Party On With the Best Summer Playlist for Company Events

Planning the party of the year? Whether you’re hosting customers, clients, vendors, or even just a morale-boosting bash for your employees, every party needs great music to keep the atmosphere up. But putting together the perfect party music as a company is a little more complicated than just finding the best songs for summer playlists. If your company’s ready to rock, here are our tips, tricks, and need-to-knows for your summer playlist. 

Rules to Follow for Music at Company Events

While anyone can put together a list of personal favorites for a party playlist, you’re not just playing music for yourself. The music you play at your event, just like everything else you do as a company, needs to follow certain rules to stay professional and within legal limitations. Here are some essential rules you need to know about playing music for your company’s crowd. 

• Keep It SFW: Keep the music safe-for-work. Music with vulgar lyrics, racial slurs, or other problematic elements should not be on your summer playlist for company events.

• Aim for Atmosphere: Unless you’re hiring live musicians, the music isn’t typically meant to be the center of attention at big events. Let the people, the conversation, the activities, and the food take center stage, and stick to music that creates an atmosphere more than it takes over the party. In other words, now is not the time to try and get your coworkers hooked on your garage band album from the 70s.
• Mind the Copyright: Unless this is a small-scale, internal party (think 100 people or less) music played at company events can count as public performances. This means you need permission to play copyrighted music, or you could open yourself up to legal liability (not fun.)

Pro tip: Feeling overwhelmed trying to put together the perfect playlist to last the entire event? Consider hiring a DJ. Professional DJs will have their own pre-mixed playlists for any type of event and are happy to take requests on top of that. This also means you don’t have to stress the copyrights – they’ll handle the licensing for the songs they play. They also read the room well and can change tracks when it looks like the party needs more energy, when people are ready for more ambiance, etc. 

Need a few ideas for what you’re doing at this company party? Check out our other blog post with awesome company picnic ideas. 

Tips to Put Together Your Ultimate Summer Playlist

When tracking down the best music for your summer playlist, here are a few things to look out for in the songs you choose: 

• Know your copyrights: again, big company events count as public performances, which means you need to either use public domain music or get permission from the copyright owners.
• Know your atmosphere: Is there going to be dancing? Talking? Beachside activities? Make sure your music matches the style of the event.

• Keep it flexible: If you’re playing DJ on your own, make sure you have a lot of songs to last through the event, plus a variety of song styles to match the needs of the event.
• Keep it peppy: Now is not the time to play sad ballads about lost dogs or angry raps about deadbeat dads. This is a summer party, so aim for songs that have a positive, fun energy your audience can vibe to while sipping chardonnays and expanding their social network.
• Keep it compatible: How are you playing the music? Do you have everything set up in a way that is easy to control and is compatible with your sound system? Have these details hammered out and TESTED OUT in advance.
• Don’t shy from the classics: When you find a oldy-but-a-goodie, don’t worry about being cliché! Your party-goers are sure to love a good classic, and as long as you have permission to play it, recognizable songs are a great way to bring pep to your party.

Classic Summer Songs to Add to Every Summer Playlist

Warning note: These songs are not public domain. To play these songs at a public event, you’ll need to get permission from the license holders (easier for some songs than others.) Combine these songs and more with your other songs collected from the public domain to create a well-rounded and fun-filled summer playlist for the ultimate party. 

Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts

A classic that takes your audience for a ride, upbeat and ready for summer fun. 

Every Time We Touch – Cascada

Popular and full of energy, this song is guaranteed to get toes tapping. 

Shut Up and Drive – Rihanna

A full-of-fun, full of sass song ready to get heads bobbing at your next summer event. 

Walkin’ On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves

An oldie but a goodie, this one is for those missing the 80s and ready for some summer nostalgia. 

Surfin’ Safari – The Beach Boys

A bouncy hit from the 60s perfect for beach parties and outdoor events. 

Flowers – Miley Cyrus

A high-energy song about self-love, perfect for having a good time. 

Anti-Hero – Taylor Swift

A popular new hit from the ever-popular T-Swift, guaranteed to get your toes tapping. 

Good Time – Adam Young, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Owl City

Perfect for putting some pep in your step, Owl City is always an easy go-to for SFW music that everyone loves. 

Beautiful Day – U2

A positive, happy summer day song with a good beat your audience can get behind. 

Looking for more ways to bring the pep to your party? Check out our collection of summer promotional products you can sneak into your guests’ goodie bags! You can also encourage guests to enjoy more summer music with these promotional speakers. 

Free Places to Find and Download Public Domain Music

There are lots of great music libraries online that offer free access to public domain and no-license music. To create your perfect summer playlist, filter your searches in these libraries for songs that are upbeat, energetic, happy, etc. Here are a few of those libraries you can start using right now to download the best songs for summer playlists. 

• Free Music Archive: Create a free account to get access to a massive library of free-to-use music across a variety of genres.
• Pixabay Music: Pixabay is a great place to find free stock art as well as free to use and download music.
• Autonautix: A massive free-to-use library of music composed and produced by Jason Shaw. Search for the music types that fit your event.

Beach parties and twinkle-light cocktail events are the highlight of any summer, so make sure you’ve planned ahead and ironed out the details in advance so you and your guests can have some serious summer fun. Whether you’re hiring a DJ or acting as your own, hammer out your plans for your summer playlist that will give your party that sweet sunny day feeling.