How much does a business music licence cost in the UK?
TheMusicLicence isn’t a flat fee: it’s calculated from your premises and how you use music, which is exactly why overcharges are so common.
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If you play recorded or live music in a business in the UK (in a shop, restaurant, salon, gym, office or showroom) you almost certainly need TheMusicLicence, issued by PPL PRS Ltd on behalf of PPL and PRS for Music. But unlike a simple subscription, there is no single price. What you pay is calculated from your specific premises and how you use music. For the wider picture, start with our complete guide to the music licence.
What determines the cost#
In most cases both a PPL tariff and a PRS for Music tariff apply, and the two organisations set their rates separately. The fee is driven by factors such as:
- The floor area that is audible to customers, usually the single biggest factor.
- How music is used: background music versus live performances, DJ nights, karaoke or dance facilities.
- Opening hours and days: venues open long hours or seven days a week typically pay more.
- The number of sites, devices and, on some tariffs, staff numbers or venue capacity.
To make that concrete, here are current published examples (2026 rates, excluding VAT: PPL and PRS re-index annually, so treat these as a snapshot):
- Small shop, background music, audible area up to 100m²: about £451 a year, PRS Tariff RS £246.80 plus PPL £204.19.
- Small office, factory or garage with up to 4 staff, music not audible to customers: £140.59 a year (PRS Tariff I £68.13 plus PPL £72.46).
- Restaurant or café playing the radio, up to 30 seats: about £401 a year (a CD player or jukebox pushes the PRS element higher).
- The largest commercial users can be billed several thousand pounds a year, and multi-site estates add up quickly.
Because rates change each year on staggered dates, always check the figure against the current published tariffs for your business type.
2026 tariff tables (a snapshot)#
Most published guides won’t show you the actual grids. Here are the current ones for shops. All figures exclude VAT, are 2026 editions, and re-index annually (the PRS shops tariff each January), so treat them as a snapshot rather than a quote.
| Audible area | PRS standard / year |
|---|---|
| Up to 100m² | £246.80 |
| 101–200m² | £359.90 |
| 201–300m² | £473.70 |
| 301–500m² | £586.70 |
| 751–1,000m² | £813.60 |
| Each additional 1,000m² | +£114.50 |
Under the PRS shops tariff the minimum charge is £133.40 a year per shop, and the same reduced rate applies where the only music is a single portable radio or small TV (up to 26 inches, with built-in speakers) audible over no more than 100m². A ‘higher royalty rate’ (standard plus 50%) applies in the first year only if you played music before getting licensed.
| Audible area | PPL / year |
|---|---|
| Up to 600m² | £204.19 |
| Each additional 50m² band | +£17.68 |
| 951–1,000m² | £345.63 |
A shop’s total is the PRS figure plus the PPL figure, so a ≤100m² shop playing background music is roughly £246.80 + £204.19 = £450.99 + VAT.
| Business / setup | Approx. per year |
|---|---|
| Office, up to 4 staff | £168.71 |
| Shop, single radio/TV, ≤50m² | £235.50 |
| Hair & beauty, radio, ≤5 seats | £238.33 |
| Pub/bar, radio, ≤400m² | £364.62 |
| Restaurant/café, radio, ≤30 seats & ≤400m² | £400.81 |
| Shop, background music, ≤100m² | £450.99 |
| Fitness instructor, 3 classes/wk, 50 wks | £345.00 |
Why businesses overpay#
Because the fee depends on so many inputs, small inaccuracies quietly inflate the bill: storerooms or staff-only areas counted as audible area, usage classified as live entertainment when only background music is played, or licences never re-assessed after a refit or downsizing. The licensing body won’t proactively correct these for you.
The bottom line#
There’s no fixed answer to “how much does a music licence cost”, but there is a right answer for your business, and it’s often lower than what’s on the invoice. If you’d like a second opinion, we’ll check your invoice and tell you whether there’s money to recover. One site? The free Invoice Check gives you a written verdict in five working days. Four or more sites? The estate review is free and we only charge if we recover money. See pricing.
Common questions
- How much is a PRS licence in the UK?
- For a small shop playing background music, the PRS for Music half of TheMusicLicence starts at roughly £131 a year ex-VAT, and a hair or beauty salon with 1 to 5 chairs pays £125 under Tariff H&B. PRS is only half the bill though: a separate PPL tariff is added on top, so the combined figure for that same small salon is about £352 a year. PRS publishes its tariffs by sector, so the rate that applies to you is a published figure, not an estimate.
- How much is a music licence for a small business?
- Most single-site small businesses playing background music pay somewhere between £335 and £600 a year ex-VAT for PPL and PRS combined. A small pub on background music only is around £335 to £400, a typical 6 to 10 chair salon about £392, and a small retail shop around £450. The figure rises steeply once music becomes the entertainment itself, so a pub running DJ nights twice a week can reach £2,100 to £4,000.
- Why is my PPL PRS bill higher than these figures?
- Usually because of what was declared rather than how the sum was worked out. The fee is calculated from a number you gave PPL PRS, often by phone when the licence was first set up: your audible floor area, chair count, room count or event capacity. Those numbers go stale after a refit, a downsizing or a change of use, and nothing in the process prompts a review. A first-year 50% higher rate also applies to some PRS tariffs and occasionally keeps being charged beyond year one.
- How do I check whether my music licence invoice is correct?
- Because the tariff bands are published exactly, you can work backwards: take the amount billed, match it against the published band for your sector, and that tells you what figure PPL PRS believes applies to your premises. Then check that figure against reality. Our free tariff calculator does the first half, and the free Invoice Check does the whole thing and gives you a written verdict in five working days.
- Can I get a refund if I have been overpaying?
- Often yes. PRS states it can investigate adjustments going back three years, and under the Limitation Act 1980 the recovery window for money paid by mistake runs to six years from each payment. In practice PPL PRS will usually agree three years voluntarily, and pushing further takes a formal demand. Backdated recovery is frequently worth more than the corrected annual fee.
Want it checked or set up properly?
- Already paying? Send your latest invoice for a free check and a plain-English answer within five working days.
- Four or more sites? A free estate check, site by site, with a clear summary of anything that's off.
- No licence yet? We tell you exactly what to declare and make the application for you.
Get told when the rates change
PPL and PRS re-index their tariffs every year. Leave your email and we'll let you know when the main rates change (January and July), with a reminder to check your invoice. Nothing else, and you can unsubscribe any time.
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This guide is general information, not legal advice, and MLC is an independent consultancy, not affiliated with PPL PRS Ltd, PRS for Music or PPL.