Music for the lobby, the breakfast room and every public space

Which station fits the lobby, the breakfast room and the pool?

Start the lobby on Elevator Music: lush strings, vibraphone, cocktail organ and a soft brushed bossa sway, "straight out of an old hotel lobby" in its own description. Original instrumental music, generated and mastered by eleMusic. No vocals, no ads, no commercial recordings.

One honest limit: no station is built for a workout. Tempos run from 50 to 120 beats per minute with no driving beat, so a gym that wants a beat should look elsewhere.

A lobby can play one station around the clock: each device plays its station in its own shuffled order and works through the station before starting over. Preview all 8 stations before you choose.

How does a zoned sound system count as devices?

A device is one stream: a tablet feeding the ceiling speakers in several rooms counts once. Public-area speakers often run from a multi-zone amplifier, and eleMusic counts the sources feeding it. One tablet at the amplifier input is one device, and every zone on that feed hears the same station. A different station per zone needs a source per zone: a tablet at each zone's input, or a Chromecast per zone, each fed by its own device in a browser that can cast (the setup guide lists which); the device that casts is the one the plan counts. Test casting on your own equipment first.

Clinic is a plan name, not a limit on who buys it; the pricing page has a row for every count. Two properties are two locations, each with its own plan, access code and certificate:

Each Location needs its own Practice Plan and Access Code. A plan and its Access Code may be used only at the Location they were set up for.

eleMusic Terms of Service (version 2026-10-11), Section 8.5, read October 12, 2026

Five or more locations take 15% off every location. Prices in US dollars, plus applicable sales tax. How the multi-location discount works.

Who controls it overnight and in the morning?

The front desk does, signed in as the location's owner or admin, from the Rooms panel in the web player (zones, in hotel terms). The panel lists every connected device by the name you gave it, shows whether it is live, and can change one zone's station, play, pause or skip it, or send Pause all, Play all or one station to every zone. After an idle spell the first command can take up to about 2 minutes.

There is no timer or daypart schedule today, so a lobby that should change at night changes by hand: night audit pauses or switches it, and the morning shift presses Play all before breakfast. A zone's device has to stay awake with the player open; the player does not keep a screen awake by itself, so set that on the device. Volume is set on the device or at the amplifier, except for a zone casting to a Chromecast, which the panel can adjust. Once the player is open again after a power cut, the zone picks up its station where it left off in the day's order, though some browsers wait for one tap first. Label devices by place, such as Lobby or Pool, never by a person; the player has no microphone and needs no guest information.

What is outside the subscription?

The license is background playback through the eleMusic player inside one property, on the plan's device count. In the Terms' words, the customer may play the music:

through the Player, as ambient background audio, within the physical premises of that Location, on no more devices at a time than its Device Allowance.

eleMusic Terms of Service (version 2026-10-11), Section 9.1, read October 12, 2026

Five things a hotel might expect that it does not include, from Section 9.1 and Section 9.2:

• In-room TV and audio channels. A guest-room TV channel, a head-end or an in-room entertainment system is not the eleMusic player, which Section 9.1 requires, and the license excludes use "in or with video, film, television, radio". We offer no in-room channel.
• Events. Weddings, banquets, DJs and live music: the license excludes "DJ sets, live performances or events, or anywhere it is a featured attraction rather than background ambience".
• The phone system. "music on hold, voicemail and interactive voice response (IVR)" are excluded.
• Another property. A sister hotel needs its own plan; the license excludes use "at or for any other business or location".
• A restaurant or bar run by another company. Another business, so its own plan.

What changes for a hotel that already deals with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR?

eleMusic changes only the music the eleMusic player plays. eleMusic does not register its generated catalog with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR. Every location with an active plan or trial gets an Original Catalog Certificate in its name. Other music, radio, TV and on-hold audio are outside its scope. In a hotel that includes the bar's playlist, lobby TVs with sound, live music and the hold music on the phones. You are responsible for licensing any other music or audio you play. Ask your own lawyer if you are unsure. The Terms and the certificate say "practice" for every customer, hotels included.

The trade's own pages leave the question with the property. The American Hotel and Lodging Association's music licensing page says "each member will need to make its own determination as to what music licenses are required on premises", and the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association writes that the four organizations' licenses "primarily apply to the public areas of the hotel property, rather than individual guest rooms" (April 30, 2018; both read October 12, 2026). The federal radio and TV exemption is quoted word for word in our dental radio guide; its text is about broadcasts and does not mention a music service. Ask your attorney which public areas and outlets your current licenses name, and whether the phone system's hold music is licensed separately. If a letter arrives, forward it as our PRO letter guide describes; if the question is Spotify in the lobby, our FAQ quotes Spotify's own page. The names the four organizations give their hotel licenses are in our guide to music licenses for businesses.

Ready to hear it in the lobby?

Listen to the stations, then start a trial for the property. 14-day trial. Card required, nothing due at checkout. For a management company or a group with central purchasing, contact us before checkout; a self-serve plan is not a custom agreement, and plans are sold to businesses for their US premises. Most US hotels are franchised ("57% of all U.S. hotels are franchised", AHLA's 2025 Policy Guide, read October 12, 2026), so check your brand's public-area standards first; we make no claim about them.

Hotels already using eleMusic can sign in to manage the property or connect a zone with its access code.

Sources

1. eleMusic Terms of Service, Section 9.1: what you may do, accessed October 12, 2026
2. eleMusic Terms of Service, Section 9.2: what the license does not include, accessed October 12, 2026
3. eleMusic Terms of Service, Section 8.5: one plan for each Location, accessed October 12, 2026
4. eleMusic Terms of Service, Section 14.1: business use only, accessed October 12, 2026
5. American Hotel and Lodging Association: Music Licensing, accessed October 12, 2026
6. American Hotel and Lodging Association: 2025 Policy Guide (PDF), accessed October 12, 2026
7. Texas Hotel and Lodging Association: Music Licensing: ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC (April 30, 2018), accessed October 12, 2026