By Sonosfera Team
Quick answer: A PPL PRS licence in the UK is one product, TheMusicLicence, and its cost depends on your business. PPL PRS's cost page lists 2026 examples starting at £168.71 a year + VAT for music in an office with four or fewer staff, £235.50 for a small shop playing a single radio and £400.81 for a café with up to 30 seats playing the radio. A shop of up to 100 m² playing ordinary background music, such as a streaming service rather than the radio, pays £450.99 + VAT under the 2026 tariffs: £246.80 to PRS for Music plus £204.19 to PPL.
So a PRS licence cost is never one flat number. It depends on your type of business, the size of the space where music can be heard and how you play it. This guide gives you the official 2026 figures, explains what PPL and PRS each cover and shows how to get from an example to your own quote.
PPL and PRS: what each one covers
Every recorded track carries two sets of rights, and a different organisation collects for each:
- PRS for Music represents songwriters, composers and music publishers: the people who wrote the song. PPL PRS says PRS represents over 160,000 of them.
- PPL represents record companies and performers: the people who made the recording. PPL represents over 130,000 performers and recording rightsholders.
Before 2018 a business bought two separate licences. Since then PPL PRS Ltd has sold both as one product, TheMusicLicence, with one invoice. PPL and PRS still set their tariffs separately, which is why the official cost page says that "in most cases, both a PPL and PRS for Music tariff will apply". When people search for a "PRS licence", TheMusicLicence is almost always what they need.
2026 PPL PRS prices by business type
These are PPL PRS's own published examples. Each describes one specific setup, and all exclude VAT.
| Business and music use | Annual cost (+VAT) | Source and date label |
|---|---|---|
| Office: music for four or fewer staff | £168.71 | Cost page, Feb 2026 |
| Shop: one portable radio or small-screen TV, audible area 50 m² or less | £235.50 | Cost page, Feb 2026; shops page, Jan 2026 |
| Hair and beauty: radio, five or fewer seats | £238.33 | Cost page, Feb 2026 |
| Fitness instructor: three classes a week for 50 weeks in a village hall | £345.00 | Cost page, Feb 2026; classes page, Jul 2026 |
| Pub or bar: radio, 400 m² or less | £364.62 | Cost page, Feb 2026 |
| Restaurant or café: radio, up to 30 seats, 400 m² or less | £400.81 | Cost page, Feb 2026 |
| Shop: standard background music, up to 100 m² | £450.99 | PRS tariff RS 2026.01 £246.80 + PPL shops tariff 2026 £204.19 |
| Gym or studio: three classes a week for 50 weeks | £702.00 | Gyms and studios page, Sep 2026 |
| Gym: background music under workouts, up to 249 m² | £753.11 | Gyms and studios page, Sep 2026 |
PPL PRS marks every example as subject to change. A one-off live music night for up to 100 people in a pub is listed at £14.64, which shows how differently events are priced from everyday background music.
Radio concession or standard rate: why small-shop prices differ
Both figures are correct. They describe different music use, and the difference is a common source of confusion.
- £235.50 is a concession. It combines two reductions. The PPL tariff halves its fee when the only music is traditional radio or TV broadcasts (BBC and Ofcom-licensed stations, or BBC1, ITV1 and similar channels) and the audible area is 50 m² or less. The PRS tariff charges a reduced £133.40 when the only device is a single portable radio or small-screen TV, audible over no more than 100 m². PPL PRS's £235.50 example meets both.
- £450.99 is the standard rate for background music in a shop up to 100 m². Play a streaming service or CDs and neither reduction applies. Let a single radio be heard over more than 50 m² and the PPL half fee is lost.
Starting late: the first-year surcharge
Timing matters too. If you start playing music before you hold a licence, the PRS tariff charges one and a half times the standard rate for the first year (£370.20 instead of £246.80 for a shop up to 100 m²), and the PPL tariff adds a surcharge of half the fee.
Price drivers: premises, area and use
TheMusicLicence is built from tariffs, so two businesses on the same street can pay very different amounts. The cost page lists these drivers, and GOV.UK confirms that the venue and how music is used set the price:
- Type of premises. Shops, salons, cafés, pubs, offices and gyms each have their own tariff.
- Audible area. Many tariffs rise in bands of floor space where music can be heard.
- How music is used. Background music, music on hold, exercise classes, events and live performance are priced differently.
- Staff, seats or classes. Some tariffs count employees, covers or sessions.
- How you play it. A single broadcast radio can qualify for a concession that a streaming service doesn't.
For a quick first estimate, our music licence cost calculator lines up the official examples by venue type. Your own quote from PPL PRS is the figure to budget against.
A personal streaming account isn't business music
Holding TheMusicLicence doesn't change your streaming app's terms. Spotify's public and commercial use page says you can't play Spotify publicly from a business, including stores and salons. So a venue needs two things: a music source that allows business use, and the right licence for the music it plays.
Build the budget on four lines
Keep each cost separate so you can compare offers without double-counting:
| Budget line | What to record | Annual amount |
|---|---|---|
| Music source | Provider, number of zones, billing term | £____ |
| Public performance licence | Uses and premises covered, renewal date | £____ |
| Equipment | Players and speakers, bought or hired | £____ |
| Extras | Only messaging or support you actually need | £____ |
Keep one-off equipment out of the recurring total, and compare everything on the same VAT basis. If you are pricing a mainstream service, our Soundtrack Your Brand pricing guide works through the per-zone subscription line.
Quote checklist: details PPL PRS will ask for
Describe how music is actually used, room by room:
- Your business address and each area where music can be heard.
- The source in each area: radio, streaming service, recordings or something else.
- Whether it is background music, classes, live music or occasional events.
- The measurements, seats, staff numbers or class counts the form asks for.
- Any licence you already hold and what has changed since the last quote.
If you run classes, our Pilates, yoga and fitness class licence guide covers hall and studio examples. Cafés can use the café music licence guide, and the UK licensing overview explains the main routes.
Sonosfera: an owned-catalogue option
Sonosfera streams its own original catalogue to venues. No PPL PRS licence needed for Sonosfera music under an active plan. Your Sonosfera subscription is your licence: Sonosfera's own catalogue isn't represented by, or licensed through, PPL PRS.
The subscription costs £14.99 a month per zone, or £149.90 a year on the annual plan (GB pricing page, checked 5 October 2026; VAT shown at checkout where required), with a 14-day free trial. It covers playback at the business locations on your plan, including events at your venue and social clips filmed there with the music playing. Radio, Spotify, live music, a DJ or your own playlists are separate sources, and each needs its own licence.
It's a good fit for shops, salons, cafés and studios that want calm background music rather than chart hits by name. Listen through music for retail, see what the certificate records, then check Sonosfera's UK pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a PRS licence in the UK?
It depends on your business and how you use music. PPL PRS's cost-page examples (February 2026) range from £168.71 a year + VAT for an office with four or fewer staff to £400.81 for a café with radio and up to 30 seats. Standard background music in a shop up to 100 m² is £450.99 + VAT. PRS and PPL are sold together as TheMusicLicence.
What is a PRS licence?
It is permission to play music written by PRS for Music's songwriters, composers and publishers in public. Businesses now buy it together with the PPL licence for recordings, as one TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS Ltd.
Are PPL and PRS one licence or two?
One product, two tariffs. Since 2018 PPL PRS Ltd sells both as TheMusicLicence with a single invoice, but PPL and PRS set their tariffs separately. In most cases both apply.
Do I need a licence for a radio at work?
If staff can hear it at work, usually yes. PPL PRS's example for an office with four or fewer staff is £168.71 a year + VAT. A shop with a single portable radio heard over 50 m² or less is £235.50 + VAT.
Is there a PRS licence cost calculator?
PPL PRS gives quotes based on your premises and use. For a first estimate, our music licence cost calculator shows PPL PRS's published 2026 examples by venue type.
Do I need a PPL PRS licence to play Sonosfera?
No PPL PRS licence needed for Sonosfera music under an active plan. Your Sonosfera subscription is your licence: Sonosfera's own catalogue isn't represented by, or licensed through, PPL PRS. Any other music you play, such as radio, Spotify or live music, needs its own licence.
Sources
- TheMusicLicence cost page — PPL PRS Ltd, examples labelled February 2026, checked 5 October 2026
- Shops and stores music licence — PPL PRS Ltd, example correct as of January 2026
- PRS for Music Tariff RS 2026.01, shops and stores — PRS for Music, effective 1 January 2026
- PPL background music tariff for shops and stores 2026 — PPL
- Fitness, exercise and dance classes and gyms, fitness and dance studios — PPL PRS Ltd
- Get a licence to play live or recorded music — GOV.UK
- Spotify for public or commercial use — Spotify
- Sonosfera Terms of Service, sections 2 and 9 — Sonosfera
