How much is a music licence for a pub? 2026 UK costs

A music licence for a pub playing background music combines two separate charges: PRS for Music's Tariff 'P', for the songs, and PPL's tariff PPLPP210, for the recordings. Both are worked out from measurements at your premises, but not the same measurement. PRS prices background music by your bar area and by what you play it through. PPL prices it by the audible area of the whole building. DJ nights, discos and live music sit on different tariffs again, covered further down.

PRS for Music: Tariff 'P' (from 1 October 2026)#

PRS's background music charge for pubs applies to "bar area": the floor area of all bars, measured wall to wall, excluding the counters and serving areas, but including drinking areas such as halls and passages that are effectively part of them. It doesn't cover restaurants, function rooms or dining rooms attached to the pub; those are charged under a different PRS tariff. The bar area is split into two bands, up to 120m² and 121m² or more, and within each band the rate depends on the type of equipment used. Streaming through a phone, tablet or digital music service falls into the "record and/or compact disc and/or tape player and/or digital music service" row, which is the highest of the five.

Where you were playing music before the licence started, PRS charges the higher rate, standard plus 50%, for the first licence year only, reverting to standard after that. The minimum annual royalty under this tariff is £128.34 standard, or £192.51 at the higher rate. VAT is added on top, and the figures re-index every 1 October.

PPL: PPLPP210 (1 January to 31 December 2026)#

PPL's charge is based on "audible area": the total area of the premises where sound recordings are audible, including corridors, toilets, lifts and reception, and, in a pub or bar, any attached restaurant or food area. It isn't limited to the bar the way PRS's charge is. The published bands are:

Above 600m², the fee rises by £25.52 for each further 50m² band, and the tariff says it keeps increasing pro rata at that rate beyond the 1,000m² shown in its table. PPL offers a concessionary fee of 50% of the 1 to 400m² band rate if your audible area is 50m² or less and you play only "traditional" BBC, Ofcom-licensed AM/FM, or BBC1/BBC2/ITV1/Channel 4/S4C/Five broadcasts, with no admission charge. A 50% surcharge applies if recordings were played without first obtaining or renewing the licence.

What a small pub playing background music pays#

So a pub with a bar under 120m² playing a streaming service pays £525.13 a year before VAT, or £630.16 including VAT, on background music alone. Because the two tariffs measure different things (the bar for PRS, the whole audible premises for PPL), a pub with a large dining area attached will see its PPL figure move up a band well before its PRS figure does. Use the tariff calculator to work out your own combination, or see the full 2026 tariff tables.

PPL PRS's own worked example#

PPL PRS's pubs and bars sector page states that a pub or bar with an audible area of up to 400m² could play music via a jukebox for £616.24 a year (plus VAT), and that its combined yearly pub and bar music licence could cost around £364.62 a year (plus VAT) for the same audible area, correct as of September 2026. Those figures are quoted directly from PPL PRS's site and may not use the same assumptions as the tables above, so treat them as a separate published example rather than a match for a specific device band.

DJ nights, discos and live music cost differently#

Once music stops being background and becomes the reason people are there, it moves to a different tariff. Under Tariff 'P', discotheques, karaoke, music quizzes and other featured recorded music are charged per session, based on the room's capacity, not the bar area. Live music sessions are charged per session by capacity (a free-entry session is £14.64 standard for up to 100 people, plus £3.70 per further 25, so £22.04 at a capacity of 150), as a percentage of expenditure on performers, or as a percentage of gross admission receipts, depending on how the session is run. PPL's equivalent is its Specially Featured Entertainment tariff, PPLPP299, charged per event on duration and attendance. A pub with dining rooms, a bar and weekly live music can add all three in the pub and restaurant mode of the calculator. If your pub runs DJ nights or discos, see our dedicated guides on pubs with DJ nights and the SFE tariff for how that side is priced.

Where pub bills go wrong#

• PPL's audible area measured as the whole building including areas customers can't actually hear music in, or never updated after a refit.
• PRS's bar area including a separate restaurant or function room that should be charged, if at all, under a different tariff.
• The equipment category billed higher than what's actually used, for example a music-centre rate applied where only a simple radio is played.
• A DJ night or quiz billed on the background music tariff instead of the discotheque/SFE basis, or the reverse.
• A first-year higher rate or surcharge still showing after the first licence year.

How to check yours#

Your invoice shows the total, not the bar area, audible area or equipment category it was calculated from. Ask PPL PRS for the Usage Summary for each licence, and compare it against your premises today. If you have one site and want a written verdict, the free Invoice Check reviews one invoice and tells you the result either way. If you run four or more sites, the initial estate review is free; any success fee for work that follows is agreed in writing before we act. MLC is independent and is not affiliated with PPL PRS, PPL or PRS for Music.

• Music licence for pubs with DJ nights →
• Nightclub & DJ-night music licence tariff →
• How audible area affects your music licence →

Sources#

• PRS for Music Tariff 'P' (2026.10)
• PPL Tariff PPLPP210, Background Music, Pubs/Bars/Restaurants/Cafés/Hotels
• PPL PRS Pubs & Bars sector page

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.