Free vs. Licensed Funeral Music — Why Copyright-Free BGM Matters for Your Funeral Home
Many funeral homes are unknowingly breaking copyright law every single day. Playing music from streaming services, CDs, or downloaded files at a commercial funeral service without proper licensing exposes your business to serious legal risk. Here is what you need to know. ■ The Copyright Problem in Funeral Homes Copyright law applies to music played in commercial settings — and a funeral home is a commercial setting, even when the services feel deeply personal. When you play music at a funeral home service, you are performing that music publicly in a commercial context. This requires either: ① A public performance license (from ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC in the US) ② Direct licensing from the copyright holder ③ Using music that is genuinely copyright-free or royalty-free Most funeral homes do none of these. ■ What Counts as Copyright Infringement? ▷ Playing a Spotify or Apple Music playlist at a service ❌ Not licensed for commercial public performance ▷ Playing YouTube videos ...