Fine tuning
Licensing in the hospitality industry can be a minefield, especially as far as the licences to play music are concerned. To address the confusion, Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), the body that issues licences on behalf of record companies, is running a campaign aimed at making people more aware of its work.
Many people do not realise that simply owning a record-, cassette- or compact- disc player does not give them the automatic right to play it in public. Fortunately, separate applications do not have to be made to each record company and one licence from PPL is all that is needed.
PPL works on behalf of nearly 1,500 UK record companies - including all multinationals, independents and small specialist producers. This means it controls the public performance and broadcasting rights of some 13,000 labels.
This covers all areas of music and probably encompasses more than 95% of all sound recordings commercially available in the UK - including compilations.
The licence from PPL is not to be confused with that issued by the Performing Right Society (PRS). It works on behalf of music composers who own an entirely separate copyright, and its licence is needed in addition to PPL's.
If you play sound recordings in public then you are legally obliged to obtain a licence from PPL. Many restaurant and hotel proprietors are caught out and end up facing legal proceedings for copyright infringement. They can also be saddled with expensive solicitors' bills. Costs can easily reach £1,000 and if a writ and court injunction are ignored, the courts can impose a jail sentence.
All of this can be avoided by contacting PPL, who will advise you on exactly which licence is needed. Broadly, there are two types of licence. The first is where sound recordings are played solely for background music and the annual fee for this licence is just over £1 per week.
The second type of licence is where the sound recordings are played as a featured attraction, such as a dance and disco. In these instances fees are charged on a sliding scale and depend on the hours of record use and average attendance.
For premises with an average customer base of 75 people and a record usage of two hours, the cost of a licence would be about £2.30. Licences are granted for each occasion.
Market research by Gallup into the use of recorded music in retail and social outlets has shown just how beneficial it can be for business. Four out of five publicans and restaurateurs agreed that recorded music was good for business and three out of five managers said that recorded music made their customers stay longer.
In thousands of restaurants and hotels, recorded music is used to attract customers. Do not undervalue its importance by ignoring the legal requirements in regard to copyright music licensing.
For further details contact the General Licensing Department at PPL, Ganton House, 14-22 Ganton Street, London W1V 1LB. Tel: 0171-437 0311.
