How much does a business music licence cost in the UK?

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.

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.

As a rough guide, a small shop with an audible area of around 100m² can expect to pay in the region of a few hundred pounds a year, while the largest commercial users can be billed several thousand pounds — and multi-site estates add up quickly.

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 review your invoices for free and tell you whether there’s money to recover.

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.