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 The two provisions that came closest, sections 67 and 72(1B)(a) of the Act, were both repealed, the latter by regulation 4(1) of SI 2010/2694.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 around the appointment book
Salons run on booked time rather than footfall, so the schedule follows the mood of the day rather than the rush.
| Period | What works |
|---|---|
| Opening | Warm and low near 70 BPM. First appointments are usually quiet and unhurried. |
| Late morning | Lift to around 85 BPM as the floor fills and conversation gets louder. |
| Lunch period | Hold at 85 to 95 BPM. Busy without becoming the thing people notice. |
| Afternoon | Around 90 BPM through the busiest color and cut block. |
| Evening | Brighter for late appointments, 95 to 105 BPM, particularly at the end of the week. |
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: floor, treatment rooms, reception
Treatment areas need something different from the styling floor, and they need it quieter.
- The styling floor on the schedule above, at a level people can talk over comfortably.
- Treatment and massage rooms on ambient pads and nature programming, low and unbroken.
- Reception and waiting slightly warmer, since this is where people sit with a coffee.
- Wash stations, if separately controlled, kept low and calm.
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.
5Product and rebooking prompts
Record your own audio and schedule it lightly. A rebooking reminder, a product recommendation, or a seasonal offer. In a salon, less frequent works better than more.
6What it costs
£109 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 £238.33 a year plus VAT for a salon with five chairs 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 £109 a year by card, bank transfer or PayPal, and print your certificate today.
7Questions
Do salons and barbershops need a music licence?
Yes, if clients can hear commercially released music. That is a public performance under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Salons are contacted by PPL PRS regularly, and the small footprint of the premises does not exempt streaming or playlists.
We are small. Is there an exemption for small premises?
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 phone or a streaming account connected to the speakers falls outside it whatever your floor area.
How much does salon music licensing cost?
For comparison, a PPL PRS licence costs £238.33 a year plus VAT for a salon with five chairs or fewer. PPL PRS can back-date a licence over any period you were playing music without one. RadioB2B is a flat £109 a year for a salon or barbershop, including the music.
Can treatment rooms play something calmer than the main floor?
Yes. Each independently controlled output is its own zone, so treatment rooms can run ambient programming at a low level while the styling floor runs something with more life.
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.