The Music Licence – PPL and PRS

You usually need a licence to play live or recorded music in public/public places. To obtain a full operating licence in the UK, you need to obtain both a PPL & PRS tariff. This is because they represent different practitioners in the music industry.

PPL – Collect & distribute royalties on behalf of record companies & performers who feature on the digitally recorded tracks.

PRS – PRS collect & distribute royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers & publishers of the music.

All the royalties that are collected from UK businesses & public performances of music are distributed back to their members (less operating costs). 90% of the money that comes into them, gets distributed back to their parent companies PPL & PRS for Music. They are a non-profit company.