5 ways businesses overpay for TheMusicLicence — and how to fix them
After auditing multi-site accounts, the same handful of overcharges come up again and again.
TheMusicLicence is priced on premises size, usage type, hours and more. Because there are so many inputs, small mistakes quietly inflate bills — often by hundreds or thousands of pounds a year across a multi-site estate. Here are the five we see most.
1. Non-public space counted as audible area
Floor area is usually the biggest cost driver, and it's banded — so one band too high is real money. On the PRS shops tariff the standard charge steps roughly £246.80 (≤100m²) → £359.90 (101–200m²) → £473.70 (201–300m²), before the PPL step. Storerooms, offices, corridors and staff-only areas wrongly counted can push you up a band you don't belong in. (Figures ex-VAT, 2026, re-indexed annually.)
2. The wrong usage category
Being billed for live entertainment, DJ nights or dance facilities when you only play background music is a common and expensive misclassification.
3. Licences never re-assessed
Refits, downsizing, closed sites or a change in how you use music all affect the fee — but licences are often left untouched for years, so you keep paying against out-of-date details.
4. A first-year higher rate carried forward
Where music was played before licensing, PRS charges a higher royalty rate — standard plus 50% — but for the first year only, reverting to standard after that (PPL applies a similar 50% surcharge). If your bill still shows standard-plus-50% in year two or beyond, that's a clear, provable overcharge — and one of the most common we find.
5. Paying across sites without a portfolio view
Multi-site businesses rarely compare tariffs across their estate. The same error repeated across ten or fifteen sites is where the biggest recoveries usually hide.
How to fix it
Every one of these is correctable — the licensing body will adjust your licence when the details are put right, and refunds are sometimes available for past overpayments. The quickest way to find out is to have your invoices reviewed. We do that for free, and only charge a share of what we actually recover.
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.