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 The two provisions that came closest, sections 67 and 72(1B)(a) of the Act, were both repealed, the latter by regulation 4(1) of SI 2010/2694.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.
2Programming the showroom floor
A showroom is mostly hard surfaces, so level matters more than tempo. The aim is to take the echo off the room and give a salesperson something to talk across, never to fill it.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Opening | Low and warm near 75 BPM while the floor is prepped and the first appointments arrive. |
| Late morning | Around 90 BPM as walk-in traffic builds, confident without being loud. |
| Lunchtime | Hold near 90 BPM. The service area is usually at its busiest while the showroom quietens. |
| Afternoon | Back to 80 to 85 BPM for test drives and longer negotiations at the desk. |
| Close | Warmer and slower under 75 BPM, which lets a late conversation finish without pressure. |
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: showroom, service waiting, workshop, offices
Each independently controlled output is a zone, and each runs its own station and volume.
- The showroom floor on the schedule above, quiet enough to close a deal over.
- The service waiting area, warmer and slightly fuller, where customers sit for an hour or more.
- The workshop, out of customer earshot, on whatever the technicians actually want.
- Sales offices, where a low bed of sound stops the next desk hearing a finance conversation.
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.
5Offers and service reminders
Record your own audio and schedule it into the rotation. A finance offer on the showroom floor, a service plan prompt in the waiting area only, or a seasonal campaign that runs for a month and then stops on its own.
6What it costs
£179 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 £235.50 a year plus VAT for a shop up to 50 square metres playing one radio, 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 £179 a year by card, bank transfer or PayPal, and print your certificate today.
7Questions
Do car dealerships need a music licence?
Yes, if commercially released music is audible to customers on the showroom floor or in the service waiting area. That is a public performance under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and dealerships are licensed by PPL PRS like any other commercial premises.
Can the workshop play the radio instead?
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. It does not extend to a streaming account, and it does not help the showroom floor.
Should the service waiting area sound different?
Usually yes. People wait there far longer than they stand in a showroom, so slightly fuller and warmer programming makes an hour pass more comfortably. It runs as its own zone.
What does it cost for a dealership?
A flat £179 a year, including the music, against £235.50 a year plus VAT for the PPL PRS licence, which covers a shop up to 50 square metres playing one radio and includes no music.
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.