Playing music in your business in the UK: licences explained

A streaming subscription is not a business licence

Most of us listen to music through a streaming app, a video site, or CDs and downloads we have paid for. Paying for these gives you access to the music for your own listening. It does not give you permission to play it to customers. The terms of the large consumer streaming and download services limit use to personal, non-commercial purposes, so a household account used to fill a café or shop with music falls outside what you signed up to.

The same applies to music you have bought outright. Owning a CD or a file means you own a copy; it does not include the right to perform that music in public. Once music is played in a café, restaurant, shop, salon, hotel lobby or gym, UK law generally treats it as being played in public, and that needs the permission of the rights holders. Music played in a workplace for staff alone is usually treated the same way.

What UK law says

The relevant law is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). Part I of the Act, which covers copyright, applies equally in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

• Section 16 lists the acts that only the copyright owner may carry out or authorise. They include performing, playing or showing a work in public and communicating it to the public. Doing any of these without the owner's licence, or authorising someone else to do so, infringes copyright.
• Section 19 makes performing a musical work in public a restricted act, and that includes performance by playing a recording, film or broadcast. Separately, playing a sound recording in public is restricted by the copyright in the recording itself.
• Section 20 covers communication to the public by electronic transmission, such as broadcasting or on-demand streaming. This is the right that streaming services and broadcasters need for themselves; it does not extend to you playing their output to people on your premises.
• Section 72 contains a narrow exception for showing or playing a broadcast free of charge, but it does not cover the songs in the broadcast or recordings of music included in it. Having the radio on in a shop or restaurant therefore still involves music that needs permission.

Because no business could approach every songwriter, publisher and record label individually, most commercial music is licensed collectively. Collecting societies grant blanket licences on behalf of many rights holders and pass the fees on as royalties. Their conduct is regulated by the Collective Management of Copyright (EU Directive) Regulations 2016, and the Intellectual Property Office monitors compliance.

If a business, or an organisation representing businesses, disputes the terms or price of a licensing scheme, it can refer the scheme to the Copyright Tribunal under section 119 of the CDPA. The Tribunal can confirm or vary the scheme as it considers reasonable.

Two separate rights in most recorded music

A piece of recorded music usually carries two distinct copyrights:

• The musical work and lyrics, which belong to the songwriters, composers and music publishers.
• The sound recording, which belongs to the record label or producer, with the performers on the recording sharing in the income.

In the UK these two rights are represented by two separate collecting societies: one for songwriters, composers and publishers, and one for performers and record labels. Each society sets its own tariffs. For businesses that play music in public, the two societies run a joint licensing company that issues a single licence, so you deal with one contact and receive one invoice. Behind the joint licence, both rights are still being licensed and both tariffs usually apply.

Other licensing bodies operate in the UK as well, mostly for different uses such as copying music or broadcasting. Copying music onto another device or system for use in your business, for example, can involve a separate reproduction right. If you are unsure which licences apply to a particular use, ask the licensing body or your music provider to confirm in writing.

How the fee is worked out

There is no single price for playing music in a business. Each society publishes separate tariffs for different kinds of premises, such as shops and stores, hotels, restaurants and cafés, fitness centres and workplaces, and the joint licence applies the relevant tariff from each. The main factors are:

• Type of business and how music is used. Background music is charged differently from featured entertainment such as DJs, karaoke, live performances or exercise classes, which usually have their own tariffs.
• Size of the premises. Depending on the tariff, this may be the audible area in square metres (common for shops), the seating capacity (common for restaurants and cafés) or the number of employees (for workplaces).
• How the music is played. Radio, television, a CD player or a digital music service can each be charged at a different rate, and the number of devices or screens can matter.
• Separate areas. If music is audible in several parts of the premises, each may need to be declared.
• Additional uses. Events, live music or music in staff areas can add further charges.

Licences run for a year at a time and the tariffs are revised every year, typically in line with an inflation formula set out in the tariff itself. The tariffs also commonly charge a higher rate, or a surcharge, where music was played before a licence was taken out, so it is worth arranging permission before the music starts. For an accurate figure, ask for a written quote based on the actual details of your premises.

If music is played without permission

Playing music in public without the necessary licence is an infringement of copyright. Under section 96 of the CDPA the copyright owner, or in practice the society acting on its behalf, can bring a civil claim. The remedies available to the court include:

• An injunction ordering the business to stop playing the rights holders' music until it is properly licensed.
• Damages, or alternatively an account of the profits made from the infringement.
• Additional damages under section 97(2), which the court may award having regard to all the circumstances, in particular how flagrant the infringement was and any benefit the business gained from it.

Continuing to play music after an injunction has been granted is contempt of court. The High Court has, for example, found a venue operator and its director in contempt for playing recorded music without a licence in breach of such an order.

The Act also contains a criminal offence. Under section 107(3), a person who causes music to be performed or played in public, knowing or having reason to believe that copyright will be infringed, commits an offence. On summary conviction the court can impose imprisonment of up to three months, a fine, or both.

Finally, a licence only covers the uses it describes. A licence for background music does not automatically extend to a DJ night, live performance or exercise classes, so any change in how you use music is worth checking against your licence.

How a directly licensed catalogue works

Collective licensing is not the only route. Under section 16 of the CDPA, the question is whether you have the licence of the copyright owner. Where one company owns or controls both the musical works and the sound recordings in a catalogue, it can grant that permission to businesses directly, without going through a collecting society. This is usually called direct licensing. Society licences work the other way round: their tariffs are defined by reference to the music in the society's own repertoire.

A direct licence covers what its terms say it covers. Typically that means the tracks in the provider's catalogue, played through the provider's service, at the venues named in the licence, for as long as the subscription is active. It does not cover:

• radio or television switched on in the venue;
• live music, DJs or karaoke;
• your own playlists, a staff member's phone or another streaming service;
• commercial music used for exercise classes or events.

If any of these are also used in your premises, they need their own permission, which may mean a collective licence for that part of your music use. A direct licence and a society licence answer different questions; which ones you need depends on everything that is played in the venue.

Keep your paperwork in order. Hold on to the licence certificate for each venue, the provider's details, information identifying the catalogue (for example a track list or catalogue numbers) and the dates the service was in use. If anyone asks where your music comes from, you can then show it quickly.

How Mublic works

Mublic is a background music service for cafés, restaurants, shops, hotels and gyms. The catalogue was produced by Mublic and is not part of any collecting society's repertoire, and the licence to play it in your venue is included in the subscription.

• Music suited to your sector. Programmes are put together for each type of business, and the atmosphere changes through the day, from quieter mornings to busier evenings.
• Separate zones. Each area of a venue, such as the dining room, terrace or bar, can play its own programme independently.
• Keeps playing offline. Tracks are downloaded in advance, so music continues if the internet connection drops.
• A certificate for every venue. Each venue receives a licence certificate that can be verified by QR code.
• In-store announcements. Short announcements, such as offers or closing times, can be scheduled between tracks.
• Free trial. You can try the service for 7 days without entering a card.

The licence covers only the Mublic catalogue. Radio, television, live music or another music service playing in the venue falls outside it.

You can start a free trial, see the pricing, or set up your venue.