Support & Frequently Asked Questions

• 91% of in-store customers are influenced by the right music while shopping.
• 70% of store managers see customers more relaxed, staying longer due to right music.
• 86% of customers say that the right music adds to atmosphere, and influences their purchase decisions.

Sources: University of Texas (USA), Radford University (USA), Gallup Organization (USA), Journal of Marketing (USA), Journal of Services Marketing (UK), PRS-PPL (UK), Entertainment Media Research (UK), SACEM (FR), IPSOS Media (FR), Mac Gill University (Canada), Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden), HUI Research (Sweden), Nielsen (UK).

• 9% of sales increase in restaurants due to guest-centric music (compared to random music)
• 32% of sales increase in retail stores due to the on-brand music
• 39% of sales increase in supermarkets due to the slower customer-centric music
• 50% of customers spend more time in a shop that plays the customer-centric music

Sources: University of Texas (USA), Radford University (USA), Gallup Organization (USA), Journal of Marketing (USA), Journal of Services Marketing (UK), PRS-PPL (UK), Entertainment Media Research (UK), SACEM (FR), IPSOS Media (FR), Mac Gill University (Canada), Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden), HUI Research (Sweden), Nielsen (UK).

• 70% of customers prefer businesses which play music
• 80% of customers say music has a positive effect on them
• 40% of customers choose where they eat and how often they go back based on the music played by the location

Sources: University of Texas (USA), Radford University (USA), Gallup Organization (USA), Journal of Marketing (USA), Journal of Services Marketing (UK), PRS-PPL (UK), Entertainment Media Research (UK), SACEM (FR), IPSOS Media (FR), Mac Gill University (Canada), Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden), HUI Research (Sweden), Nielsen (UK).

• 74% of employees enjoy going to work more when the right music is being played
• 30% of employees are less likely to take time off sick when the right music is played in their workplace

Sources: University of Texas (USA), Radford University (USA), Gallup Organization (USA), Journal of Marketing (USA), Journal of Services Marketing (UK), PRS-PPL (UK), Entertainment Media Research (UK), SACEM (FR), IPSOS Media (FR), Mac Gill University (Canada), Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden), HUI Research (Sweden), Nielsen (UK).

If your business is located in the US, and you use Soundsuit, all the copyright fees and public performance rights are included in your Soundsuit subscription. You do not need to pay BMI-ASCAP fees nor SESAC fees on top.

If your business is located in the Canada, and you use Soundsuit, all the copyright fees and public performance rights are included in your Soundsuit subscription. You do not need to pay SOCAN fees nor Re:Sound fees on top.

There are a few exceptions, however. In both U.S. and Canada, if you play music in a business that does any of the following, you should contact the local collecting societies to subscribe an extra specific public performance license:

• Conducts physical activity to music, such as a dance studio or fitness class.
• Plays music from another source other than your Soundsuit product such as a DJ, karaoke, or live music.
• Charges an admission fee.

In EU and the rest of the world, you do need to pay a music license to your local Copyright Collecting Society (e.g. PRS-PPL in the UK, GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, etc.). to broadcast background music in your business, even if you use and pay Soundsuit.

In EU and the rest of the world, you do need to pay for a license fee from your local Copright Collecting Society (e.g. PRS-PPL, GEMA, SACEM, AKM, SUISA, KONA, STIM, etc.) to play legally background music in your business, and this even if you use Soundsuit.

Businesses like cafés, restaurants or stores, when they pay fees to copyright collecting agencies such as PRS-PPL/GEMA/SACEM/etc., are authorised to play licensed music for a commercial purpose. The fee is proportional to the type and size of the establishment itself.

But paying these copyright fees makes you – as a business owner – comply only 50% with the law. To comply 100%, you also need to use a B2B music service which is specifically licensed for commercial use. Such as Soundsuit.

More information about this topic in this article.

Soundsuit is a B2B music service specifically licensed for commercial and public use (such as in restaurants, gyms, airports, etc.).

On the contrary, mainstream consumer music services like Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Youtube Music, etc. are only licensed for private non-commercial individual use. This means that Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Youtube Music, Tidal, Napster, Pandora, etc. cannot be used in a public commercial location.

If you – as a business owner – use Soundsuit in your commercial location, you comply with the law.

Please find more detailed information in this article.

Soundsuit is a B2B music service specifically licensed for commercial use in businesses. This means that Soundsuit pay specific fees to the Copyright Collecting Societies (e.g. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, Re:Sound) that protect the financial interests of artists and music creators. Therefore Soundsuit is allowed to broadcast the music material of these artists to large audiences of people in businesses.

The fees that Soundsuit pay are logically high to make sure that the artists get a financial compensation proportional to the large audience who listen to their music work. By broadcasting in businesses (and not for private use at home like mainstream music services such as Spotify, Deezer and others), Soundsuit expose the music work of artists to a much larger number of people simultaneously. And artists need to be compensated proportionally.

By reversing high compensation to music creators, Soundsuit is therefore an extremely fair player of the global music industry which respects and supports artists, both financially and artistically.

Yes, theoretically you can.

But you would need two licenses to do this:

a) first of all, if you play any background music in your business (whatever the mean: streaming, CDs, MP3s, etc.), your first need to get a music license for that. Your local Performing Rights Organization (PRO) such as BMI-ASCAP in the US, GEMA in Germany, SOCAN in Canada, PRS-PPL in the UK, SACEM in France, etc. will sell you such license.

b) then, if you play any music to an audience, you would need this music to include a “Public Performance License”. Which license you will need to buy for each of the MP3 files (i.e. each song)  you play in your business!

Sounds surprising? It might be, because 95% of business owners do this wrong, and expose themselves to heavy fines.

Let’s get into more details.

Imagine that you bought MP3s (with your business account of course, not your private account) on any consumer platforms like Amazon, iTunes, Telekom, Fnac, Virgin, etc. And you want to play these files as background music in your business. In fact, you cannot. This is illegal! You would simply violate copyright laws. Because playing music in your business to an audience is legally considered a public performance, you need to play MP3 files licensed for Public Performance. And MP3 files bought on mainstream music platforms are not licensed for this.

MP3 music files you can buy on (B2C) platforms like Amazon, iTunes or Telekom, are only licensed for private use, e.g. at home or in your car, and private use only! To be broadcasted to a larger audience like customers in a store or a restaurant, MP3 files do need to be licensed for Public Performance. And consequently sold at a higher price, because a larger copyright amount will be payed back to the authors. The larger the audience listening to their music work, the higher the copyrights the artists get. This is logical and fair for the artists.

So if you want to buy MP3 files and build playlists yourself for your business, you need to buy these files from a B2B music platform, that sells “MP3 files including Public Performance license”. These are the only MP3 files you are legally allowed to play in your business. Or you have to buy separately for each MP3 files – that you are playing – the Public Performance License (PPL) for it. Your local performing rights organizations (PROs) such as BMI-ASCAP in the US, GEMA in Germany, SOCAN in Canada, PRS-PPL in the UK, SACEM in France, etc. will sell you such licenses.

Additional note:

To buy MP3 files and build playlists manually is not a common practise among business owners. Owners prefer saving the effort and streaming directly music from B2B cloud platforms, that provides tailored playlists for their business needs (business type, target group, location, etc.). And the music is also already fully licensed for business use. Then owners get the right music for their customers, when investing no manual work nor time, and avoiding any back payments or fines.

a) first of all, if you play any background music in your business (whatever the mean: streaming, CDs, MP3s, etc.), your first need to get a music license for that. Your local Performing Rights Organization (PRO) such as BMI-ASCAP in the US, GEMA in Germany, SOCAN in Canada, PRS-PPL in the UK, SACEM in France, etc. will sell you such license.

b) then, if you play any music to an audience, you would need this music to include a “Public Performance License”. Which license you will need to buy for each of the MP3 files (i.e. each song)  you play in your business!

Sounds surprising? It might be, because 95% of business owners do this wrong, and expose themselves to heavy fines.

Let’s get into more details.

Imagine than you bought CDs (with your business account of course, not yoru private account) on any consumer platforms like Amazon, Virgin, Fnac, Mediamarkt, etc. And you want to use these CDs to play background music in your business. In fact, you cannot. This is illegal! You would simply violate copyright laws. Because playing music in your business to an audience is legally considered a public performance, you need to play CDs licensed for Public Performance. And CDs bought on mainstream shops or platforms are not licensed properly for this.

CDs tha you can buy on (B2C) platforms like Amazon, Virgin, Fnac, Mediamarkt, Target, etc. are only licensed for private use, e.g. at home or in your car, and private use only! To be broadcasted to a larger audience like customers in a store or a restaurant, CDs do need to be licensed for Public Performance. And consequently sold at a higher price, because a larger copyright amount will be payed back to the authors. The larger the audience listening to their music work, the higher the copyrights the artists get. This is logical and fair for the artists.

So if you want to buy CDs and manage music yourself in your business, you need to buy these CDs from a B2B shop, that sells “CDs including a Public Performance license”. These are the only CDs you are legally allowed to play in your business. Or you have to buy separately for each songs of the CD the corresponsding Public Performance License (PPL). Your local Performing Rights Organization (PRO) such as BMI-ASCAP in the US, GEMA in Germany, SOCAN in Canada, PRS-PPL in the UK, SACEM in France, etc. will sell you such licenses.

Additional note:

To buy CDs is not any longer a common practise among business owners. Owners prefer saving the effort and streaming directly music from B2B cloud platforms, that provides tailored playlists for their business needs (business type, target group, location, etc.). And the music is also already fully licensed for business use. Then owners get the right music for their customers, when investing no manual work nor time, and avoiding any back payments or fines.

To be broadcasted to a larger audience like customers in a store or a restaurant, music does need to be licensed for commercial use. This music – licensed for commercial use – is sold at a higher price to B2B music providers like Soundsuit. The larger the audience listening to the music work of artists, the higher the copyrights the artists get. This is absolutely logical and fair for the artists. Consequently Soundsuit pays high copyright fees to artists to be allowed to broadcast their music to large audiences in businesses. These high copyright fees are reflected in the selling price of Soundsuit.

B2C music services like Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Pandora, Napster, Apple Music and others are only licensed for private use, e.g. at home or in a car, by an individual person and his family. These mainstream music services pay copyright fees to artists limited to this private use, for an audience of 1 person. The fees are really low. This is why artists regularly and openly complain in the press about the unfair compensation themes ruled by Spotify and others. Because of these low compensation fees to artists, mainstream platforms like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Deezer, Pandora and others are able to keep their subscription fee around $10 per month.

When you pay your Soundsuit B2B music subscription a higher price than a B2C music subscription, you in fact help compensating artists fairly for the larger audience to which their music work is played to. And you also pay for the advanced smart technologies that Soundsuit engineers developed to be able to get a perfectly tailored music atmosphere for your business, while enjoying an intelligent mood scheduling. Easy, legal, fair to artists, and smart – these are the benefits of using Soundsuit!

1. Connect your speaker or streaming box to the same Wi-Fi network as your smartphone or tablet.

2. Open the Soundsuit mobile app on your device.

3. In the player tab, above the “Play” button, click on the “Cast” icon.

4. A pop-up window will open. Select in the list the Chromecast compatible speaker of your choice.

5. Soundsuit music now plays on your speakers. You’re done!

To add Soundsuit to your Sonos system, please refer to this article on Sonos website:
Add a music service to Sonos >

Or follow these simple steps:

iOS or Android:

1. Open the Sonos app.
2. From the Settings tab, tap Services.
3. Under Music & Content, tap Add a Service.
4. Tap the service you would like to add.
5. Tap Add to Sonos.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to add the music service account.

Mac or PC:

1. Open the Sonos app.
2. Under the Select a Music Source section, click on Add Music Services.
3. Click on the service you would like to add.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to add the music service account.

If you are unable to find the service you are looking for, see the Sonos article on missing music services.

If you would like to add multiple accounts for the same service, see the Sonos article on using multiple accounts for the same music service.

If you now change your playlist settings in the Soundsuit app (e.g. mood preference, customer age, etc.), the Soundsuit music on Sonos will – from the third next title – automatically play your new playlist settings.

If you play Soundsuit via the Web App in your browser

You can add Soundsuit as a music service on Sonos and then listen to your Soundsuit music as a stream. But only a limited control of your Soundsuit music stream is directly possible in the Sonos app: play, skip song, pause. Functions such as “Like this song” or “Ban this song” are unfortunately not yet available on the Sonos app. This is an executive decision of Sonos, not of Soundsuit. Spotify and Youtube users also regret and complain about this limitations, as we also do.

To set and adjust the Soundsuit music stream on Sonos, think of the Soundsuit app (and settings) as a web configurator for your Sonos system:

1. Open the Soundsuit web player
2. Change the playlist settings you want, e.g. Customer age, mood preferences, etc.
3. Then wait for three tracks to play on Sonos, and the Soundsuit music stream on your Sonos will automatically play according to your newly defined settings.

You can then use the Apple AirPlay 2 technology to connect directly the Soundsuit iOS app to your Sonos speakers. No need of the Sonos app here!

1. Connect your Sonos system to the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple iPhone or iPad.

2. Open the Soundsuit mobile app on your device.

3. In the player tab, above the “Play” button, click on the “Cast” icon.

4. A pop-up window will open. Select in the list the Sonos speakers of your choice.

5. Soundsuit music now plays on your Sonos speakers. You’re done!

The Copyright Collecting Society (e.g. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC – PRS-PPL in the UK, GEMA in Germany, SACEM in France, etc.) provide clear rules here and these are handled in the same way for all commercial streaming services:

One soundsuit account is licensed for one user (in this case a device). This means that you can use one account to provide sound to several rooms at the same time (e.g. via Sonos boxes or other systems), but these rooms run on the same account and therefore play the same music at the same time.

For example, if we would allow two different music streams in parallel, we would also have to pay a GEMA fee twice (as a music provider) and also twice the server costs (CPU, bandwidth, CDN, etc.), but the customer would still only pay for one subscription. This is neither economically nor legally justifiable for us.

If you want to play different music in different rooms at the same time in your company, just contact us – we have special offers for customers with several accounts!

Yes, you can use the alarm clock feature from the Sonos Controller app to do this.

This allows you to control the power on and off of your Sonos speakers, as well as the startup and end time of Soundsuit music in your shop.

Skipping or stopping behaviour could happen on Sonos systems.

Please refer to the Sonos help.center articles such as: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/305?language=en_US

Sonos team recommends the following:

1. Check your Internet connection speed
   If your Internet connection slows significantly, the speed at which Sonos is able to stream from an online music service may be reduced, resulting in audio skipping or other interruptions. Try loading webpages and videos, preferably from a wired computer or laptop that is connected to the same network as Sonos, to make sure your Internet connection is working properly. If you notice unusually slow Internet speeds, please contact your Internet Service Provider for assistance.
2. Take steps to reduce wireless interference
   Your Sonos products may be having difficulty communicating wirelessly with one another or your router, which can oftentimes be alleviated by changing the wireless channel your Sonos system is operating on. Wireless environments have the potential to become congested with many devices using the same air space, and changing the wireless channel can clear up these issues. Read more about how to change the wireless channel and other steps for reducing wireless interference in our article: Changing the wireless channel.
3. Contact Sonos for further help
   If you continue to experience issues after following the above steps, refer to the Contact Customer Care section of Sonos website.

1. Connect your speaker or streaming box to the same Wi-Fi network as your smartphone or tablet.

2. Open the Soundsuit mobile app on your device.

3. In the player tab, above the “Play” button, click on the “Cast” icon.

4. A pop-up window will open. Select in the list the Chromecast compatible speaker of your choice.

5. Soundsuit music now plays on your speakers. You’re done!

Or you may opt for a fully professional model offering extended feature set such as

• automatic turn on and switch off function at programmable times
• scheduling of audio jingles at set times
• extended buffering of the music stream to cope with internet downtimes
• optional: storage of whole playlist during the night and playing during the day (technique used in stores where Internet connection is too slow or unstable)
• etc.

If you own an Internet Radio Receiver – with the functionality to add private radio URL to your pre-defined list of internet radios – you can use it to stream Soundsuit.

Contact Soundsuit by email (support@soundsuit.fm) and get within 48 hours a personalized (private) URL address for your Soundsuit account to enter in your receiver. From this private URL you will stream the Soundsuit music stream as you defined it on your web player play.soundsuit.fm/app/play in terms of settings (e.g. business type, customer target group, mood, etc.).

Reknown brands like Yamaha, Marantz, Onkyo,etc. offer semi-professional Internet Radio Receivers that could be use reliably used in a demanding business context (i.e. 10 hours a day or more, 6 days a week or more, 340 days a year or more).

No B2B music streaming service is yet listed on Amazon Apps. Only the B2C services are. We hope that this will change very soon.

In between, you can still stream Soundsuit music suing our partner app TuneIn.

TuneIn is listed as an audio service on Amazon apps, and works perfectly with Alexa and Echo speakers!

This is how you stream Soundsuit music with Alexa & Echo via TuneIn:

1. Open the Alexa App on your device (smartphone, tablet or desktop)

2. Navigate in the menu: Settings -> Accounts -> Music and Media -> Music Services

3. Copy the personalized Soundsuit URL address that you got from the Soundsuit support team (if you did not receive it, simply request it at support@soundsuit.fm).

4. Paste the URL into TuneIn and save the URL as a favorite.

Now how do you listen to TuneIn with Amazon Alexa?

To listen to TuneIn with Amazon Alexa now, you don’t have to do much. Just say: Alexa, play “favourite radio station” and she will confirm your wish with the announcement: “Favourite radio station” from TuneIn.

“Favourite radio station” is in this case a placeholder for the radio station of your choice. Here Soundsuit !!!

If you change your playlist settings now in the Soundsuit app (e.g. business type, customer age group, etc.) the Soundsuit music on ECHO will automatically adopt your new Soundsuit settings – starting with the third next title.

Soundsuit offers monthly and yearly subscription plans that you can find at soundsuit.fm/plans

Save up to 25% when picking a yearly plan!

Soundsuit offers simple and transparent pricing that you can find at soundsuit.fm/pricing

We want to make the payment process as simple as possible for you. That is why we provide you with 3 reliable, safe and trusted payment methods: SEPA direct debit (mainly in Europe), Credit Card payment and ACH transfer (mainly in the US). 

SEPA Direct Debit
Pay conveniently by direct debit: with a SEPA direct debit, we deduct the amount from your specified account.

Credit Cards

For this method, please have your credit card number as well as your three-digit card verification code at the ready. We accept Mastercard, VISA and American Express. Of course we do not save your credit card data. The payment is handled by our partner and leading payment gateway provider Stripe. Learn more about Security at Stripe.

ACH transfer

ACH transfers are a way to move money between accounts at different banks electronically. They enable you to send or receive money conveniently and securely.

As soon as you subscribe online to Soundsuit, you will receive a confirmation email. The invoice will be attached to this email.

If the day of your subscription you free trial is not ended yet, then the email with the attached invoice will be sent automatically the day your test phase ends, and your paid subscription starts.

You can resign your Soundsuit subscription at any time. We think that it is a pity of course, but it’s your decision and your right. So we want to make it easy and quick for you. Please simply send the notice to support@soundsuit.fm.

Without cancellation, at the end of a term, the subscription will automatically be renewed for another term.

The notice period is:

• for a monthly subscription, 14 days to the end of the subscription.
• For a yearly subscription, 3 months to the end of the subscription.

For more information, please refer to our terms and conditions.

To play the Soundsuit Stream smoothly 8-24 hours per day with 320kbps MP3 quality, a strong and stable internet connection is absolutely necessary.

Our technical team recommend the following:

a) Ensure an proper Internet infrastructure in your business

• Broadband > 25 Mbps
• LAN instead of WLAN if possible
• WLAN through Powerline Technology

b) Set priorities for your Internet access

Please prioritize Internet access for the device you use to play Soundsuit, as well as for Soundsuit itself as application.

In your router (e.g. Netgear, Fritzbox, etc.) you can specify which network devices and applications are preferred or disadvantaged when accessing the Internet connection. Such prioritization of applications is also referred to as Quality of Service (QoS).

Here is the information that you need for Soundsuit as an application:

Server / IP address: 46.101.183.117
TCP Port: 443

For more information, please contact your IT service provider or the manufacturer of your Internet router.

Skipping or stopping behaviour could happen on Sonos systems.

Please refer to the Sonos help.center articles such as: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/305?language=en_US

Sonos team recommends the following:

1. Check your Internet connection speed
   
   If your Internet connection slows significantly, the speed at which Sonos is able to stream from an online music service may be reduced, resulting in audio skipping or other interruptions. Try loading webpages and videos, preferably from a wired computer or laptop that is connected to the same network as Sonos, to make sure your Internet connection is working properly. If you notice unusually slow Internet speeds, please contact your Internet Service Provider for assistance.
2. Take steps to reduce wireless interference
   
   Your Sonos products may be having difficulty communicating wirelessly with one another or your router, which can oftentimes be alleviated by changing the wireless channel your Sonos system is operating on. Wireless environments have the potential to become congested with many devices using the same air space, and changing the wireless channel can clear up these issues. Read more about how to change the wireless channel and other steps for reducing wireless interference in our article: Changing the wireless channel.

Contact Sonos for further help
If you continue to experience issues after following the above steps, refer to the Contact Customer Care section of Sonos website.