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.
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 for free, site by site. No savings, no fee.
Think you're overpaying?
Run a group of 4+ sites? Send us your invoices for a free estate review — no savings, no fee. Just one site? The £99 Single Invoice Check gives you a written verdict in five working days.
Related guides
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.