For most cafés playing commercial music, TheMusicLicence applies. There is an exception built into how the system works, and it is worth understanding properly. Here is the whole picture in plain English, with the original sources linked so you can check it yourself.
If you play commercial music - the radio, Spotify, CDs, or a typical "royalty-free" library - to customers in your café or coffee shop, UK law treats that as playing music in public, and it normally requires a licence called TheMusicLicence, issued by PPL PRS. This is true even for a small independent café, and even if the music is quiet background sound rather than a feature.
TheMusicLicence covers the PPL PRS repertoire. Music whose writers and performers are not members sits outside that repertoire. What that means for your own venue is a question for you and PPL PRS.
That exception is narrow, and most music does not qualify, but it is real and worth understanding before you make any decision about your own arrangements. The rest of this guide explains how it works.
In the UK, two organisations collect royalties when music is played in public:
Since 2018 they've sold a single combined licence, TheMusicLicence, so a business only deals with one bill. That licence gives you permission to play music from their combined repertoire - which covers essentially every song you'd recognise from the radio or a streaming service.
The fee depends on the size of your premises and how you use music. PPL PRS publish tariffs by venue type and floor area, and they review them each year. For a small café, the annual cost typically lands somewhere in this range:
Cost ranges are indicative and change annually - always check the current figures for your premises at pplprs.co.uk.
Here's where a lot of café owners get caught out. The term royalty-free sounds like it means "no royalties to anyone" - but in the music industry it has a narrower meaning. It means you pay a one-off fee to download and use the track, without owing the library extra per-play royalties.
It does not mean the composer is unregistered with PRS. Most royalty-free libraries use professional composers who are PRS members, because that's simply what working musicians do. So music from those libraries usually sits within the PPL PRS repertoire after all, whatever the download cost. Royalty-free rarely means PRS-free, and it is worth asking your supplier directly.
TheMusicLicence covers music whose writers and performers are members of PRS or PPL. Music with no such members behind it sits outside that repertoire.
Original, AI-generated music supplied under a commercial licence is one way that happens. PRS for Music's own published policy states that works "with no human author or with insufficient human contribution" cannot be registered with PRS, which means such tracks sit outside its repertoire. What that means for any particular venue depends on everything else played there, which is why PPL PRS are the ones to confirm it rather than a music supplier.
This is how SoundPour is built: original background music, generated with commercial AI tools and curated by hand in Darlington, none of it registered with any collecting society, and supplied with a written Declaration of Provenance you can show to PPL PRS. We set out how it works in full, with links to the gov.uk, PRS and PPL sources, on our Music licensing page.
Playing commercial music to customers, whether that is radio, Spotify, CDs or a typical royalty-free library, is a public performance and TheMusicLicence normally applies. TheMusicLicence covers the PPL PRS repertoire; music with no PRS or PPL members behind it sits outside it. Which of those describes your venue is a question for you and PPL PRS.
Typically from around £168 to £537 or more per year for a small venue, depending on floor area and how music is used. PPL PRS set the tariffs and review them annually, so check pplprs.co.uk for your exact figure.
No. Consumer streaming services are licensed for personal use only, so using them in a business breaches their terms. Their catalogues also sit within the PPL PRS repertoire. A business generally uses either a dedicated commercial music service or music that is not in that repertoire.
TheMusicLicence covers the PPL PRS repertoire. Original music with no PRS or PPL members behind it, such as curated AI-generated music under a commercial licence, sits outside that repertoire, and that is the model SoundPour is built on. Whether it changes your own position depends on every music source in your building, and PPL PRS are the people to confirm that with. We supply the documentation for that conversation.
The position above reflects the published guidance of UK government, PRS for Music and PPL. The original sources are linked here so you can read them yourself or share them with a solicitor.
Related guide: Do you need a music licence for a pub or wine bar?
This guide is general information about UK music licensing, not legal advice, and it does not determine what your venue is required to license. SoundPour is not a law firm. The description reflects the current published positions of UK government, PRS for Music and PPL. Confirm your own position with PPL PRS, and with your solicitor if you want to be thorough, before making any change to your licensing arrangements. Last reviewed 8 August 2026.
SoundPour is original background music for cafés, supplied with a written Declaration of Provenance covering your catalogue. Drop us your business name and email and we'll come back to you within 24 hours - Documentation Pack included so you can show it to PPL PRS, your accountant or your solicitor first.
Start your free betaor email us directly: hello@soundpour.co.uk