Short answer: because Soundtrack.io is a paid, commercial-grade music service that handles licensing, reporting, multi-location control, scheduling and business-grade reliability — things YouTube playlists (a free, consumer-facing service) don’t provide. If you’re playing music publicly (in a business) or need DMCA-safe streaming control for recorded/monetized content, Soundtrack.io solves legal and operational problems that YouTube playlists don’t. (soundtrack.io)

Why (detail, quick bullets):

• Licensed for public/commercial use — Soundtrack bundles the rights and reporting businesses need (and in the U.S./Canada covers public performance rights for typical use cases). Playing consumer services or raw YouTube playlists in a public/business setting can be a copyright/legal problem. (soundtrack.io)

• Avoids Content ID / DMCA / monetization problems — YouTube’s Content ID and DMCA systems can mute, demonetize, or remove content (or even interrupt/ban live streams) when copyrighted music is detected. Soundtrack’s catalog and licensing model remove that risk for covered use cases. (legalclarity.org)

• Business features YouTube lacks — scheduling, multi-location dashboards, centralized management, explicit-lyrics filters, offline playback and hardware/Sonos integration, API access and curated/AI playlist tools — important for stores, restaurants, gyms, chains and pro events. YouTube playlists are just consumer playback without those controls. (soundtrack.io)

• Better artist/royalty handling — Soundtrack says it tracks and reports plays so creators/labels are paid appropriately for business use; many consumer-play services do not pay or are not licensed for commercial use. (soundtrack.io)

What YouTube playlists are still good for

• Personal listening at home, informal private parties, or for creating and sharing music collections with friends — they’re free and easy. But they aren’t a safe/legal replacement for a licensed business music solution or for guaranteed DMCA-safe streaming of recorded/monetized content. (en.wikipedia.org)

Trade-offs

• Cost: Soundtrack is a paid service with per-location/zone pricing and enterprise plans; YouTube is free (or ad-supported / behind Premium). If your need is casual and private, YouTube may be fine. If you need legal/commercial coverage, reliability, scheduling and centralized control, Soundtrack justifies the cost. (soundtrack.io)

One more note for streamers: Twitch once offered “Soundtrack by Twitch” (rights-cleared music) but that product was shut down in July 2023, so don’t assume platform-provided livestream music tools are always available — use dedicated licensed services or music libraries that explicitly state they allow streaming/VOD use. (support.distrokid.com)

If you want, tell me which use case applies (business storefront, restaurant, streamer, VOD/YouTube channel, or just personal use) and I’ll give the most cost-effective options and concrete next steps.