By Sonosfera Team
Quick answer: Soundtrack Your Brand pricing is charged per zone, and every location needs at least one zone. On 5 October 2026 its UK pricing page showed Soundtrack Essential at £37 per zone per month, billed annually at £444 a year. The US page showed US$37 per zone per month, billed annually at US$444. Add-ons cost extra per zone: Unlimited music control is £17 a month (£204 a year). In the UK, public performance licences are bought separately, so most venues also need TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS.
That second bill changes a UK budget most. The subscription covers the music service. The right to play commercial music to customers in a UK venue usually comes from a separate licence. This guide gives you the current price list, explains how to count zones, works through a two-zone example and shows where the UK licence fits.
Soundtrack Your Brand price list (checked 5 October 2026)
Soundtrack sells one base plan, Soundtrack Essential, and lets you add features per zone. The figures below were read from the pricing page as rendered for a UK visitor and for a US visitor on 5 October 2026. Both are annual-billing prices.
| Item, per zone | UK, billed annually | US, billed annually |
|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack Essential | £37 a month (£444 a year) | US$37 a month (US$444 a year) |
| Unlimited music control | +£17 a month (£204 a year) | +US$17 a month (US$204 a year) |
| Messaging add-on | +£9 a month (£108 a year) | +US$9 a month (US$108 a year) |
| Hi-Fi Audio add-on | +£7 a month (£84 a year) | +US$7 a month (US$84 a year) |
| Single Sign-On | Custom pricing | Custom pricing |
| Enterprise (invoicing, integrations, account manager) | Contact sales | Contact sales |
| Public performance licences | Must be purchased separately | ASCAP, BMI and GMR licences included |
Soundtrack labels annual payment a 10% discount on monthly billing. Its annual view doesn't display the monthly price, so check the toggle on the pricing page before you choose a billing term. The page's own FAQ answers "Do prices differ by country?" with "Yes", so open it from your own country before you budget.
Essential and Unlimited compared
Essential is the full streaming service: the page lists over 125 million tracks licensed for commercial use, more than 2,500 curated business playlists, Spotify playlist import, weekly scheduling, an explicit-lyric filter, remote control from supported devices and a central dashboard for multiple locations.
Unlimited is about control rather than more music. It lets staff queue tracks, play them in any order and use Offline Mode, and you can switch it on for individual zones. A reception that only needs a scheduled playlist can stay on Essential while the bar next door takes Unlimited.
Zones: why one location can need several
Soundtrack's help centre defines a zone as an individual area within a location. Each location needs at least one zone, each zone plays its own stream, and each zone you create adds cost. Its example is a hotel with three zones: bar, lobby and restaurant. Each zone also needs its own player.
So price per location is really price per zone, multiplied by the zones at that location. Before you ask for a quote, list the spaces that must play different music at the same time:
| Space | What has to play at the same time? | Zones to budget |
|---|---|---|
| Café counter and seating | One background playlist everywhere | Usually one, if one system feeds both |
| Salon reception and treatment room | Brighter arrivals, quieter treatments | Two, if each needs its own music |
| Bar and dining room | Different playlists in evening service | Two |
| Two shops in different towns | Separate opening hours and staff | At least one per shop |
These are planning examples, not a wiring survey. If two rooms always share one stream through the same speakers, they can share a zone. Our multi-zone background music guide helps you decide which rooms really need separate control.
Two-zone cost example for a UK venue
Here is the annual subscription arithmetic for a UK venue with two Essential zones and Unlimited on one of them, using the UK prices on Soundtrack's pricing page on 5 October 2026.
| Annual line | Calculation | UK, billed annually |
|---|---|---|
| Essential, two zones | 2 × £444 | £888 |
| Unlimited on one zone | 1 × £204 | £204 |
| Soundtrack subscription total | £888 + £204 | £1,092 a year |
| UK public performance licence | Not included (Soundtrack UK licensing page) | Budget separately |
The same set-up on the US pricing page comes to US$1,092 a year, with ASCAP, BMI and GMR licences included. Leave out any add-on a zone doesn't need, and check whether the price you see includes VAT before comparing quotes.
For the UK licence line, PPL PRS's 2026 tariffs give a useful sense of scale. Standard background music in a shop of up to 100 m² is £246.80 under the PRS for Music shops tariff plus £204.19 under the PPL shops tariff, so £450.99 a year plus VAT before any other charges. A café, salon or gym is priced on a different tariff. Our UK music licence cost guide lists the official examples by business type.
Soundtrack's licence position in the UK, US and UAE
Soundtrack publishes a licensing page for each country. Each page splits the rights into recording rights, publishing rights and public performance rights.
| Market | What Soundtrack's page says | What that means for your budget |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Recording and publishing rights included; public performance rights not included | Add TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS |
| United States | ASCAP, BMI and GMR licences included; SESAC music not available on Soundtrack | Extra permissions may apply for admission fees, live music or timed music for exercise classes |
| United Arab Emirates | Recording and publishing rights included; public performance rights not included | The page points to EMRA and MusicNation |
That is why the same £37 or US$37 plan lands as very different totals in Manchester and Miami. In the UK you budget the subscription and TheMusicLicence as two separate lines. Our Soundtrack vs Sonosfera review for UK salons works through that choice for one venue type, and the Soundtrack comparison page keeps the UK details in one place.
Soundtrack or Mood Media?
Both sell business music, so compare them on the job you need done. Soundtrack is a self-serve streaming service priced per zone, with a mainstream catalogue and playlist import. Mood Media also sells self-serve plans in some markets: its US online shop lists a "Fundamentals" plan at US$17.00 a month on monthly billing, and less on a yearly plan (checked 5 October 2026), with an Enterprise tier through its sales team.
Whichever you shortlist, ask for the quote in writing with these lines separated: the subscription per zone, any player or hardware, support, contract length and which public performance licences you still need in your country. Weighing other names, such as Pandora CloudCover or more Mood Media alternatives? Our UK business music comparison lines up the wider field, and the Mood Media comparison goes deeper on that provider.
Sonosfera: an owned-catalogue option
Sonosfera is a different kind of purchase: an original catalogue made for venues, priced per zone. In the UK it costs £14.99 a month per zone, or £149.90 a year on the annual plan (GB pricing page, checked 5 October 2026; VAT shown at checkout where required). Each plan includes venue playlists, scheduling by morning, afternoon and evening, and phone control of every zone's music and volume.
The licence question is simpler too. No PPL PRS licence needed for Sonosfera music under an active plan. Your Sonosfera subscription is your licence: Sonosfera's own catalogue isn't represented by, or licensed through, PPL PRS. It covers Sonosfera playback at the business locations on your plan. If you also play the radio, Spotify, live music or your own playlists, those sources need their own licence, exactly as they would anywhere else.
Sonosfera doesn't stream chart hits or named artists. If your venue needs a particular song on request, a mainstream service such as Soundtrack plus TheMusicLicence is the right route. If you want a calm, consistent sound in a salon, café, studio or shop, hear it first in music for cafés or the playlist browser, then check Sonosfera's UK pricing with your zone count in hand. There's a 14-day free trial.
Before you subscribe
- Count zones, not addresses: list every space that must play different music at the same time.
- Check the price your own country shows, and which billing term it assumes.
- Add only the per-zone add-ons each room needs.
- In the UK, put TheMusicLicence on its own budget line for any mainstream music service.
- Save the dated quote with the licence documents, and put the approved music source in your staff music policy so it survives the next shift change.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Soundtrack cost per month for one location?
One location needs at least one zone. On 5 October 2026 Soundtrack Essential was £37 per zone per month billed annually (£444 a year) on the UK pricing page, and US$37 (US$444 a year) on the US page. Unlimited adds £17 or US$17 a month per zone. A UK venue also needs TheMusicLicence for the music it plays.
Does each business location need its own Soundtrack subscription?
Soundtrack prices by zone, not by account. Every location needs at least one zone, and each zone adds to the subscription. One account can manage several locations from Soundtrack's central dashboard, so you pay per zone across all your sites rather than opening separate accounts.
Is there a setup fee for a Soundtrack business account?
We found no setup fee on Soundtrack's pricing page on 5 October 2026; it lists per-zone plan and add-on prices and a free trial. Players and speakers are a separate question, so ask what hardware each zone needs before you order.
Is annual or monthly billing cheaper on Soundtrack?
Annual billing. Soundtrack's pricing page labels annual payment a 10% discount on monthly billing. The annual view doesn't show the monthly figure, so switch the billing toggle on the page to see it for your country.
Does Soundtrack Your Brand include a music licence in the UK?
It includes recording and publishing rights, but its UK plan lists public performance licences as purchased separately. Most UK venues playing Soundtrack therefore also need TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS, priced by business type and size. The US plan includes ASCAP, BMI and GMR licences.
Do I need a PPL PRS licence to play Sonosfera?
No PPL PRS licence needed for Sonosfera music under an active plan. Your Sonosfera subscription is your licence: Sonosfera's own catalogue isn't represented by, or licensed through, PPL PRS. Any other music you play, such as radio, Spotify, live music or your own playlists, needs its own licence.
Sources
- Soundtrack plans and pricing — Soundtrack, rendered for UK and US visitors, checked 5 October 2026
- What is a zone? — Soundtrack Helpcenter
- Music licensing in the United Kingdom, United States and United Arab Emirates — Soundtrack, checked 5 October 2026
- PRS for Music Tariff RS 2026.01, shops and stores and PPL background music tariff for shops and stores 2026 — PPL PRS
- Mood Media music for business pricing (US shop) — Mood Media, checked 5 October 2026
- Sonosfera Terms of Service, sections 2 and 9 — Sonosfera
