It’s tempting to build a playlist, plug in speakers, and share the perfect office music. Unfortunately, this could be illegal.
Breaking the law could come with fines levied per song. Those fees could add up, and since they’re determined in lawsuits, you could have court expenses too.
You must have a legal relationship with performing rights organizations (PROs) like ASCAP to play legal office music. They hold two types of copyright: one that covers the musicians and one that covers the recording. Different PROs cover many popular songs, so full coverage means making many connections and checking legal issues often.
Working with a streaming service helps you cut through red tape and play office music legally. Cloud Cover Music makes PRO connections, builds playlists, and ensures that everything you play is legally protected. Fees are reasonable, and setup is quick and easy.

Why Choose Cloud Cover Music?
With thousands of songs to choose from, neatly segmented into stations, you're sure to find music your employees will love. Get started in just a few minutes. Connect your existing Sonos system with our built-in integrations, choose your channel, and you're set.
Use the system to share important information with your employees. Announce the arrival of important clients, page people to conference rooms, and more.
Cloud-based access ensures you can manage your music from anywhere, even when you're not in the office. You can grant access to trusted employees, so they can help you share the workload. And if you have multiple office locations, you can manage all of them from one sleek dashboard.
Why Play Music at Work?
Music can make a long workday go by a little faster, and for some workers, tunes are more than just pleasant. The music they listen to helps them to overcome a chemical deficiency.
A researcher quoted by CNN suggests that people with the adult form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggle to focus on workplace tasks due to a deficiency of the brain chemical dopamine. Music prompts the brain to make more dopamine, correcting this deficiency. For someone who cannot focus during the day, music could mean the difference between getting something done or pushing the deadline out by another day.
In this study, explained in an article published by Fast Company, researchers created a playlist that included familiar songs such as "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison and "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles. When those songs were playing, employees were better able to make group decisions compared to moments when the music wasn't playing.
Music can also help you define your company's culture. If you'd like your employees to think of your work as serious, music with that description could set the tone for new employees and occasional visitors. If, on the other hand, your work should be considered hip and trendy, a playlist dominated by hip hop or current hits could help you get that message across.

What Songs Should You Play?
Choosing the right songs for the office requires quite a bit of art, and the music that is right for one office may be completely wrong for another. That's why no set "office music playlist" is perfect for every office.
These playlists can get you thinking:
Classical
Song: Andante Cantabile, Op. Posth.
Artist(s): Budapest Strings
Song: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria
Artist(s): Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould
Song: Deux Arabesques L. 66: No. 1 Andante con moto
Artist(s): Claude Debussy, Zoltán Kocsis
Song: Fauré: Pavane in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 50 (Orchestral Version)
Artist(s): Gabriel Fauré, Sir David Willcocks, New Philharmonia Orchestra
Song: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, “Pathétique”: II. Adagio cantabile
Artist(s): Ludwig van Beethoven, Igor Levit
Song: Après un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1
Artist(s): Gabriel Fauré, Yo-Yo Ma
Song: String Quartet No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12, MWV R 25: II. Canzonetta: Allegretto
Artist(s): Felix Mendelssohn, Kapralova Quartet
Song: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian”: III. Con moto moderato
Artist(s): Felix Mendelssohn, Leonard Bernstein
Song: Karelia Suite, Op. 11: 3. Alla marcia. Moderato
Artist(s): Jean Sibelius, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Song: Bagatelle No. 25 in A Minor, “Für Elise”, WoO 59
Artist(s): Ludwig van Beethoven, Lang Lang
Slow
Song: Abeja
Artist(s): Mndsgn, Sofie
Song: BUS RIDE
Artist(s): KAYTRANADA, Karriem Riggins, River Tiber
Song: Electric Chords
Artist(s): Dibia$E
Song: Far Away
Artist(s): Tomppabeats
Song: Gobstopper
Artist(s): J Dilla
Song: Happysad Sunday
Artist(s): Kiefer
Song: In the Chambers of Her Goodness
Artist(s): Georgia Anne Muldrow
Song: Jovial
Artist(s): Limes
Song: NorthGate
Artist(s): ohbliv
Song: ‘90
Artist(s): soho
Upbeat
Song: 7th Sevens
Artist(s): Bonobo
Song: Alma
Artist(s): il:lo
Song: Arey
Artist(s): ITO
Song: Bloom
Artist(s): ODESZA
Song: Canyon Walls
Artist(s): Koresma
Song: Daffodil Pickles
Artist(s): Emancipator
Song: Dawn
Artist(s): ITO
Song: Dilla’s Éclair
Artist(s): DJ Harrison
Song: Emei
Artist(s): il:lo
Song: Frozen
Artist(s): HAELIUM
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References
Listening to Music at Work: Dos and Don'ts. (March 2009). CNN.
How Music Can Make Your Office More (Or Less) Productive. (September 2016). Fast Company.