Music Licence

djcontrol73

I run a small independant clothing shop, about 6 months ago we decided to turn part of the store into a record shop...Selling Vinyl ! Anyone remember those ?...LOL

Anyway we buy and sell new and used records..

We already had a licence to play music as when we first opened we were told we needed a PRS licence, (Performing Rights Society), to play music.

Anyway we thought we were covered so for the last few months have been trying to buy and sell records, We have a listening deck where people can listen to records through earphones, and also we have decks behind the counter where we can play part of the record to the customer.

A month ago we had a call from a lady saying that we are illegally playing music and that we are not licenced, I advised that we have a PRS licence and thought that was all we needed, She said that we also needed a PPL licence. Ok i said hands up, didnt know, thought we had what was required.

I asked how much it was and she said she needed to take some measurements of the shops audible area which i gave, I then again asked for the cost, but was told i would recieve the info in the post.. A week later i recieve the invoice for this years licence which is £150 , plus a penalty invoice for another 50% of the invoice for not having a licence ¬

I rang them to ask why i was being charged for something that i never knew about, I was told thats the rules, you should of looked into it !

I understand the need for a licence, but i feel this very unfair...To have to pay them over £200 in one hit was basically my weeks takings, I wish i had a recession proof business..

I really feel that they have extorted money from me..

All our new releases come direct from the record labels, we have to pay upfront, we are then trying to promote the artist and to earn a profit on our purchase...

Really feel that to be charged a penalty is unfair..what do you think?

I asked them if i could pay monthly and they said not possible..

sorryaboutmywife

These two bodies are legit. Have a look on their websites for more info. Briefly, PRS deals with the performance/writers and PPL with the recordings.

If you are trying to support artists then know that these bodies exist to protect artists copyrights and ensure they get their royalties.

I would however explain to PPL that it's done on headphones in case that makes a difference.

HTH