# Do You Actually Need a Music Licence? PPL PRS Costs for Cafes, Bars and Restaurants

> TheMusicLicence, the joint PPL and PRS for Music licence UK venues need to play copyrighted music, starts from £359.95 a year for a small pub playing background music only, by PPL PRS's own figures. What actually drives the price up, who is genuinely exempt, and what happens if you get caught without one.

- Author: Alex Riesenkampff (Super44)
- Published: 2026-08-17
- Canonical: https://super44.ai/blog/ppl-prs-music-licence

## Key takeaways

- TheMusicLicence, the joint PPL and PRS for Music licence needed to play copyrighted music where customers can hear it, starts at £359.95 a year for a small pub playing background music only, and £400.81 for a similarly sized restaurant or cafe, by PPL PRS's own worked examples (correct as of January 2026).
- PPL and PRS for Music license two different rights sold as one product: PPL covers the sound recording, PRS covers the composition and lyrics, and a venue needs both to play a single released track legally.
- A personal Spotify subscription, even a paid Premium one, does not cover playing music to customers: Spotify's own End User Agreement grants only "personal, non-commercial use."
- PPL PRS's only discretionary exemption applies to a single homeworker with no visitors or customers on the premises, which almost no real cafe, bar or restaurant qualifies for.
- Getting caught playing music without a licence has cost UK operators real money in court: a Muswell Hill bar licensee was ordered to pay PPL £19,000 in 2015, and a Plymouth pub licensee paid PRS £3,200 in costs in 2017, both with a warning that continuing risked prison.

A UK cafe, bar or restaurant that plays any copyrighted music where customers, staff other than the owner, or anyone else on the premises can hear it needs TheMusicLicence, the joint licence from PPL and PRS for Music, and there is no venue small enough to fall below that rule on size alone. **PPL PRS's own worked example prices a small pub playing background music only, up to 400 square metres, at £359.95 a year before VAT, and a similarly sized restaurant or cafe at £400.81** (PPL PRS, Pubs & Bars and Restaurants & Cafés, correct as of January 2026). Most owners already suspect they need a licence. What actually trips people up is everything downstream of that fact: what the fee buys, when a subscription you already pay for does not count, and what happens if you decide to wait and see.

## What TheMusicLicence actually is, and why it is one invoice for two rights

**TheMusicLicence covers two separate copyrights sold together, and a venue needs both to play a single released track legally.** PPL and PRS for Music are distinct collecting societies: PPL "distributes these music licence fees for the use of recorded music on behalf of record companies and performers," while PRS "distributes music licence fees for the use of musical compositions and lyrics on behalf of songwriters, composers and publishers" (PPL PRS, TheMusicLicence, what is it). One right covers the actual recording your speakers play; the other covers the song underneath it, the tune and words a songwriter wrote, regardless of which artist happens to be performing them that day. Playing music in public, under your own roof, to your own customers, is a separate act from broadcasting it, and needs its own permission from both rights holders under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (PPL PRS, Background Music). PPL PRS sells the two together under one brand for a stated, practical reason: "One contact. One invoice. One licence" (PPL PRS, TheMusicLicence).

## What a small venue actually pays

**A background-music-only licence for a venue under 400 square metres starts under £400 a year, but live music, a DJ, karaoke or a bigger footprint push the real bill well past that headline figure.** PPL PRS publishes three worked examples for a venue of 400 square metres or less. A restaurant or cafe up to 30 seats, background music only, costs £400.81 a year, £1.10 a day. A pub or bar of the same size, background music only, costs £359.95 a year, 98p a day. The same pub running a jukebox instead costs from £1.63 a day, roughly £596 a year (PPL PRS, Restaurants & Cafés and Pubs & Bars). A one-off live event for up to 100 people adds £15.11 for a restaurant or cafe and £14.21 for a pub, per event, on top of whichever background licence you already hold (same sources). PPL PRS dates these worked examples itself, "cost example correct as of January 2026," which is worth checking against its own site rather than trusting any article, including this one, for a live figure.

Those numbers are the cheapest case PPL PRS chose to publish, not a typical bill. Pub-trade adviser Orange Jelly works from real licensee cases rather than one worked example. It puts typical annual costs at £500 to £800 for a small background-only pub, £800 to £1,500 once a DJ or occasional live act joins the mix, and £1,500 to £3,000 or more for a venue running regular live music, all excluding VAT (Orange Jelly, PRS and PPL Music Licensing for Pubs). The gap between the two figures is not a contradiction. It is the difference between the smallest, quietest use case PPL PRS chose to headline and what venues actually declare once seating, footfall and real usage are counted in full. Getting an accurate number means going to PPL PRS directly, since a real quote depends on "your type of venue and how you use music in your day-to-day operations" (PPL PRS, Restaurants & Cafés). Its own checklist covers staff numbers and hours, which areas play music, the device used, the square metreage where it can be heard, phone lines if you run music-on-hold, and the scale of any live events, karaoke nights or jukeboxes.

**PPL PRS's own worked examples, venue up to 400 square metres, before VAT**

| Venue and use | Annual cost | Daily rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Restaurant or cafe, up to 30 seats, background music only | £400.81 | £1.10 |
| Pub or bar, background music only | £359.95 | 98p |
| Pub or bar, jukebox instead of background music | ~£596 | from £1.63 |
| Restaurant or cafe, one live event for up to 100 people | £15.11 per event | n/a |
| Pub or bar, one live event for up to 100 people | £14.21 per event | n/a |

*PPL PRS, Restaurants & Cafés and Pubs & Bars, correct as of January 2026. Karaoke, DJs, larger premises and higher live-music attendance are priced through a separate quote.*

Super44 connects to your POS and shows you where your money leaks — then tells you what to do about it: https://super44.ai

A few hundred pounds a year is a rounding error next to [what changed in business rates bills this April](/blog/business-rates-hospitality-2026), but it is one of the smaller fixed costs worth budgeting for correctly rather than guessing at, since guessing wrong here has its own separate consequences, covered below.

## When you genuinely do not need one

**PPL PRS's own exemption is narrow enough that almost no real cafe, bar or restaurant qualifies for it.** The only discretionary carve-out it publishes covers "homeworkers (within a private residence working on their own) or... workplaces with only one worker, where music is not made available to any visitors/customers coming onto the premises" (PPL PRS, Help). The moment a second staff member, a customer or a delivery driver can hear the radio, that exemption is gone, which is to say it does not apply to a trading venue at all.

A second, genuinely common point of confusion is not a licensing exemption in the first place: the Live Music Act 2012. Between 8am and 11pm, it removes the need for an entertainment licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for unamplified live music with no audience cap, and for amplified live music at licensed premises to an audience of 500 or fewer (GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing changes under the Live Music Act). That is a premises-licensing question, about whether your local council needs to approve you putting on live music at all. It has nothing to do with TheMusicLicence, which is a copyright fee owed to the people who wrote and recorded the songs, and holding one exemption does nothing to the other. A pub that reads "Live Music Act exemption" and assumes it covers a Friday-night acoustic set is conflating two different regulators answering two different questions, and only one of them is the one this article is about.

## The subscription that does not solve this

**A personal streaming subscription, even a paid one, does not license a venue to play music to customers, and it catches out honest owners who assume paying for Spotify Premium already settles the question.** Spotify's own End User Agreement grants only "limited, non-exclusive, revocable permission to make personal, non-commercial use of the Spotify Service and the Content," and bars redistributing or transferring the service to others (Spotify, End User Agreement). Licensing solicitors make the same point in plainer language: "Hospitality venues cannot simply play music from their music streaming accounts such as Spotify" (Ella Evagora, Reed Smith LLP, Licensing of music in the UK hospitality industry). A venue needs TheMusicLicence whichever app or device the music plays through, personal account or not.

Paying a background-music vendor is not automatically the fix either, and some of the language used does not make the answer obvious on a quick read. Mood Media, one of the larger commercial suppliers, states that its "background music service is covered under Mood's licensing agreements, in respect to Mood Media-provided service(s) only" (Mood Media, Licensing FAQs). Read carefully, that covers music actually streamed through Mood's own platform. It does not say whether anything else played on the premises is covered, and it does not spell out whether the in-platform cover includes the PPL PRS rights this article is about, or something narrower still. PPL PRS's own account of how background-music suppliers operate is a useful check against that wording. Suppliers "obtain permission from PPL and PRS for Music to allow them to copy music and supply suggested playlists to their customers" (PPL PRS, Background Music). That describes permission to build and distribute a playlist, not necessarily the same thing as your venue holding a public-performance right for everything you play. Ask any vendor to confirm, in writing and by name, that TheMusicLicence is included for your premises specifically, rather than assuming it from language about their own catalogue.

## Live music, DJs, karaoke and jukeboxes cost more, on separate tariffs

**Every use beyond quiet background music, a live act, a DJ, karaoke, or a jukebox, sits on its own separately priced PPL PRS tariff, not an add-on you can assume your background-music rate already covers.** The two published event examples above, £15.11 for a restaurant or cafe and £14.21 for a pub, cover a single one-off live performance for up to 100 people (PPL PRS, Restaurants & Cafés; Pubs & Bars). Running regular karaoke nights or booking a resident DJ moves you onto a different tariff again, priced through PPL PRS's own quote process rather than a headline figure it publishes; we could not find one listed on its public pages, which is worth knowing before trusting a number from a comparison blog that claims otherwise. A jukebox is priced on its own scale too, from £1.63 a day in PPL PRS's own example. If any of these describe your venue, treat the quote checklist mentioned earlier as the honest starting point, not your background-music budget with a few pounds added on top.

## What actually happens if you get caught without one

**PPL PRS does pursue unlicensed venues through the courts, and two UK hospitality cases show the range of what that has actually cost real operators.** In 2015, a High Court order required Bryan John, licensee of the Socialite Bar in Muswell Hill, north London, to pay PPL £19,000 in total, £4,000 in damages plus £15,000 in costs, after he kept playing unlicensed music following an earlier injunction. The court also warned that continuing risked a 28-day prison sentence (Morning Advertiser, £19k fine and prison warning for playing music without a licence, 9 November 2015). In 2017, a Plymouth pub run by licensee Mark David Newton was ordered to pay PRS £3,200 in costs and banned from playing copyrighted music at that pub, or anywhere else he ran, until his licence was current (Morning Advertiser, PRS licence reminder for operators as pub hit with ban and costs, 27 June 2017).

**What one Court of Appeal case does, and does not, tell you**

*Source: Phonographic Performance Ltd v Ellis [2018] EWCA Civ 2812*

- **What it shows:** Breaching a PPL injunction against unlicensed music led to a suspended prison sentence for contempt of court, confirming PPL will escalate to the criminal end of enforcement once a civil order is ignored.
- **What it does not show:** The Court of Appeal refused PPL's request for extra damages, because it found the licensee's failure came from a genuine misunderstanding about who was responsible for holding the licence, not a deliberate refusal to pay.

The Ellis case matters most for anyone taking over an existing lease: the obligation follows whoever is actually playing the music in public, and that is not automatically the same person named on the premises licence or the tenancy agreement. Confirm who holds TheMusicLicence in writing before assuming a predecessor's arrangement, or your landlord's, already covers you.

Short of a court case, the more common route starts with contact rather than a claim. PPL PRS runs a public form for reporting premises playing music without a licence (PPL PRS, Report a Premises). Orange Jelly, a pub-trade adviser drawing on cases it has supported operators through, describes what typically follows: an initial letter or visit, a quick resolution if you comply and pay from the date you were contacted, and legal proceedings only once a venue keeps ignoring it (Orange Jelly, PRS and PPL Music Licensing for Pubs). If you already suspect you have been playing music without a current licence, or that a change of hands means yours has lapsed, contacting PPL PRS first is a materially different conversation than waiting for that letter to arrive. It is also a smaller version of the same "does this rule apply to me" question independent venues are being asked to answer across several fronts at once this year. Our guide to [Martyn's Law](/blog/martyns-law-hospitality) walks the same capacity-based diagnosis for the UK's new counter-terrorism duty, and is equally clear about when the honest answer is that you are out of scope.

## What sorting this out actually looks like for a small operator

**Once TheMusicLicence is in place, operators who have actually been through the process tend to describe it as straightforward, and the ongoing benefit as creative freedom rather than a box ticked.** Ian Martin, co-owner of The Real Ale Classroom, an independent micro-pub group with three sites across Leicester and Lutterworth, described the process in a case study PPL PRS published about the pub. "Working with PPL PRS to get our music licence was really simple to sort out," he said. He frames the point of it as more than paperwork: "It's something that's important to us because we support lots of new bands and new DJ's here and I think it's important to make sure that, particularly in this digital world, that they do get that reward," he added. His co-owner, Steve Tabbernor, points to the practical upside of holding the licence rather than guessing at what is allowed: "Because we've got TheMusicLicence, we've got a bit of freedom to choose what we like" (PPL PRS, The Real Ale Classroom success story). Neither describes a complicated process, which matches PPL PRS's own quote checklist: a handful of facts about the venue, not a lengthy application.

## Does the music even earn its keep? The trade-off nobody prices in

**Playing music is not free once the licence is counted, and the clearest evidence on whether it is worth it says the choice that actually matters is tempo, not whether to play music at all, which cuts against a simple "more energy means more revenue" instinct.** A peer-reviewed field experiment across 282 real restaurant tables found diners hearing slow-tempo background music, 72 beats per minute or below, stayed a mean 80.3 minutes, 40.2% longer than diners hearing fast-tempo music at 94 beats per minute or above, who stayed 57.29 minutes; a no-manipulation control group stayed 69.22 minutes (Malcman, Azar, Shavit & Rosenboim, Behavioral Sciences, 2024). Average bill size did not differ significantly across the three conditions, but fast tempo produced significantly higher tips than the control group, while slow tempo moved tips not at all.

That is a real trade-off, not a free lever. Slower music that keeps tables occupied for longer can suit a venue built around lingering, higher-margin covers, and can just as easily work against one that depends on turning tables quickly at lunch. Before treating "put some music on" as a costless decision once the licence is sorted, decide honestly which of those two businesses you are actually running, and pick tempo, not just presence or absence of music, to match it, rather than assuming louder or faster automatically means busier or more profitable.

**Before you assume you're covered, or that you're not**

- [ ] **Check who actually holds it**: If you took over an existing venue, confirm in writing whether TheMusicLicence transferred to you or lapsed with the previous operator.
- [ ] **Get a real quote, not a blog estimate**: Use PPL PRS's own quote checklist, seats, square metres, hours, devices, live events, rather than a headline figure from anywhere else, including this article.
- [ ] **Stop relying on a personal streaming account**: A personal Spotify or similar subscription is not licensed for commercial play, whatever the venue or the plan.
- [ ] **Get vendor cover confirmed in writing**: If you use a background-music supplier, ask them to state in writing that TheMusicLicence is included for your premises, not just their own catalogue.
- [ ] **Budget separately for live music, a DJ, karaoke or a jukebox**: Each sits on its own PPL PRS tariff, not an extension of your background-music rate.

## FAQ

### Do I need a music licence just for playing background radio in my cafe?

Yes, if a second staff member, a customer or anyone else on the premises can hear it. PPL PRS's only discretionary exemption covers a single homeworker in a private residence with no visitors or customers present, which rules out almost every real venue, however small or quiet the music.

### What's the difference between PPL and PRS?

PPL licenses the sound recording on behalf of record companies and performers; PRS for Music licenses the underlying composition and lyrics on behalf of songwriters, composers and publishers. Playing a released track uses both rights at once, which is why they are sold together as TheMusicLicence rather than separately.

### How much does TheMusicLicence actually cost for a small pub or restaurant?

PPL PRS's own example puts background-music-only use at £359.95 a year for a pub up to 400 square metres and £400.81 for a similarly sized restaurant or cafe, both before VAT and correct as of January 2026. Real bills run higher once live music, a DJ, karaoke or a jukebox is added, so treat this as a floor, not a quote.

### Does my personal Spotify Premium subscription cover playing music in my venue?

No. Spotify's End User Agreement grants only personal, non-commercial use, and licensing solicitors confirm hospitality venues cannot rely on a personal streaming account to play music to customers. You need TheMusicLicence regardless of which app or device plays the music.

### What happens if I get caught playing music without a licence?

PPL PRS typically starts with a letter or a visit, and paying from the date you were contacted usually resolves it. Continued non-compliance has led to real UK court cases, including a £19,000 payment ordered against one bar licensee and a prison warning against another, so treat an early letter as the cheap outcome, not a bluff.

### Do I need a separate licence for live music, DJs or karaoke?

Yes. PPL PRS prices live events, DJs, karaoke and jukeboxes on separate tariffs from background music, and a one-off live performance for up to 100 people already carries its own per-event fee on top of any background-music licence you hold.

## Sources

1. [PPL PRS: TheMusicLicence, what is it](https://pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/) — Defines PPL and PRS's separate rights and TheMusicLicence as one combined product
2. [PPL PRS: Restaurants & Cafés](https://pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/sectors/restaurants-cafes/) — Worked cost example, live-event tariff, and the quote checklist; dated correct as of January 2026
3. [PPL PRS: Pubs & Bars](https://pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/sectors/pubs-bars/) — Worked cost example for background music and jukebox use; dated correct as of January 2026
4. [PPL PRS: Music Licence Cost](https://pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/music-licence-cost/) — Cross-validates the restaurant, pub and jukebox figures against the sector pages
5. [PPL PRS: Help](https://pplprs.co.uk/help/) — States the homeworker/single-worker exemption and the temporary event permit
6. [PPL PRS: Report a Premises](https://pplprs.co.uk/report-a-premises/) — Confirms the public reporting mechanism for unlicensed premises exists
7. [PPL PRS: Background Music](https://pplprs.co.uk/background-music/) — Explains how background-music suppliers obtain permission to copy and supply playlists, and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 basis for needing permission to play music in public
8. [PPL PRS: The Real Ale Classroom success story](https://pplprs.co.uk/success-stories/the-real-ale-classroom/) — Named operator quotes from co-owners Ian Martin and Steve Tabbernor; undated case study
9. [GOV.UK: Entertainment licensing changes under the Live Music Act](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/entertainment-licensing-changes-under-the-live-music-act) — Sets out the Live Music Act 2012 exemptions from entertainment licensing, a separate regime from copyright licensing
10. [Spotify: End User Agreement](https://www.spotify.com/uk/legal/end-user-agreement/) — Grants only personal, non-commercial use of the Spotify service
11. [Reed Smith LLP: Licensing of music in the UK hospitality industry](https://www.reedsmith.com/en/perspectives/hospitality/2023/01/licensing-of-music-in-the-uk-hospitality-industry) — Ella Evagora, 24 January 2023; confirms venues cannot rely on personal streaming accounts
12. [Mood Media: Licensing FAQs](https://support.moodmedia.com/licensing/licensing-faqs/) — States its licensing covers only music supplied through its own platform
13. [Orange Jelly: PRS and PPL Music Licensing for Pubs](https://www.orangejelly.co.uk/licensees-guide/prs-ppl-music-licensing-pubs) — Pub-trade adviser's real-world cost bands and description of the enforcement process, fetched 17 August 2026
14. [Morning Advertiser: £19k fine and prison warning for playing music without a licence](https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2015/11/09/19k-fine-and-prison-warning-for-playing-music-without-a-licence/) — 9 November 2015; Socialite Bar, Muswell Hill
15. [Morning Advertiser: PRS licence reminder for operators as pub hit with ban and costs](https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2017/06/27/PRS-licence-reminder-for-operators-as-pub-hit-with-ban-and-costs/) — 27 June 2017; Weston Mill Hotel, Plymouth
16. [National Archives: Phonographic Performance Ltd v Ellis, judgment](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2018/2812) — [2018] EWCA Civ 2812; Court of Appeal declined extra damages over a genuine misunderstanding about responsibility for the licence
17. [Malcman, Azar, Shavit & Rosenboim: How Does Background Music Affect Dining Duration, Tips and Bill Amounts in Restaurants? A Field Experiment](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11673941/) — Behavioral Sciences, 13 December 2024; 282-table field experiment on music tempo