1Do you need a music licence?
If customers can hear commercially released music, that is a public performance under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and you need permission. In practice that means TheMusicLicence, the single joint licence PPL and PRS for Music sell together through PPL PRS, because a normal playlist crosses both of their repertoires.
There is no small premises exemption in the UK. The two provisions that came closest, sections 67 and 72(1B)(a) of the Act, were both repealed, the latter by regulation 4(1) of SI 2010/2694. So floor area, seat count and the number of loudspeakers make no difference, and it makes no difference whether the sound comes from a radio, a CD or a streaming account. If it can be heard by customers, it is licensable.
There are also no statutory damages here, as there are in the United States. A rights holder claims damages or an account of profits, with costs and an injunction on top, and PPL PRS can back-date a licence over any period you were playing music without one.
RadioB2B removes the question. Every track is licensed at source through RadioPRO Ltd, a UK collective management organisation, and none of it is in the PRS for Music or PPL repertoire, so no public performance royalty arises on what you play through the service.
2The hours either side of the main set
A resident DJ handles peak. Everything around it is still licensable, and it is usually the part nobody has planned.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Setup and load-in | Whatever the crew wants, around 100 BPM. Out of public earshot, so it is staff morale, not programming. |
| Doors | Warm and building, 100 to 110 BPM, while the room is still half empty and the queue is coming in. |
| Pre-peak | Lift to 118 to 124 BPM to hand over to the booth with the room already moving. |
| Post-set | Back to 110 BPM as the main room thins and the bars stay busy. |
| Close and clear | Under 90 BPM. A deliberate drop clears a floor faster than an announcement. |
You can try the scheduler on the live console on our home page before signing up for anything.
3Zones: main room, bars, smoking area, green room
Each independently controlled output is a zone, and each runs its own station and schedule.
- The main room for the hours the booth is not live.
- Bars and mezzanine kept lower, so orders can be taken without shouting.
- The smoking area or terrace, usually under a noise curfew and worth its own volume ceiling.
- The green room and offices, out of public earshot entirely.
4Hardware you already own
There is nothing to buy and nothing to install. The player runs in any browser and casts directly to Sonos, Chromecast and AirPlay. There are iOS and Android apps as well, so staff can change a zone without opening a laptop, and when the internet drops the player keeps going from a cached queue rather than leaving you in silence.
5Door messages and event promotion
Record your own audio and schedule it into the rotation. A ticket link before the weekend, a cloakroom reminder at close, or a promotion for next month that runs on the nights you choose and stops on its own.
6What it costs
£179 a year, per year, flat, music included. That covers the full catalog, background music video channels for any screens, the scheduler, your own announcements, staff accounts and the Music Licence Certificate. It does not scale with your square footage or your opening hours, which is the mechanism that makes a PPL PRS bill climb.
For comparison, TheMusicLicence costs £364.62 a year plus VAT for a pub or bar with an audible area up to 400 square metres, and PPL PRS can back-date a licence over any period you were playing music without one. Licence free playlist libraries in the UK sit at about 15 pounds a month plus VAT, and licensed services that still leave you owing PPL PRS run from about 22 to 40 pounds a zone a month. See how the routes compare.
Try it in your own space
Fourteen days free, no card required. Build a day's schedule, cast it to the speakers you already have, and hear how the room changes before you decide anything.
7Questions
Do nightclubs need a music license?
Yes. Playing commercially released music where the public can hear it is a public performance under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Clubs are also among the venues PPL PRS monitors most closely, and rates rise where dancing is offered and music is central to the business.
Does this cover our resident DJ?
No. RadioB2B covers the music delivered through the service. A DJ playing their own commercially released repertoire is a separate performance and remains your licensing question. This is why the service is priced for the hours around the set, not instead of it.
Why pay for music outside the main room?
Because those hours are licensable too. Doors, bars, terraces and private hire all count as public performance, and a venue that has cancelled its PPL PRS licence still needs the music in those spaces to be cleared.
Can we run private hire on a different schedule?
Yes. Each zone runs its own station and schedule, so a wedding in the main room and a normal club night on the terrace do not have to sound the same.
Cost figures are indicative 2026 published minimums and typical market pricing, not quotations. General information, not legal advice. See our Terms of Use and Service Agreement.