Do you really need a music licence in a restaurant?
Yes, from the very first note. Collecting societies such as PRS for Music represent songwriters, composers and publishers. They collect the royalties due whenever you play recorded music in front of customers.
The legal trigger is simple: your dining room is a public space. Playing an album at home is private use. The same playlist in premises open to the public becomes a public performance covered by copyright.
The source makes no difference. A radio behind the bar, a television on the terrace, a Bluetooth speaker, a CD, a streaming playlist: the licence fee applies exactly the same way. The format is irrelevant, only the use counts.
One restaurant owner put it to us like this: "It took me four years to understand that the radio in my kitchen wasn't the problem. The one in the dining room was."
How much will a restaurant music licence cost you?
There is no single flat rate. The fee is calculated from several objective criteria, combined with one another.
- The floor area covered by speakers and the number of seats
- The type of sound system: background music, screens, or amplified music
- The town and its population
- The number of days you open each year
The annual background music fee
For ordinary background music, budget an annual fee of roughly £250 to £500 plus VAT for a small room, and more once you pass 100 covers. Treat these as ballpark figures: the official tariff is revised every year and your exact bill depends on what you declare.
The second licence, on top
Recorded music also triggers a second royalty collected on behalf of record labels and performers, while the first covers songwriters, composers and publishers. In practice it adds around half again on top of the main fee. In the UK both are now billed together as a single invoice, but they remain two distinct rights.
What brings the bill down
A reduced rate applies if you declare your sound system within fifteen days of opening and pay in advance. Combined discounts commonly reach 20%. Membership of a trade association sometimes unlocks a further reduction.
| Type of venue | Music use | Indicative annual cost (ex. VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Café or bistro, under 50 seats | Radio or background playlist | £250 to £400 |
| Restaurant with 50 to 100 seats | Background music and television | £400 to £700 |
| Large restaurant, over 150 seats | Speakers throughout the dining room | £700 to £1,200 |
| Restaurant with dance nights | Amplified music, events | Separate tariff, often based on turnover |
For dinner dances and one-off events, the tariff is a percentage of the evening's turnover or of ticket revenue. This is a line worth putting into your fixed costs alongside your other ratios.
Playing music without a licence: what you actually risk
Playing music without permission is copyright infringement. The courts can order damages and injunctions, and the theoretical ceilings run into six figures. Those ceilings are not what restaurants actually face.
In practice, an inspection ends in back-payment. The collecting society claims the past years, plus penalties that can double the bill. A venue that has gone three years without a licence ends up with a four-figure catch-up. Waiting costs more than declaring.
How to get licensed
The process is short and done online, on the website of the licensing body or by phone with a regional adviser. You open an account, describe your premises, and receive your licence.
- Area covered by speakers and number of covers
- Type of use: radio, television, playlist, live music
- Opening days and hours
- The date you started playing music
You then pay by annual subscription or in instalments. As with a pavement licence, keep the paperwork within reach in the dining room.
Can you avoid paying at all?
There is only one legal route: play nothing from the societies' repertoire. In practice that means switching to royalty-free music through a specialist background music provider.
These services charge a monthly subscription, usually between £15 and £40 a month. They supply tracks whose rights are already cleared and, crucially, a certificate you can produce during an inspection. Without that document, the argument falls apart.
Silence remains an option, though rarely a workable one in a dining room. As for free catalogues found online, be careful: many contain protected works and can still leave you having to pay.
Spotify and Deezer do not cover you
This is the most common mistake. A Spotify, Deezer or Apple Music subscription is strictly personal. The terms of use explicitly prohibit public performance. You can hold a paid account and still be non-compliant.
Business plans exist from these providers and from dedicated specialists. They include the licence to play in public premises. Check for that wording before you sign; it is always stated in the contract.
What to do during an inspection
An authorised officer can turn up without an appointment and record what is playing. Stay factual and show your licence or your royalty-free music certificate. If you are not compliant, sort it out straight away: a reduction on penalties is nearly always possible at that stage.
File that paperwork with your other display obligations, such as allergen information. One single folder saves you time the day someone asks for it.