B2B music streaming service Soundtrack has signed a licensing deal with US performing rights organization SESAC.
The Stockholm-based company, formerly known as Soundtrack Your Brand, says the agreement complements its existing licensing deals with ASCAP, BMI, and Global Music Rights (GMR), giving it deals with all four major US PROs.
Soundtrack announced the deal on Thursday (November 5), alongside a study it commissioned that found 79% of US businesses that play music on their premises do so using consumer streaming services.
Soundtrack also estimates that the US music industry is missing out on USD $1.4 billion in revenue every year due to unlicensed music use in businesses.
The independent study surveyed 1,525 decision-makers representing almost 15,000 US business locations, according to Soundtrack.
It found that 97% of US businesses play music, and that 79% use consumer streaming services to do so.
Those services are licensed for personal, non-commercial use only, Soundtrack notes.
According to the study, 19% of US businesses that play music are fully compliant with commercial music requirements.
Separately, 5% of businesses report holding licenses from all four of ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC.
Meanwhile, 78% of respondents believed they were compliant, and 58% believed it was legal to stream music from personal accounts in their businesses.
Soundtrack says the SESAC deal marks “the final step” in its ambition to simplify music-for-business compliance in the US.
It adds that the agreement makes Soundtrack “the first consumer-style music-for-business service to provide a fully licensed solution for US businesses.”
According to Soundtrack’s announcement, SESAC licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs on behalf of over 15,000 affiliated songwriters, composers, and music publishers.
Those affiliates include Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Adele, and Ariana Grande, the announcement added.
SESAC was acquired by Blackstone in 2017.
“The disproportionate complexity of sourcing music correctly for US businesses has led to $1.4 billion in potential revenue being lost every year for the US music industry,” said Ola Sars, CEO and founder of Soundtrack. “For business owners it is almost impossible to understand and comply with existing requirements, and our research confirms that lack of awareness and understanding, not ill-intent, is the main cause of this widespread compliance issue.
“Our new deal with SESAC ensures that Soundtrack can provide a unique one-stop-shop, so that US business owners can feel safe playing music to customers, and music creators and rightsholders are fairly compensated when their music is used to grow these businesses. Ultimately, our aim is to create a healthy ecosystem for the background music industry by growing the ‘pie’ for music creators and rightsholders, while not breaking the bank for hard-working businesses.”
“Our new deal with SESAC ensures that Soundtrack can provide a unique one-stop-shop, so that US business owners can feel safe playing music to customers, and music creators and rightsholders are fairly compensated when their music is used to grow these businesses.”
Ola Sars, Soundtrack
To play music to customers legally, US businesses need both a commercially licensed music source and the relevant public performance licenses, according to Soundtrack.
“Purchasing PRO licenses does not make a consumer streaming service eligible for commercial playback,” Soundtrack said.
Soundtrack’s announcement also cites RIAA figures showing that US recorded music revenues grew by less than 1% YoY in H1 2025.
In March, the RIAA reported that the US recorded music industry generated $11.535 billion in wholesale revenues in 2025, up 3.1% YoY.
Soundtrack says the $1.4 billion it believes could be unlocked by fixing compliance would be equivalent to more than a 10% increase in annual US recorded music revenues.
In an appendix to its announcement, Soundtrack says the approximately $1.4 billion a year would go to music creators, rightsholders, and “appropriately licensed B2B service providers.”
In a February 2024 op-ed for MBW, Sars put the annual revenue loss for music creators and rightsholders at $1.38 billion.
He arrived at that figure by multiplying 3.8 million US small-to-midsize businesses by a 78% misuse rate, and then by $468, which he cited as the annual cost of a compliant background music subscription.
The appendix to today’s announcement puts the non-compliance rate at 81% of US businesses that play music, or approximately 3 million businesses out of a “serviceable market” of approximately 3.8 million. Multiplying 3 million by the same $468 gives approximately $1.4 billion a year.
Soundtrack was launched by Sars in 2013 as a joint venture with Spotify.
Sars, who previously co-founded Beats Music, spun the company out of that structure in 2018.
Speaking on the MBW Podcast in 2023, Sars said of the opportunity worldwide: “No one’s talking about the B2B market. But it’s a deeply dysfunctional market, and if we can fix it, we can unlock an incremental opportunity of $30 billion to $40 billion [a year] on top of music’s consumer markets.”
In February, Soundtrack acquired two background music providers: Tunify, which operates in Belgium and the Netherlands, and UK-based Ambie.
According to the company, Soundtrack is used in 75 countries by businesses including Uniqlo, Dr. Martens, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Kiehl’s, Joe & The Juice, and TAG Heuer.
The company says its catalog includes more than 150 million tracks.Music Business Worldwide