U.S. business locations.
The study found that only 19% of U.S. businesses that play music are fully compliant with commercial music requirements. Nearly 80% of U.S. businesses use consumer streaming services, which are only licensed for personal use, to play music in-store.
Just 5% of U.S. businesses reported having licenses from all four major performing rights organizations: ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESAC. Soundtrack recently partnered with SESAC to round out its pitch to U.S. businesses.
For around $35 a month, subscribers get Soundtrack's licensed commercial player with playlisting tools and a catalog of more than 155 million tracks represented by ASCAP, BMI, GMR and now SESAC. Soundtrack is based in Sweden and generates roughly 60 million euros ($67 million) in annual recurring revenue.
Soundtrack is on track to generate $100 million by 2028. Previously called Soundtrack Your Brand, the company raised $15 million in 2023 from investors including Matt Pincus' MUSIC and Dundee Partners.
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