1Do restaurants need a music licence?
If diners 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 The two provisions that came closest, sections 67 and 72(1B)(a) of the Act, were both repealed, the latter by regulation 4(1) of SI 2010/2694.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 TV or a streaming service. A Spotify playlist, an internet radio stream or a phone behind the bar all need the licence just the same. See our UK music licensing guide for the full detail.
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 service
Restaurants are the clearest case for dayparting, because the same room does four jobs. Build the schedule once and it repeats, with a different plan for weekends if you want one.
| Service | What works |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Warm acoustic and soft soul around 65 to 75 BPM. Quiet enough for conversation and newspapers. |
| Lunch | Upright bass and brushed drums, 90 to 100 BPM. Lifts turnover without rushing anyone. |
| Afternoon | Downtempo and light house, around 105 BPM, for the flat period between services. |
| Dinner | Low light programming, strings and Rhodes, 70 to 80 BPM. Slower tempo lengthens the table dwell time. |
| Late bar | Nu disco and funk edits, 110 to 120 BPM, when the room turns from dining to drinking. |
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: patio, bar, private room
Most restaurants are several rooms pretending to be one. Each independently controlled output is a zone, and each zone runs its own station and its own schedule.
- Dining room on dinner programming while the bar runs something with more energy.
- Patio on a separate station, because outdoor sound behaves differently and neighbours have opinions.
- Private dining set quiet, or muted entirely, for a function.
- Restrooms and corridors kept low, on ambient programming.
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. If your dining room is already wired to a Sonos amp, that is the whole installation.
There is no app required: staff can change the room from any phone or laptop's web browser, without opening anything on the sound system, and when the internet drops, which it does mid-service, the player keeps going from a cached queue rather than leaving you in silence. The stations are plain audio streams, so they also open in tools such as VLC.
5Announcements and specials
Record your own audio and drop it into the rotation at set times. Happy hour reminders before five, a bookings message during the lunch rush, a last orders notice. They blend into the music at the volume you set rather than interrupting it.
6What it costs
£179 a year, flat. That covers your zones, the full catalogue, 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 occupancy, which is the mechanism that makes licence fees climb.
That is the restaurant price. Each type of business has its own: a cafe is £149 a year and a bar or pub £199, see background music for bars.
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.
Try it free or subscribe today
Start fourteen days free with no card, build a day's schedule and cast it to your Sonos through a full service. Or subscribe now at £179 a year by card, bank transfer or PayPal, and print your certificate today.
7Live music, DJs and karaoke
RadioB2B covers the music you play through the service. A live band playing covers, a DJ with their own set, a karaoke night, or a customer's phone connected to your system are all outside it, and those performances may still require a PPL PRS licence. If you run live events, budget for that separately whatever background music service you use.
This is true of every commercial music service, not just ours. Providers that imply otherwise are describing their own catalogue, not your live programme.
8Questions
Will my guests recognise the music?
Generally not by name, and that is the trade. Our catalogue is independent music programmed by people, so it sounds right for the service without being this month's chart. If your concept depends on guests recognising specific hits, you want a bundled mainstream service instead, and our comparison page covers those honestly.
What do I show a licensing representative?
Your Music Licence Certificate. It names your business and the locations it covers and carries a QR code that opens a live verification page. Most owners print it and keep it by the till.
We have three sites. Does one login cover them?
Yes. One dashboard controls every location, with per-site schedules, staff accounts and usage reporting. Above fifteen locations we price groups directly, so contact us.
How long does setup take?
Minutes. Open the player in a browser or cast to an existing Sonos, pick a station, and build the schedule when you have time. The certificate is issued as soon as the account is active.
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.