Café Fitout Checklist: Sound System & Music Licensing

A practical sound, speaker and music-licensing checklist for cafés being built or refurbished in Australia — the line item most fitouts forget. VibeBeats is direct-licensed background music for cafés, restaurants, bars, gyms, retail stores, salons, spas, clinics and hotels. No music licensing/PRO fees (*No separate public-performance music licence needed for VibeBeats music.) Other music sources may still require licensing. The AI DJ reshapes each playlist through the trading day.

Café Fitout Checklist: Don't Forget Your Sound System & Music Licensing

TL;DR. When fitting out a new café in Australia, plan four things alongside your espresso machine: ceiling speaker zones, an amp + streaming source, acoustic treatment, and a commercial music licence. Doing it during fitout is 5× cheaper than retrofitting after opening.

Most café fitout checklists obsess over benchtops, ovens and grinders, then leave music as a "we'll sort it" item the week before soft launch. The result: a $250 Bluetooth speaker on top of the till, music skipping every time a staff member opens TikTok, and a OneMusic letter six weeks later.

Here's the version that doesn't bite you.

Plan zones before you wire anything

A café usually needs two zones: front of house (customers) and back of house (staff/kitchen). Some have a third — outdoor courtyard. Each zone wants:

• Independent volume control (so you can lift FOH for the dinner sitting without blasting the kitchen). • Same audio source (so you don't have three different playlists fighting each other).

Map the zones on the floor plan before the electrician roughs in cabling.

Choose ceiling speakers over bookshelves

For an open café floor, distributed in-ceiling speakers beat a single pair of bookshelf speakers every time. You get:

• Even coverage (no "loud table" vs "quiet table"). • Lower per-speaker volume = less listener fatigue. • Speakers that disappear into the design.

Plan one ceiling speaker per ~10–12m² of customer space. Most cafés land at 4–8 speakers FOH plus 1–2 BOH.

Specify the amp and source rack

A small 70V or 100V amp lives in a comms cupboard or under the bar. The streaming source is usually:

• A wall-mounted tablet running your music service. • A small player box. • A laptop (least reliable — avoid for production).

Make sure the rack has power, network and ventilation, and that someone can reach it without lifting a banquette.

Acoustic treatment isn't optional

Hard floors + concrete walls + ceiling height = espresso machine reverb that drowns out the music. Even a few felt panels above the bar and on one wall transform how the music sits in the room. Talk to your fitout designer early — retrofitting acoustic panels into a finished cafe is awkward and ugly.

The music licence (the line item people forget)

The day you open, you're playing music to the public. In Australia that triggers:

• APRA AMCOS — covers songwriters and publishers. • PPCA — covers recording artists and labels. • Both are usually bundled through a OneMusic licence.

Personal Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube don't cover this. See our full breakdown: Music licensing for Australian businesses and APRA vs PPCA vs OneMusic explained.

The cleaner alternative is a directly licensed service like VibeBeats, where the music itself is already licensed for business — no OneMusic on top, one bill, no annual licence renewal admin.

The fitout sound checklist

• [ ] FOH/BOH/outdoor zones mapped on floor plan • [ ] Ceiling speakers spec'd (~1 per 10–12m²) • [ ] Amplifier + source rack with power, network, ventilation • [ ] Volume controls per zone • [ ] Acoustic panels behind/above bar • [ ] Streaming device (tablet or player) wall-mounted • [ ] Commercial music licence selected (OneMusic + streaming, or direct-licensed service) • [ ] Test playlist running at handover

Where VibeBeats fits

We're the sound line item for new cafés: a directly licensed, AI-curated café music service that runs on any device, scales by daypart, and removes the OneMusic bill. Start a free trial or see music for cafés.

FAQ

How much should I budget for café sound during fitout? Realistically AUD $1,500–$4,000 for speakers, amp, cabling and install in a small-to-mid café. Music subscription is separate (see VibeBeats current pricing).

Can I just use a Sonos system? Sonos hardware is fine; the catch is the music source. A personal Spotify account on a Sonos still isn't licensed for commercial use.

Do I need a music licence on day one? Yes. The moment you open to the public and play music, you trigger licence obligations.

What's the cheapest compliant setup? A direct-licensed service like VibeBeats on a tablet, into a small amp and four ceiling speakers. No OneMusic licence required for our catalogue.

Start your 14-day free trial — no credit card required.