TheMusicLicence for restaurant & bar groups: what you should be paying
Across a multi-site estate, the same small tariff error repeated site-by-site is where the real money hides.
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Restaurants, bars and pubs are among the most music-heavy businesses there are: background music through the day, and often live acts, DJs or events at the weekend. That mix makes TheMusicLicence more expensive, and more prone to error, than for a typical shop or office.
What drives the fee in hospitality#
- The customer-audible floor area of each venue: the single biggest factor.
- Whether you have live music, DJs, karaoke or dancing, versus background music only.
- Opening hours and days: late-night, seven-day venues pay more.
- The number of sites in your group, each assessed on its own details.
Where groups overpay#
The classic hospitality errors are being billed for live-entertainment usage at venues that only play background music midweek, counting kitchens, cellars and staff areas as audible space, and never re-assessing sites after a refit or a change of format. Repeat any of these across ten or fifteen venues and the annual overcharge becomes substantial.
Why a portfolio view matters#
Most groups pay each site’s invoice in isolation and never compare them. Reviewing the whole estate together is how we find the patterns, and the biggest recoveries.
Send us your group’s invoices and we’ll review them site by site. For four or more sites the estate review is free, and we only charge 20% of what we actually recover. See pricing.
Common questions
- How much is a music licence for a restaurant?
- There's no single figure. It's driven by the customer-audible floor area of each venue, whether you have live music, DJs, karaoke or dancing versus background music only, opening hours and days, and the number of sites in your group, so each venue needs its own check against the published tariffs.
- Do pubs and bars pay more for a music licence than shops?
- Often, yes. Restaurants, bars and pubs are among the most music-heavy businesses, with background music through the day and often live acts, DJs or events at the weekend, which makes TheMusicLicence more expensive, and more prone to error, than for a typical shop or office.
- Where do restaurant and pub groups most commonly overpay?
- The classic errors are being billed for live-entertainment usage at venues that only play background music midweek, counting kitchens, cellars and staff areas as audible space, and never re-assessing sites after a refit or a change of format. Repeated across ten or fifteen venues, the annual overcharge becomes substantial.
- Is it worth reviewing a whole restaurant group's invoices together?
- Yes. Most groups pay each site's invoice in isolation and never compare them, but reviewing the whole estate together is how the recurring patterns, such as misclassified usage or over-measured audible area, get found and where the biggest recoveries tend to sit across a multi-site portfolio.
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.