Music Licence PPL or PRS or Both

[Conniff]

I do have a great interest myself in the subject, I did send the PRS packing with some rather tasty language when they told me how much my annual bill would be.

 

It's not just about having a noise in the background, it's about playing the sort of thing that will attract and make feel at home the type of customer you are after.

[davcom1]

Hi all,

 

Wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or resurrect this one... sorry if I made the wrong choice!

 

So, we've paid the PRS for a couple of years and have now been contacted by "PPL" who PRS had never mentioned as another license requirement.

 

We've been billed for having hold music - for last 12 months and next 12 months. They billed us for having 5 lines although we only have a max of 4 staff to answer calls - we are a small business.

 

I noticed MARTIN3030 had some info and wondered if this is helpful. I'm tempted to refuse to pay....

 

Thanks,

 

David

[CHRIS44G]

Tell them to **** *** !!

[Julian Le Saux]

Hallo,

 

I work in a GP's surgery, and like a lot of others on this thread we've been paying PRS fees for 3-4 years,

in order to play music in our Waiting Room, and

all of a sudden last Autumn PPL got in touch and said we'd have to pay them too.

 

 

So we stopped playing the music, because the fees were too much for us to afford;

but they're still invoicing us, and in fact they've placed collection of the fee in the hands of an agency.

 

 

I emailed them and then rang them to say we had stopped playing the music,

and the shirty young lady I spoke to said we would still have to pay,

because we didn't inform them straight away when we stopped last Autumn.

 

 

It's a bit like me sending an invoice to a patient for missing an appointment when the patient never knew

we'd made him the appointment in the first place:

 

 

it's nothing more nor less than sharp practice in my opinion.

 

 

I'm thinking about contacting Trading Standards, but if anybody knows of a quicker way to get rid of these shysters then I'd be very interested to hear it.

[CHRIS44G]

Just ignore them, they`ll never take you to court. Bin their letters and tell them to go forth if they ring. The only thing you have done wrong is to pay them something in the first place.

[mnkal]

Hi all,

 

My parents who own a small business have just gotten into the same predicament with PPL demanding large sums of money, tactically calling right when their PRS license was ending and entrapping her into stating they play music publically over the phone.

 

Could anybody PM as to how I can manage this, I want to pursue this correctly via legal loopholes etc

Or at least a bit of knowledge as they would probably end up paying out of fear if I tell them to bin the letters

 

All help is really appreciated.

[determindator]

Trading Standards previously mentioned is good for a call and this link may be useful

 

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/downloads/Consultation%20response_ppl.pdf

 

http://www.ombudsman-services.org/ppl-joins-ombudsman-services.html

[ashmk]

If you tell them you work from home they leave you aloNe.

[halzar]

Hi, I have the same issues, can someone PM me any solutions please

[determindator]

Hi, I have the same issues, can someone PM me any solutions please

 

Have the points mentioned in posts 30 and 31 been of any use?

[halzar]

Can anyone tell me about this way around paying PRS and PPL?

Thanks

[edwardmk]

PPL called our small dental practice last August and entrapped a new employee into agreeing that we had a radio playing very quietly behind reception.

One of the other receptionists actually was listening to a radio against our policy of no music.

 

Later we received a call from PPL demanding just over £200 for a licence to broadcast music. We ignored them.

 

The calls kept coming so eventually I took a call from PPL and told them we didn't broadcast music and playing music in our practice was not allowed.

All staff had had a refresher on this and they were welcome to visit anytime to verify this was indeed the case.

 

Things went quiet until we received a letter on 04/03/2015 from a local DCA called MIL Collections demanding £329.38p.

I called them back and stated they should not have been contacted by PPL as we didn't require to be licensed as we didn't play music.

I was eventually passed on to a manager who said if we paid them the original licence fee immediately they would waive the 'fine' for late payment.

 

I wanted a guarantee that this would be the end of the matter, and that we would not be also billed by PRS if we paid PPL.

The manager said we could sign a disclaimer that we didn't play music and we would not be contacted again, and that PPL didn't share info with PRS.

 

 

However, on various forums it would seem he lied.

 

 

It has been reported these organisations do share information and agreeing to pay one could result in another also demanding payment.

While investigating the issue further, we ended up with an impasse as to what to do.

One dentist wanted to pay, but another said 'no way...we don't play music!...which is true.

 

Today the DCA called again and the woman on the phone was pretty abrupt.

I said I felt this was not a valid demand from PPL and asked for a written guarantee that if we paid a one off licence fee

and signed a disclaimer this would put an end to the matter (and stop further harassment).

She said pay first and guarantee later.

 

 

While I was considering this interesting advice, she suddenly blurted out that we had been given enough chances

and they were now passing our case on for further legal action.

She then hung up on me.

 

I feel a deep sense of injustice and am inclined to say 'see you in court'.

 

What do other members think?

[hillards]

Have PPL ever taken anyone to court I wonder ?

 

I'm looking at this from a different angle. I used to be a community radio station manager and was miffed with the amount of money we had to pay PRS and PPL when our station only made a few hundred pounds a year. After I left my station I discovered that a certain radio station was playing unlicensed music, their people bringing in CD-R's they had downloaded, plus one guy even putting out on air an apology for bad language as he had played a song direct from a video streaming service.

 

Being the nice guy I am, I wrote to PRS and PPL to tell them. Neither company bothered following up my affidavit and information. As such I now have total disregard for both organisations on the grounds that they are taking money but not enforcing the licenses they grant. I'm not talking about unlicensed or grey areas, this was a fully licensed operation who broke the rules.

 

If I were running a business I would happily have music playing and tell PRS and PPL to go away. They only seem interested in taking money and doing nothing for it. (in my personal opinion, of course)

[Conniff]

Oh dear, it's not just businesses, I have to have a license to listen to music on the radio or tv in my little bungalow. I've just received the following by email which says 'at your premises', I only have this one.

 

 

Please find attached your PPL invoice for your licence to use recorded music

(whether via CDs, Radio/TV broadcasts, background music systems or other sources) at

your premises.

 

Permission to use PPL repertoire under the terms of the licence will only be

effective once payment has been made.

 

Payment of your invoice can be made online at ppluk.com/payonline or you can call us

on 020 7534 1070 to pay by credit or debit card. All payment methods can be found on

the back of your invoice.

 

 

This is an automated email. If you have any queries about the invoice or

requirements for a PPL licence, please refer to the contact information below.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

PPL Customer Services

 

 

PPL

1 Upper James Street London W1F 9DE

T +44 (0)20 7534 1070 | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

I think I might be in big trouble as well, it also says:

 

 

The contents of this email (including any attachments) are confidential, may be

legally privileged

 

 

And I have posted it in public.

[aburobert]

I think both organisations 'pull' details from Company House and appear to have a data base of limited companies that do not have licenses. Over the years I have received and binned letters from both demanding payment for licenses. I've never had anyone call or any debt collector activity over my non communication with them.

 

They have no way of knowing if I play music or not or whether my premises are commercial or not unless they actually call and inspect. Until they do I will continue to ignore them.

[Conniff]

If it's open to the public then you won't know they are visiting, if it's a closed office, you can tell them where to go.

 

This is the only industry that charges for ever and ever. Car companies don't continually charge for driving one of their cars or telly companies for watching on their tv.