What’s your fav thing about Sunday arvo drinks?

The drinks – that’s for sure. But I bet you also dig the “lounge” playlist they often play in that rooftop bar where you hang out with your friends to close the weekend. But do you know where that music comes from?

Nope, probably not Spotify directly. Most likely, it’s provided by a company like Audalize.

PART 156 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE

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When I lived in Australia, I sometimes worked at a place that was a café, restaurant, and wine bar. So depending on the time of the day, it would have a different playlist to match the vibe.

You know, Hermitude might not be the best soundtrack to a hangover-curing brekky. And Polaris will not really go down well when all you want to do is catch up on all the goss with your mates in the evening. After all, music influences people’s (hence – clients’) mood. It can increase sales and definitely contributes to building your business as a recognisable brand.

But sometimes, the music selection was a bit chaotic. So I asked the owner once who the DJ was. It turns out it was her or whoever was behind the bar that day. And they all just casually plugged in their phones to the venue’s sound system and selected a playlist on whichever streaming service they were using.

Many times, their subscriptions would also be the basic ones. So – along with the music – customers would also have to listen to ads. A bit cringy, hey? And defo not the way you want to build a reputation in the hospitality industry in Melbourne, where everyone loves music and respects artists.

Long story short: the owner had no licence to play music in her establishment. That shocked me because it’s not how it works. And obviously, it has everything to do with the topic of copyrights.

You see, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, or Apple Music are the so-called B2C (business-to-consumer) type of services. That means you can only use them privately and personally (i.e. when you’re chilling at home on a Saturday afternoon with your family or listening to your phone on the commute to work).

Those companies have signed special contracts with artists (or their record labels) who grant them permission to make their music available to individuals only for non-commercial purposes.

But a bar, café, museum, office, shopping mall, etc., are all public places. And the Australian Copyright Act 1968 states that copyright owners have “exclusive rights to (…) perform the music in public places, such as cafés and restaurants.”

In other words, even if you have a premium membership with Spotify, it means nothing for your restaurant. A legal page I consulted for this article puts it like this, “a business streaming music through a personal consumer service account is like a movie theatre playing movies straight from a Netflix account.” Pretty straightforward, right?

So in 99% of cases, you’ll need a special licence to play music in your commercial space. And if you think not having it is not a serious infringement, maybe the hefty fine of up to A$60,500 (for individuals) or A$302,500 (for corporations) will convince you otherwise.

In Australia, two organisations deal with issuing licences, APRA AMCOS (the Australasian Performing Right Association/Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society) and PPCA (the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia). The first one is concerned with the composition of the musical work and lyrics, the latter – sound recordings or music videos.

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You can’t have one without the others. But applying for pretty much anything in life is a pain in the neck. So the two bodies have made an effort to simplify and streamline the process through another entity called OneMusic Australia.

Business owners are busy people, however. So not everyone might have the time and resources to go through the application process. The good news is there is an alternative way to legally play music in your space. And this is exactly where Audalize comes in.

It’s not the only background music supplier I have come across. But it’s the first one I know of in Australia.

Audalize is a company based in Perth that has already obtained a licence to provide music to different establishments. So if you’re not keen on the red tape, you can use their services instead.

Their business model is pretty simple and based on monthly subscriptions. The pricing largely depends on how you want to use the music, whether you need audio or video, etc. And with “over 35 million songs, a jukebox feature, and 400+ expertly curated music playlists” they promise on their website, I’d say the A$85 a month is a pretty sweet deal. Plus, they also make tools available to create your own playlists.

Within the services they offer, there are quite a few handy features. For instance, you can import your already existing playlist into their system. They have AI that automatically adjusts song volume levels. And there is a role-based access control, which means your bartender can be just a user, while your general manager can also be a curator and admin.

But one of the coolest things is the remote playlist scheduling. So not only can you plan your background music, but do it from home for a location in a different city. And trust me, this is gold if you’re understaffed for lunch on the weekend, and the music suddenly stops. Been there, done that. Never again.

Now, who is Audalize for? The small and medium entrepreneurs, for sure. But there is also a separate offer for businesses with 10 to 10,000 sites, called Enterprise, which helps centralise “control over (…)Audalize devices, background music, ambient visuals and signage, no matter how many locations you have.” Hard Rock Cafe would be a good testing ground for that.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck2XTVlrbcf

All in all, it looks like this Perth-based start-up is taking its mission seriously, and it has the potential to expand in the whole country. And because I’m a fan of all sorts of initiatives that marry music and technology, I’m keeping my finger crossed for this venture.

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