Exhibitions & Trade Shows

Information about the cost of TheMusicLicence for Exhibition Venues

• It is the responsibility of the exhibition organisers/agencies and the exhibitors themselves to ensure that TheMusicLicence is obtained for any music usage that takes place within the main exhibition area and on exhibitor stands at your venue.
• However, you need to ensure that you are correctly licensed for any background music usage that takes place in foyers, cafés/bars/shops/restaurants, toilets/restrooms, offices and other public/communal areas that are managed by the venue.
• Cafés/bars/shops/restaurants/etc. within the venue that are managed independently – such as franchises - will need to arrange for their own music licence, it is not the responsibility of the venue to obtain TheMusicLicence for these businesses.

PPL information about the cost of TheMusicLicencefor exhibition & trade show organisers/agencies.

• Exhibition organisers or agencies will need to ensure that TheMusicLicence is obtained for each exhibition, conference or trade show.
• The event organiser/agency is responsible for paying the whole PPL element of TheMusicLicence for both the background music in the exhibition area, e.g. purpose-built bars, restaurants etc. and for any music usage on each exhibitor stand. This includes the use of TV, radio, CD/MP3 or any other digital device.
• It’s worthwhile to ensure that you try and obtain the information from the exhibitors in relation to music usage on their stands as early as possible in the event process so that you are only charged for the music that is being used. The benefit of this being that you will have the option to recharge the exhibitor for the PPL as part of their package.

PRS information about the cost of TheMusicLicence for exhibition & trade show organisers/agencies.

• Exhibition organisers/agencies also have the responsibility of obtaining TheMusicLicence for the PRS element of the licence for the background music usage within the exhibition area. This includes but is not limited to: • Purpose built seminar and theatre areas • Organiser owned bars, cafes and restaurants • Other purpose - built feature areas**
• You will not need to arrange for the PRS element of the licence for the exhibitor’s music usage, it’s the responsibility of the exhibitors to arrange this themselves. You should advise them to contact PPL PRS directly on 0800 086 8820 to arrange for the PRS element of TheMusicLicence We recommend that this information is passed on to the exhibitor if they intend to play music on their stand, to coincide with you making arrangements to pay the PPL.
• Please note that DJ’s, fashion shows or catwalks and other special circumstances will need to arrange for a secondary version of TheMusicLicence as this is calculated differently. More information about this is available in the tariff information below.

Information about the cost of TheMusicLicence for exhibitors

• If you’re exhibiting at a trade show, conference or exhibition, and you plan on using licenced music through either TV, radio, CD, live performance or other digital device on your exhibition stand, then you’ll need to purchase TheMusicLicence.
• As the exhibition organiser/agency already obtains the PPL element of the exhibitor music licence on your behalf, you are only required to obtain the PRS for Music element of TheMusicLicence for your exhibition stand.
• The cost of TheMusicLicence for any background music on your exhibition stand is charged at a daily fee of £25.42 (excl VAT).
• For more information about the cost of TheMusicLicence, please contact us on 0800 086 8820.

• PPL PRS Ltd is a new company, equally owned by PPL and PRS for Music. It has been created to provide customers with a streamlined music licensing service – TheMusicLicence – with a single point of contact to make it easier to legally play and perform music in public.

• PPL and PRS for Music are both collective management organisations. They issue licences and collect royalties for certain uses of copyright-protected music, on behalf of their many thousands of members. They then distribute those royalties to members.
• PPL represents record companies and performers for the use of recorded music, while PRS represents songwriters, composers and music publishers for the use of musical compositions and lyrics (for both recorded music and live performances).
• PPL and PRS have set up PPL PRS Ltd to offer a single joint music licence, on behalf of them both, for playing and performing music in public.
• PPL and PRS will continue to carry out everything else they do separately. This includes representing their members, collecting royalties from international societies, developing, setting and consulting on their tariffs and licensing schemes, and licensing their broadcast, online and recorded media customers.

• TheMusicLicence allows you to legally play and perform music at events, exhibitions and trade shows, whether through the radio, TV, other devices and/or live performances.
• If you are playing or performing music at an exhibition or trade show in the UK, you will usually need TheMusicLicence. It will cover you, with one licence and one invoice, for the use of virtually all commercially released music available – millions of songs and recordings, including the most popular and well-loved music not just from the UK but also from around the world.

• Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, permission is needed from the relevant copyright holders – those who create, record and publish music – in order to play or perform music in public.
• Broadly speaking, this includes any presentation of music outside of a domestic setting. For example, it will include using music in the following ways: playing recorded music via any device, including the radio; showing TV broadcasts, or other audio-visual content, containing music; or putting on live performances of music.
• All these uses of music will usually require permission from the copyright holders and TheMusicLicence will give you that permission, covering the vast majority of commercially-released music.

• If there is live music being performed on your exhibition stand, then you will also need to arrange for TheMusicLicence to cover this type of music usage. The cost for live music on an exhibition stand is charged at the rate of 6% of any artist expenditure, or where there is no artist expenditure, a daily fee will apply, for more information, please contact us.

• Using a mobile phone or laptop to play music in public is the same as playing it through a device such as an iPod, MP3 player or digital radio. If you are playing music at your exhibition or trade show using a mobile phone or laptop, then you’ll usually need TheMusicLicence.

• When businesses and organisations pay PPL PRS Ltd for TheMusicLicence, we pass those royalties on to our parent companies, PPL and PRS for Music (after deduction of our running costs). The royalties are shared between PPL and PRS based on which of their respective licensing tariffs apply to the music usage under your licence, and the costs due under those tariffs.
• PPL and PRS each have databases storing details of millions of musical compositions and recordings. Together with a wealth of information about what music is being used by customers, this enables PPL and PRS to determine fairly and efficiently which of their members to pay, and how much to pay them.
• This means that, by purchasing TheMusicLicence, you are supporting the future of music by helping to ensure its creators are paid for their work, so that the people who write, perform and record it can continue making the music you love.