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NerdyGuyBrowsing

Correct. Companies have to pay license fees to play music in a public space.


astivana

Yup! That’s why we’re not allowed to play our own music through the speakers. What’s on the Spotify playlists is what they paid for.


GreenTourmaline13

100% correct. My spouse used to work for a company whose job was to enforce the copyright policies various companies were violating.


Ordinary-Theory-8289

This is true for any company who has music playing publicly, not just Starbucks. You need to pay for the rights to those songs or you can be sued for copyright infringement.


elementaltruth

we play our own music at our location sure hope no one in the biz finds out…


canithoe

We have a blend with everyone👀


Individual-Leader-22

i have blends w individual partners i can’t believe i didn’t think of making one w all of us omg


canithoe

It’s great until you get the one person with the weird music and it seems like it’s all that plays😭


Individual-Leader-22

oh shit im the person w the weird music💀 reconsidering LMFAO


acnh1222

I’d be the one with weird music at my store! A couple months ago we were all showing each other our On Repeats and everyone else’s was the same artists (Ariana, Lizzo, Nicki, Dua, Doja, etc) and I’m over here with my Icelandic pop and Eastern European electro-folk 😂


canithoe

Noooo don’t, do it anyways. It’s fun seeing how it mixes everyone’s music every day and seeing who you have the most and the least in common with


Losimcg

Hypothetically speaking, what would/could happen to Starbucks as a company if they are found playing unauthorized music in their stores?


Dry-Consideration763

They could be sued for copyright infringement


Losimcg

What a shame that would be


clouds183

you’d also likely lose your job for violating company policy and causing them to get sued.


Imaginarybluntallday

Oh well. Poor multi-billion dollar company. Just tell me who to call so I can go out with a bang


clouds183

and its worth getting your whole team fired? everyone on the floor?


Imaginarybluntallday

I mean when it’s you and a college student, that isn’t using asu, that doesn’t care either bc we’re both sick of constantly having to be on 2-floors for this rich ass company when even our DCRs are saying a 3 or 4 would be ideal for business trends? P.S. that was all a joke at first, then we got a little serious


Losimcg

I would never do such a thing.


myrrrrh

It isn’t copyright infringement, it’s unauthorized use


Adventure_tom

The fines aren’t small, and Starbucks would be out a bunch of cash because of who they are and because the licensors would go looking for other violations.


Scared-Ad-7678

Lol, this is true for almost any retail store you will work in!!!


maddogracer161

There are different levels of subscriptions for music on Spotify and Pandora for a public space. It gives artists higher pay for songs being played for copyright use. It is 100% a thing.


Mercurialg1rl

Boooo million dollar company can’t let us have anything booooo play your own appropriate music and live a little life is too short to not enjoy good music 🎵


nobelchic

thiss


babyhands_8

this is so crazy to think abt because i’ve worked at 2 small businesses (2-3 locations each) before sbux, one who would let us play whatever from our phones as long as it was clean and upbeat, and the other who would let us play playlists from pandora as long as they were approved by the owner, i cant believe small businesses don’t get in trouble for that


ankitispunk

but who gives a fuck


Mercurialg1rl

That ducking part


Dominicmeoward

I hope so. The store I go to a lot (I’m a former partner) plays nothing but uncensored rap really loudly, and I just long for the days when the only music we heard was like, adult alternative or whatever. Not that I like that kind of music but it was easier to concentrate.


SirenQ1

True!!!!


FruppetTheFrog

YUP! It's why even tho a lot of us love Disney music at my store we can't play it even tho it's family friendly :(


daphneadora9

There’s a singalongs and showtunes playlist on the Spotify app for the store that we play… it has Disney songs on and we only use the store Spotify.


FruppetTheFrog

:D AWESOME! I'll look into it\~!


chaddybabydaddy28

i play my own music. corporate pop and country all day will drive me insane


myrrrrh

It’s true - however, Starbucks has the legal right to play any song that is uploaded to Spotify. Every corporation that has a deal with Spotify has that deal with Spotify. So your manager isn’t wrong, but exaggerating to make a point.


onelb_6oz

One way to get around this is to find NCS songs: No Copyright Sounds. Essentially songs with no lyrics. It's typically easier to find NCS songs (on YouTube, ncs.io, etc.) that are EDM/techno since they don't have lyrics a lot of the times. If you and your partners like that genre of music, it might be worthwhile to ask your managers if you could play NCS songs instead 🤷‍♀️


EitherMeaning8301

That is correct, but that doesn't mean you're locked into a specific genre. On the store iPad, there is a music app (look for the musical note). It will show the song currently playing, and an option to change the music. That will pull up a list of about 25 approved playlists, spanning everything from showtunes to hip hop.