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 The two provisions that came closest, sections 67 and 72(1B)(a) of the Act, were both repealed, the latter by regulation 4(1) of SI 2010/2694.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 for low distraction
Offices and clinics are the one setting where the music should never be the point. Instrumental programming works better than anything with lyrics, because words compete with reading and with conversation.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Opening | Quiet instrumental near 70 BPM. Presence in the room before anyone has arrived. |
| Morning | Light jazz or ambient around 80 BPM, low enough to talk across a desk. |
| Midday | Slightly warmer through the lunch period, when reception is busiest. |
| Afternoon | Back to steady low tempo for the appointment block. |
| Close | Softer again for the last hour, which suits people waiting on results or paperwork. |
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: reception, waiting, consultation
The requirements differ more than they look.
- Reception at a level that masks conversation at the desk, which matters where patient or client details are discussed in earshot of a queue.
- Waiting areas slightly louder, because silence there makes a wait feel longer.
- Consultation and treatment rooms quiet ambient, or muted entirely.
- Staff areas on whatever the team prefers, out of client earshot.
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.
5Practice announcements
Record your own audio for the waiting area. Appointment reminders, a note about online booking, or opening hours over a holiday period, scheduled rather than repeated on a loop.
6What it costs
£79 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 £168.71 a year plus VAT for an office with four staff or fewer, 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 £79 a year by card, bank transfer or PayPal, and print your certificate today.
7Music on hold is a separate licence
Music played to callers on hold by your telephone system is a different use from music in the room, and it is licensed separately. RadioB2B covers what plays in your premises. Check what your telephony provider supplies for the hold system.
8Questions
Do offices and waiting rooms need a music licence?
Yes, where clients, patients or visitors can hear it. A waiting room is open to the public, so playing commercially released music there is a public performance under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Music audible only to staff in a private area is treated differently.
Does background music help with privacy at reception?
It can. Low level sound raises the threshold at which a conversation at the desk becomes intelligible a few feet away, which is why speech masking is common in clinics and professional practices. It supports privacy practice, it does not replace it.
Should waiting room music have lyrics?
Usually not. Instrumental programming competes less with reading, conversation and staff concentration, which is why most clinics and offices run ambient or light jazz stations.
Is music on hold covered by this?
No. Telephone hold music is a separate use with its own licensing, normally supplied through your telephony provider. RadioB2B covers the music playing in your premises.
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.