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 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 The two provisions that came closest, sections 67 and 72(1B)(a) of the Act, were both repealed, the latter by regulation 4(1) of SI 2010/2694.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. Our UK music licensing guide works through the whole question in detail.
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 right that exists in the catalogue is represented exclusively, in the United Kingdom and worldwide, by 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, as long as it is the only music you play.
2Morning rush versus afternoon dwell
The single biggest gain in a cafe is not playing one playlist all day. Faster tempo moves a queue. Slower tempo keeps the laptop crowd ordering a second coffee.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Opening | Quiet acoustic near 65 BPM for the first hour, when regulars want calm more than energy. |
| Morning rush | Brighter and faster, 95 to 105 BPM. It moves the queue and covers the grinder. |
| Mid morning | Warm soul and light jazz around 85 BPM as the pace evens out. |
| Afternoon | Downtempo near 75 BPM. Longer dwell, more second orders, quiet enough to work over. |
| Close | Slower and warmer still, which clears the room more politely than turning the lights up. |
You can try the scheduler free for 14 days, no card required, on the sign up page or the feature list on our home page.
3Zones: counter, seating, terrace
If your system separates them, each area can run its own station and volume.
- The counter and queue kept slightly brighter, because that is the busy end.
- Seating quieter, so conversation works without anyone raising their voice.
- A terrace or pavement zone, which needs different levels outdoors and often a neighbour-friendly cut-off time.
4Hardware you already own
There is nothing to buy, nothing to install and no app required: the player is a web page, so staff can run it from any laptop, tablet or phone, and it casts directly to Sonos, Chromecast and AirPlay. If the venue is already wired to a Sonos amp, that is the whole installation. The stations are plain audio streams, so they also open in tools such as VLC, and when the internet drops the player keeps going from a cached queue rather than leaving you in silence.
5Announcements between tracks
Record a loyalty card prompt, a message about the pastry that always sells out, or the wifi password, and schedule it to play at the times it is actually useful.
6What it costs
£149 a year, per year, flat, music included. That covers the full catalogue, 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 floor area or your opening hours, which is the mechanism that makes a PPL PRS bill climb.
For comparison, a PPL PRS licence costs £400.81 a year plus VAT for a cafe or restaurant with up to 30 seats, 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 a month plus VAT, and licensed services that still leave you owing PPL PRS run from about £22 to £40 a zone a month. See how the routes compare.
Try it free or subscribe today
Start fourteen days free with no card, build a day's schedule and cast it through the Sonos or speakers you already have. Or subscribe now at £149 a year by card, bank transfer or PayPal, and print your certificate today.
7Questions
Do coffee shops need a music licence?
Yes, if customers can hear commercially released music. 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, so floor area and loudspeaker counts make no difference. A Spotify playlist behind the counter is not covered whatever the size of the room.
Everyone in my area just uses Spotify. Is that a problem?
Yes. Consumer streaming plans are licensed for personal listening and their terms prohibit commercial use. There are no statutory damages in the UK. A rights holder claims damages or an account of profits, with costs and an injunction on top. Being common practice locally is not a defence.
How much does cafe music licensing cost?
For comparison, a PPL PRS licence costs £400.81 a year plus VAT for a cafe or restaurant with up to 30 seats. PPL PRS can back-date a licence over any period you were playing music without one. RadioB2B is a flat £149 a year including the catalogue, the scheduler and the certificate.
Can the music change automatically between the rush and the afternoon?
Yes. Set the times once in the dayparting scheduler and the room switches itself, every day, with a different plan for weekends if you want one.
Cost figures are PPL PRS published examples and typical UK market pricing, not quotations. General information, not legal advice. See our Terms of Use and Service Agreement.