Radio Licence

chirpy007

I know stricky speaking there isnt one but we have been told at work that we cant listen to our radio becuase it will cost £5000. I work for a large organisation but there are 4 of us who work in my office.

I have heard different theories about this and that but is there anyway round it. We have even been told that we cant listen to cd's.

We dont want to wear headphones.

Could l take a tv and buy a freeview box and listen to the radio through that if we have a tv license or is there another way.

Thanks

dacouch

http://www.fsb.org.uk/discuss/forum_posts.asp?TID=599

earphones me thinks

Mikeyorks

It's the fees to the Performing Rights Society + others ... that cost the £5k. If they're tuned in to that your place of work isn't going to allow you to play music publicly.

We dont want to wear headphones.

..... little choice I suspect.

maninthestreet

chirpy007 wrote: »

I know stricky speaking there isnt one but we have been told at work that we cant listen to our radio becuase it will cost £5000. I work for a large organisation but there are 4 of us who work in my office.

I have heard different theories about this and that but is there anyway round it. We have even been told that we cant listen to cd's.

We dont want to wear headphones.

Could l take a tv and buy a freeview box and listen to the radio through that if we have a tv license or is there another way.

Thanks

Are you playing a radio in your work place such that members of the public can hear it?

lamb7994

maninthestreet wrote: »

Are you playing a radio in your work place such that members of the public can hear it?

Doesn't need to be customers / public.
it is when more than 1 person is listening to the radio/cd's so more than 1 member of staff.

We had this issue at work and we're a charity shop it doesn't cost £5000 but depends on how many people in the building,size of building. from there website i can;t see a price above £1500

http://www.prsformusic.com/playingbroadcastingonline/music_for_businesses/Pages/havewecontacted.aspx


James

chirpy007

maninthestreet wrote: »

Are you playing a radio in your work place such that members of the public can hear it?

No but as stated it doesnt matter.

Whats annoying is that only a quarter of staff would listen to it but we would have to pay for them all.

Thanks everyone

McKneff

maninthestreet wrote: »

Are you playing a radio in your work place such that members of the public can hear it?

The people in the workplace listening to the music are the general public.
We were made aware (by the PRS) this week this also covers music on hold on the telephones

TomsMom

chirpy007 wrote: »

No but as stated it doesnt matter.

Whats annoying is that only a quarter of staff would listen to it but we would have to pay for them all.

Thanks everyone

There are two licenses which must be held by music users (restuarants, offices, hairdressers, pubs, etc) to play recorded music. PRS (Performing Rights Society) and PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited). A big proportion of Tthe fees collected go to the writers and publishers of the music played in royalties. To play music without these licenses is unlawful and your employer could end up in court with a hefty fine to pay.

There are different tariffs depending on the type and size of the premises. We used to own a small restaurant, seating up to 34 people and for this we used to pay about £250 for the two licenses altogether. Depending on how big your employer's premises are, and possibly if they have more than one premises, could mean a fee that they are not prepared to pay. So it's not just the four of you in your office, it's the number of employees as a whole and other things that are taken into account.

I can understand music being played in e.g. a factory where maybe repetitive work is being done that might not require a lot of concentration, but what sort of office work doesn't need your full attention, which you couldn't give if you're listening to music?

Mikeyorks

TomsMom wrote: »

I can understand music being played in e.g. a factory where maybe repetitive work is being done that might not require a lot of concentration,

That's a pretty accurate synopsis. Used to play it to data prep operators who can key / talk / eat / listen and argue .. all at the same time and with absolutely no break in concentration! And whilst the style of the work has changed dramatically over the years - it still helps productivity.

Cost circa £2000 pa for both licences .... and including the restaurant.

surfcat

TomsMom wrote: »

I can understand music being played in e.g. a factory where maybe repetitive work is being done that might not require a lot of concentration, but what sort of office work doesn't need your full attention, which you couldn't give if you're listening to music?

On the contrary, what sort of office work needs your full attention? If you lose your concentration for a minute your keyboard is not going to slice off your fingers. The whole PPL thing is a scam, especially if you bring in your own non-pop music. How do those artists get royalties from the scheme instead of the likes of Girls Aloud, Coldplay, Pop Factor runner up?

TomsMom

surfcat wrote: »

If you lose your concentration for a minute your keyboard is not going to slice off your fingers.

Who's mentioned slicing fingers off? I would imagine there are plenty of repetitive factory jobs where that wouldn't be the case - e.g. packing chocolates in Cadburys.

On the contrary, what sort of office work needs your full attention?

And as for what sort of office work needs your full attention, when I worked in an office I transcribed shorthand or tapes and typed up letters and reports, admin work such as accurate recording of facts and figures in appropriate places, and filing that, if misfiled, would take days of searching through hundreds of files to find again. That's the sort of concentration I'm talking about or don't offices work like that any more?

The whole PPL thing is a scam, especially if you bring in your own non-pop music. How do those artists get royalties from the scheme instead of the likes of Girls Aloud, Coldplay, Pop Factor runner up?

If you bring in your own music (are we talking headphones here?) then you are not premises broadcasting to the public so the licenses don't come into it.
If you mean putting your own music onto your employer's system then it's still broadcasting to the public in the sense they mean.

I don't know how the royalties are paid, I've never gone into it. But you are never asked which artists' records you are playing when you apply for your license.