When you walk into a store or almost every business, what do you hear? Music!
Actually it’s “Muzak“: music especially created and sold to set a mood as your wait for your doctor or dentist or as you shop. Companies and businesses use music as part of the atmosphere of their business, office, store and restaurant, or just about any place where people work or shop. Businesses use music as part of the atmosphere of their store or restaurant, but music is a commodity: someone “owns” that music. So is it legal?
It should be no surprise that there are “entertainment attorneys” that deal with the legal issues of playing music in businesses consider Music as a commodity; it’s protected by copyright laws, which provides the right to the copyright owners to perform or play their music.
Playing someone else’s music as part of a business is different than playing the same music at home. It’s all about money! If someone plays music without permission, they are infringing on the copyright agreement. There’s difference between playing music you purchased and play at home and playing it in your business to attract customers to buy stuff!
Music is a commodity. You brought that record or CD for your own use, you don’t get any other benefits other than playing it for your enjoyment. “Muzak” music is sold as a commodity to attract people to spend more money.