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Do I need a radio licence?

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  • Eenymeeny
    Eenymeeny Posts: 2,015 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    I wonder if anyone can help me please? A friend who runs a small cafe has been approached by the PRS asking if she has a licence. She only puts the radio on if there are just a couple of customers in. Just to break the silence really. Is the licence only required if you play music? What if they only used Radio 4? (conversation only) Would that be ok do you think? Thanks for any input:)
    The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.
    Thanks to everyone who contributes to this wonderful forum. I'm very grateful for the guidance and friendliness that I always receive from you.
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    Please and Thank You are the magic words;)
  • Owain_Moneysaver
    Owain_Moneysaver Posts: 11,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Nice question. PRS representatives are paid on commission so will be keen to sign places up regardless of whether the venue is actually playing any material produced by the artists PRS collects fees for.
    A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.
  • alirob12
    alirob12 Posts: 809 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Thank you very much all of you for your input. Kim - really dont get ur suggestion and yes i found it very offensive. The question wasnt whether i could or could not pay for the licence. And i am sure many will agree it is not how much you make but how much you run your your business...
    the question was do i need a licence or not. Previous owners were approached by PRS and they were so horrible and could not shake them off untill they threatened them with court etc. So i just wanted to check without actually going to them...
    Mupette - what do you mean put the freview on? i only have freeview channels in the bedroom and was going to put another tv withfreeview on and play the radio that way? apparently dont need a licence for that?
    Thank you all!!
  • Eenymeeny
    Eenymeeny Posts: 2,015 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    edited 12 June 2010 at 9:44AM
    alir!!!2 wrote: »
    Previous owners were approached by PRS and they were so horrible and could not shake them off untill they threatened them with court etc. So i just wanted to check without actually going to them...

    Thank you all!!
    I'm with you totally. My friend had the same reservations as you about contacting them to clarify the situation. That's why she asked me to see what I could find out as I have no link with the business...a sorry state of affairs eh? and it only makes sound business sense to cut down your expenses as much as possible. Don't worry, the majority of people on here are sensible!;)
    Thanks for your input Owain. I wonder if anyone actually knows about talk only radio? I bet they would say that you retune as soon as their backs were turned!:(
    The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.
    Thanks to everyone who contributes to this wonderful forum. I'm very grateful for the guidance and friendliness that I always receive from you.
    :A:beer:
    Please and Thank You are the magic words;)
  • Premier_2
    Premier_2 Posts: 15,141 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Eenymeeny wrote: »
    ... Is the licence only required if you play music? ...

    No, you need the appropriate licence to publically broadcast any copyright material ... and that includes output by the BBC.
    "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 2010
  • jexygirl
    jexygirl Posts: 753 Forumite
    We had this with our previous pub.
    I paid for sky, however, had to pay ppl / prs as well regardless, I said I would use only the radio, same applies. You are broadcasting to "the public" therefore you have to pay it. A customer could drive to you in their car listening to the same radio channel, but as soon as you put it on in a public place cafe, dining room, prs/ppl is required, or was at least, 5 years ago.
    The only thing that wasn't charged was "original" music. So we would often book bands that played their own stuff, and each time we had a band that did covers, despite the band paying their own PRS, we had to pay it too... £100 per session at the time on top of the bands fees.
    And I wouldnt advise calling them either....
    Jex
    Savvy_Sue wrote: »
    I will pay jexygirl the compliment of saying that she invariably writes a lot of sense!
    and she finally worked out after 4 months, how to make that quote her sig! :rotfl:
  • Owain_Moneysaver
    Owain_Moneysaver Posts: 11,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You can also get royalty free CDs for background music, phone music-on-hold etc which don't need licences. Obviously the choice is rather limited (wrist-slittingly so if you have a 1 hour repeat over a 40 hour working week) and you won't get the 'Top 40' but on the other hand your customers won't be sitting drinking your coffee when an advert comes on for the burger bar down the road.
    A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.
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