How TheMusicLicence is calculated — and how its tariffs get challenged

TheMusicLicence looks like one bill, but it’s the arithmetic sum of two separate sets of tariffs — one from PPL, one from PRS for Music — each independently set, separately published, and re-indexed annually on its own date. Understanding how it’s built is the key to spotting where multi-site operators lose money.

Two societies, two tariffs, one invoice

PPL licenses the sound recording (record companies and performers); PRS for Music licenses the composition (songwriters and publishers). Most premises need both, so a shop is charged under a PPL shops tariff plus a PRS shops tariff; a hotel under the relevant PPL and PRS hotel tariffs, and so on. PPL PRS Ltd issues and collects, but it does not set the rates — the two societies do.

What drives each tariff

• Audible area (measured wall-to-wall), placed into bands.
• Usage type: background music versus live or specially-featured entertainment.
• Number of employees, seating or venue capacity, and letting bedrooms.
• Device type, opening weeks, and the number of sites.

The legal basis

Playing music in public is a restricted act under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 — you need the copyright owners’ permission, which TheMusicLicence provides. The same Act establishes the Copyright Tribunal, which has jurisdiction to determine whether a licensing body’s tariffs and schemes are reasonable.

Tariffs can be — and have been — challenged

This matters because the tariffs are not beyond scrutiny. In litigation concluded in 2010, the Copyright Tribunal rejected a revised PPL hospitality tariff after a challenge by hospitality trade bodies, opening the way to refunds of overpayments. More recently, PPL’s proposed tariff for specially-featured entertainment (DJ and disco events) was referred to the Tribunal and settled in 2022, producing the current SFE tariff phased in over several years. The PPL and PRS for Music joint venture itself was cleared by the CMA in 2016 and PPL PRS Ltd began operating in 2018.

Why this is where money is lost

Because the bill is assembled from many separately-set inputs across potentially dozens of sites, small classification and declaration errors compound quietly — and the licensing body won’t correct them in your favour. Checking each line against the official published tariffs is the only reliable way to know you’re paying the right amount. We do exactly that, independently, on a no-savings-no-fee basis.

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.