Salon and barbershop music without the OneMusic licence
OneMusic's rate card puts a 38 m² hair salon on streaming in the Gold 1–50 m² tier — A$666.33 a year for 1 Sep 2026 – 31 Aug 2027, before the streaming subscription itself. The Oktava catalog sits outside the APRA AMCOS and PPCA repertoires that figure pays for, so a salon on Oktava pays A$290 a year, total, and the certificate at reception documents why.
Quiet enough to talk over, good enough to notice
A salon soundtrack has one job: hold the room without interrupting it. The client is in the chair for a cut and a chat; the music underneath should be calm, even in loudness, and free of surprises — no ad breaks, no radio presenters, no sudden vocal peak while someone is mid-sentence. Oktava's salon channels are selected exactly for that: soft acoustic, neutral lounge, unhurried classics, mastered so the volume set at opening still fits at closing.
Because a salon is one visible room with speakers on, it's an easy stop on a OneMusic round. With Oktava nothing from the APRA AMCOS or PPCA repertoires is playing, and you can show it: the named certificate's QR resolves to a live verification page, and the playback log lists what played during any visit in question.
How it works
Sign up, log the player in on the reception tablet or a spare phone, pick two or three calm channels, set the volume once. Certificate and playback log live in the dashboard; cached channels cover internet drops.
What it costs
A$29 a month or A$290 a year per location — against A$666.33 of OneMusic licence for even a small salon on streaming, before the streaming bill. The 7-day trial needs no card.
Questions, answered
Will the music compete with conversation?
No — salon channels are picked for low dynamic range and even loudness. Set the volume once in the morning; it still sits right under the last appointment of the day.
Does a salon this small really need a OneMusic licence?
For repertoire music, yes — OneMusic's rate card starts at 1–50 m², which prices a 38 m² salon on streaming at A$666.33 a year. For the Oktava catalog there is nothing to license: it's outside both the APRA AMCOS and PPCA repertoires.
Is there anything between the tracks — ads, jingles, talk?
Nothing. Music only, track after track. That's the practical difference from radio in a salon, where the ad break always arrives louder than the song.
This information is provided for general reference and is not legal advice.