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Digital Music Licence for Business Consultation

In September 2023, we launched a public consultation on our new digital licensing scheme designed specifically for businesses who want to use music online, but whose main focus isn't making music available. This licensing scheme is also available for charities and government organisations. A summary of the consultation can be viewed here.

We have reviewed the feedback and have responded to specific points, summarised in the document below.

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Digital Music Licence for Business Consultation

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Digital Music Licence for Business Consultation Response Summary

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The new scheme will come into effect 1 January 2024 , and will replace the Limited Online Music Licence (LOML) for these types of businesses.

If you are an existing customer of PRS for Music

This new licence has been designed to help businesses streamline their licence purchasing experience but will also offer flexibility to use more of the music they love online through our proposed royalty rate blocks.

We will also send you a formal notice of the effective date of change in scheme to you.  

Frequently Asked Questions

The LOML (Limited Online Music Licence) has not been reviewed or updated since it was created over 15 years ago. Earlier this year, we carried out a survey with customers to understand how their needs have changed and what more we can do to improve the purchasing experience. Customers told us they wanted a more targeted licensing scheme that better affected their individual licensing needs. This licensing scheme is also available for charities and government organisations.

Rights

  • The communication to the public of PRS repertoire
  • The communication to the public of Production music sound recordings
  • Mechanical rights in MCPS repertoire

Types of Music Usage 

  • Streaming
  • Clips (previewing 30 second clips of tracks) 
  • On Demand streaming & downloads of non-music focused content.

If customers require any other type of usage, please visit our website to buy a suitable licence. 

 
  • Annual licence fee sold in blocks of £173 (+VAT) removing the need for customers to estimate music usage from several options as well as consumption and select from a rate card their licence fee.
  • Removal of the £12.5K revenue cap that was previously in the LOML, to encourage more customers to buy this new licence.
  • This licence can be prorated for short-term or temporary use (subject to a minimum fee), saving customers money while also ensuring they are licensed for the music they use, and not just for the full year. 
Customers can use 180,000 streams or 500 clips or 6,500 on demand streaming hours or 360 downloaded hours per licence year.
A customer who wants to benefit from an increased use of music would be able to purchase two blocks of £173, for example both streaming (up to 180k streams) and general entertainment on demand content (up to 6.5k hours). 
 
This is a key benefit of the new scheme whereby the customer has flexibility to top up their licence as their usage increases.
Your feedback will be used to help us form a comprehensive picture of perspectives on the new licence. Feedback will also help us to understand how the proposed licence will be received and identify any potential issues or concerns.
We have a dedicated mailbox to reply to any responses and clarifications during the consultation period, customers can also send responses and any questions via post.

You can contact us by post at:

Digital Music Licence for Business Consultation
PRS for Music
1st Floor
Goldings House
2 Hays Lane
London
SE1 2HB

Or by email to: digitalbusinesslicenceconsultation@prsformusic.com

Please entitle your response: ‘Digital Music Licence for Business Consultation’

The closing date for the consultation is 4 October 2023.
Once the consultation period has ended, we will collate feedback received. A summary of the responses, along with our response, will be made available on the PRS for Music website. Stakeholders will be notified before the final scheme is launched.
If you use, play, or perform (communicate to the public) music in your business or organisation, the chances are you need a music licence. After business costs, all the licence fees collected are then processed, allocated and distributed to the talented music creators that we represent. By purchasing a licence, customers 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 we all love. 
There are several methods to track the music being played in different environments, including surveys on businesses, and by tracking radio play and feature film cue sheets, that allow us to distribute the licence fees collected as accurately and efficiently as possible. 90% of all the money collected goes to the songwriters, composers, and publishers of the works in our licensable repertoire we only deduct our running costs.
Our distributions are normally made four times a year, in April, July, October and December. We aim to include payments in the second quarterly distribution after the event has taken place. For example, music performed in May would be included in the October distribution.

Contact us

If you have any queries regarding our new licence, please contact us on digitalbusinesslicenceconsultation@prsformusic.com

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