Can You Use Music on a Business Website?

A song can make a business website feel more welcoming, memorable, and personal. It can also create a copyright problem within minutes if you haven’t secured the right permission.

Buying a track, paying for Spotify or Apple Music, or crediting the artist doesn’t automatically give you permission to use that music commercially online. The safest choice depends on how the music will appear, who owns it, and what the licence actually allows.

Key Takeaways

• Personal streaming subscriptions and purchased downloads don’t usually cover music on a business website.
• UK websites may need separate permissions for the composition, sound recording, and music video.
• “Royalty-free” doesn’t always mean free for commercial website use.
• Direct permission from an independent artist can work, but get the terms in writing.
• Autoplay can harm accessibility, page speed, and the visitor experience even when the music is legally cleared.

Music on a business website usually needs permission

If a business website plays, streams, embeds, or offers a copyrighted song for download, the business may need permission from the copyright owners. The answer depends on the track, the territory, the audience, and the way visitors access it.

Music has more than one layer of copyright. The musical composition includes the melody, lyrics, and arrangement. The sound recording is the particular recorded performance you hear. A music video can bring additional rights into the picture.

That distinction matters. Permission to use a recording may not cover the underlying composition. Likewise, permission from a singer may not cover a producer, songwriter, publisher, or record label that owns part of the work.

In the UK, online music use is separate from the permission commonly associated with playing music in a shop, salon, office, or restaurant. TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS covers background music in physical premises, but it doesn’t automatically cover music placed on a website, webcast, or online stream.

For a UK business website, licensing questions may involve:

• PRS for Music, which deals with rights in musical compositions and lyrics.
• PPL, which deals with many rights in recorded music.
• VPL, where music videos create an additional licensing issue.
• The artist, songwriter, publisher, label, or licensing provider, depending on who controls the rights.

A small company website can still count as commercial use. You don’t need millions of visitors before copyright matters. A promotional homepage, product video, online advert, podcast page, or branded playlist can all raise different licensing questions.

Why buying a song or streaming it isn’t enough

Many website owners assume that paying for a song gives them broad permission. Usually, it only gives them the right to listen to it personally.

A Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, TIDAL, or Amazon Music subscription gives access under that platform’s consumer terms. It doesn’t normally grant the right to copy a track into your website, play it as background audio for customers, or use it in a company advert.

The same principle applies to a purchased MP3, CD, or vinyl record. You own your copy, but you don’t automatically own the copyright. The purchase lets you enjoy the recording under the seller’s terms. It doesn’t transfer the public communication, reproduction, synchronisation, or commercial usage rights needed for a website.

Artist credit is helpful, but credit isn’t a licence. Writing “Music by Mark Leigh” under a video doesn’t replace written permission. It acknowledges the creator while leaving the legal question unanswered.

Buying access to a song is different from buying permission to use it.

Credit can still form part of a licence agreement. For example, an artist might allow commercial website use as long as the business names the artist, links to a profile, and doesn’t alter the track. Those conditions need to come from the rights holder or licence provider.

Read the terms for every platform and track. Look for wording about commercial use, website embedding, promotional content, client work, social media, territory, and licence duration. If the terms don’t mention your planned use, ask the provider before publishing.

Safer ways to add music to a business website

You have several possible routes, but each one carries different limits. Choosing music first and checking the licence later creates unnecessary risk.

Music option	What to check before publishing
Direct permission from an artist	Website use, commercial promotion, territory, duration, edits, and credit
Royalty-free library	Commercial website use, client projects, downloads, and subscription rules
Public-domain work	Whether both the composition and recording are free to use
Personal streaming service	Usually unsuitable for business website playback
Embedded platform player	Platform terms, artist permissions, ads, and privacy effects
Original music commissioned for your company	Ownership, usage rights, revisions, and future marketing use

Direct licensing can be practical when you want a particular independent artist. Ask the rights holder to confirm that your business may use the exact recording on its website. Include whether the music can play in videos, adverts, podcasts, landing pages, and downloadable projects.

Restorm UK offers original music built around British heritage, identity, freedom, courage, unity, and speaking up for personal beliefs. Its tracks are presented as free to download and use in creator projects, with credit requested to Restorm. That information may suit a business creating a community video or campaign, but website owners should still check the current terms and confirm that their exact commercial use is covered.

You can also browse the platform’s Free Music channel for music and video material. Before using a track on a company site, confirm the permission attached to that recording. A creator-project licence may have conditions that differ from a business homepage or paid advertisement.

Royalty-free libraries can simplify licensing, but the phrase doesn’t mean “copyright-free.” It usually means you pay once or subscribe under a licence that removes separate royalty payments for approved uses. Some providers allow website videos but restrict standalone audio players, client accounts, paid ads, or downloads.

Public-domain music can be another option. However, the composition and the recording have separate copyright histories. An old classical piece may be public domain, while a modern orchestra’s recording of it remains protected.

Choose between background audio, embeds, and downloads

The technical format changes the legal and practical questions.

An autoplay background track starts without a visitor requesting it. This can cause problems for people using screen readers, people browsing at work, and anyone who opens several tabs. Sudden sound also makes it harder to find page controls. Most businesses should leave autoplay off and provide a clear play button instead.

An embedded player from YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, or another service may reduce the need to host the audio file yourself. However, the embed doesn’t erase copyright obligations. Check the platform’s terms, the uploader’s rights, and whether the player can appear on a commercial website.

A download button creates another issue. If visitors can save the file, your licence must permit downloads. Streaming permission alone may not cover distribution.

A music video can involve the recording, composition, visual footage, performers, and platform terms. Embedding an official video is different from downloading it, editing it, and uploading a new copy to your own server.

A podcast or webcast also needs careful review. Hosting the page on your site doesn’t make the audio private. If the public can access the stream or episode, online music permissions may apply.

Keep the use narrow. If your licence covers one campaign video, don’t assume it also covers paid social adverts, a shop display, a podcast intro, and every future website redesign.

Make the music accessible and technically sensible

Legal permission is only part of the decision. Music can affect loading speed, mobile data, accessibility, and conversion rates.

Use compressed audio and avoid loading large files before a visitor presses play. A lightweight player usually creates fewer performance problems than several full albums loaded on one page. Test the page on mobile connections, older phones, and common browsers.

Give visitors clear controls for play, pause, volume, and stopping the track. The controls should work with a keyboard and remain understandable to screen-reader users. Don’t hide audio behind an icon with no accessible label.

Music should support the page rather than compete with its message. A short player beside an artist profile may feel natural. Continuous sound behind a checkout page can distract people who are trying to complete an order.

Also review privacy settings when you embed third-party players. Some services may load cookies, tracking tools, or external scripts before the visitor plays anything. Your cookie notice and consent process may need to account for that behaviour under UK privacy rules.

Test the experience with the sound muted. If the page becomes confusing without audio, the content needs stronger headings, captions, transcripts, or visual cues.

A practical licence check before publishing

Before adding music to a music business website, record the answer to each question below:

1. Who owns the composition? Identify the songwriter, publisher, or collecting society.
2. Who owns the recording? The artist may own it, or a label or producer may control it.
3. What will visitors do? Will they stream, download, watch a video, hear autoplay, or use the track inside another video?
4. Is the use commercial? A company website, sales page, sponsored campaign, and client project usually need commercial-use terms.
5. Which countries can access it? A licence limited to the UK may not cover a site promoted worldwide.
6. How long does permission last? Check expiry dates, renewal rules, and what happens after cancellation.
7. What credit is required? Follow the exact wording and placement requested by the rights holder.
8. What evidence do you have? Save the invoice, licence certificate, email permission, and the terms that applied when you published.

For UK online use involving commercially released music, contact PRS for Music and PPL about the relevant online permissions. Ask for a quote based on your actual website, audience, and use. Fees aren’t fixed because a small portfolio site and an international streaming service have different scopes.

If a licence provider can’t answer whether your planned use is covered, don’t publish first and hope the issue disappears. Choose another track or obtain clear written permission.

Conclusion

You can use music on a business website, but the right to listen isn’t the right to publish. Streaming subscriptions, purchased songs, and artist credit don’t automatically cover commercial online use.

Choose music with a clear licence, confirm the composition and recording rights, save the paperwork, and build the player around visitor control and accessibility. A well-cleared track can strengthen a brand, while an unlicensed one can create avoidable legal and technical problems.