Do you need a licence to play music in your café?

The short answer

If you play commercial music (the radio, Spotify or CDs) 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 with no members of PRS, PPL or their partner societies abroad behind it sits outside that repertoire. What that means for your venue is between 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.

What is TheMusicLicence, and who charges it?

In the UK, two organisations collect royalties when music is played in public:

• PRS for Music collects on behalf of the people who wrote the music (composers, songwriters, publishers).
• PPL collects on behalf of the people who recorded it (performers and record labels).

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.

How much does it cost for a café?

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. Their own example for a small café is in the table below, alongside the other ways a café can get its music:

The £400.81 figure is PPL PRS's own example and changes each year, so always check the current figure for your premises at pplprs.co.uk. Their worked examples, with what moves the figure up or down, are set out in how much is a music licence?

The "royalty-free" trap

Here's a point that is easy to miss. 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. The composer may be a member of PRS or a similar society abroad, and if so the music will normally sit within the PPL PRS repertoire whatever the download cost. Royalty-free does not by itself mean PRS-free, so it is worth asking your supplier directly.

Music outside the repertoire

TheMusicLicence covers music from writers, publishers, performers or record labels who are members of PRS for Music or PPL, or of their partner societies abroad. 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 for cafés, 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 royalty-free music and PRS page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a licence to play music in my café in the UK?

Playing commercial music to customers, whether that is radio, Spotify or CDs, is a public performance and TheMusicLicence normally applies. TheMusicLicence covers the PPL PRS repertoire; music with no members of PRS, PPL or their partner societies abroad behind it sits outside it. Which of those describes your venue is a question for you and PPL PRS. Our free music licence checker gives you the questions to put to them.

How much does TheMusicLicence cost for a small café?

PPL PRS's own example, updated February 2026, is £400.81 a year plus VAT for a café or restaurant with up to 30 seats and 400 square metres or less playing music via a radio, which is £480.97 with VAT. Floor area, seats and how the music is played all move the figure, and PPL PRS review the tariffs annually, so check pplprs.co.uk for your exact figure. Our guide to how much a music licence costs sets out their examples for each type of venue.

Is playing Spotify in a café legal?

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. We go into the whole thing, including the catch that paying a licence does not fix it, in can you legally play Spotify in your venue, and there is a separate case for why the right music matters at all in is a Spotify playlist right for your venue.

Can I play music in my café without paying PRS and PPL?

TheMusicLicence covers the PPL PRS repertoire. Original music with no members of PRS, PPL or their partner societies abroad 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.

I only play the radio in my café. Do I still need TheMusicLicence?

PPL PRS say that playing the radio in a business usually needs TheMusicLicence, even when the radio is the only music you play. The stations pay PPL and PRS for Music for the right to broadcast, and PPL PRS say that does not cover playing the radio in public, such as on business premises. PPL PRS say the same about a TV, and about music only your staff can hear. They are the ones to confirm what applies to your café.

Do I need a licence from the council to play music in my café?

That is a separate question from TheMusicLicence. Entertainment licensing under the Licensing Act 2003, which extends to England and Wales only, sits with your local council. The Home Office guidance under the Act says music that is incidental to some other activity is not licensable under it, and nor is unamplified live music between 8am and 11pm. Whether your café's music falls within those is for your local licensing authority to confirm, and neither has any bearing on TheMusicLicence, which is a separate question for PPL PRS.

Can I play music in my café?

There is no single yes or no, because two separate questions are involved and different bodies deal with each. One is copyright, which is where TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS comes in. The other is entertainment licensing, which sits with your local council. An answer on one does not settle the other.

The music itself: what PPL PRS say

This is the licence most people mean by a café music licence, or a music license in the American spelling. PPL PRS's page for restaurants and cafés and their help page go through the ways a café actually plays music:

• The radio. Covered in the FAQ answer above. The detail PPL PRS give is that the stations pay for the right to broadcast, and in their words that "does not include playing the radio in public, such as business premises."
• A TV on the wall. PPL PRS point out that a TV licence only lets you receive the broadcast signal, and that using a TV in public, such as at business premises, will usually need TheMusicLicence to cover the music in the programmes, adverts included.
• CDs, MP3s and other recordings. PPL PRS list these separately from radio and TV, and their quote checklist asks what type of devices you use to play music. How the way you play music can move the price is in our guide to how much a music licence costs.
• Music only your staff hear. The radio on while you set up, or a speaker in the back. PPL PRS say music played only for employees usually needs TheMusicLicence too, because they class music played outside a domestic environment as a public performance, even if only staff can hear it.
• Streaming apps. PPL PRS advise checking that a platform's terms allow commercial use before playing it in a café. For Spotify, can you legally play Spotify in your venue sets out what Spotify itself says.
• Live music. An acoustic set or an open mic night is a use of its own. PPL PRS list live music separately, with its own cost example priced per event, so it is worth mentioning when you ask them for a quote. The council side of live music is below.

Whichever of these you use, what it means for your café is between you and PPL PRS, and only they can confirm it. Our free music licence checker sums up where each of your music sources sits and gives you the questions to put to them.

The council side: entertainment licensing

The second question comes under a different law. The Licensing Act 2003, which extends to England and Wales only, sets the rules on when music counts as regulated entertainment that needs a premises licence or other authorisation from your council. The Home Office guidance issued under section 182 of the Act, revised in September 2026, sets out situations in which music is not licensable under it. Three are worth knowing for a café:

• Incidental music. Live or recorded music is not licensable if it is "incidental to some other activity". Whether music is incidental "will depend on the facts of each case", the guidance says, and the factors it suggests include whether the music is the main reason, or one of the main reasons, for people attending and being charged; whether it is advertised as the main attraction; and whether its volume disrupts or predominates over other activities, or it could be "described as 'background' music".
• Unamplified live music between 8am and 11pm needs no licence under the Act, on any premises.
• Amplified live music between 8am and 11pm needs no licence under the Act in a workplace that does not have a licence, provided the audience does not exceed 500.

The guidance also lists exemptions for amplified live music and for recorded music between 8am and 11pm on premises authorised to sell alcohol for drinking there, for audiences of up to 500 and subject to further conditions. Not every café holds that kind of authorisation. In any disputed case, the guidance says it is "for the licensing authority initially and, ultimately, for the courts to consider" whether music is incidental. So if you are not sure where your café's music sits, or you are planning live music or an event, your local licensing authority is the one to ask. In Scotland and Northern Ireland the Act does not apply, so check with your local licensing board or council there.

One thing stays the same whichever way that goes. As the same guidance puts it, deregulating entertainment licensing "does not remove the requirement for licences for the use of copyright works", so the council and PPL PRS are two separate conversations.

Where this comes from

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.

• Licence to play live or recorded music in public: gov.uk's guidance for businesses.
• AI and music copyright: PRS for Music's policy on AI-generated works.
• TheMusicLicence: PPL PRS's own description of the combined licence.

Related guides: Do you need a music licence for a pub, bar or wine bar? and Do you need a music licence for a restaurant?

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 before making any change to your licensing arrangements. Last reviewed 15 October 2026.