Café music without TheMusicLicence bill
A UK café playing repertoire music needs TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS — the joint venture of PPL and PRS for Music — on top of whatever service supplies the tracks. The Oktava catalog is registered with neither society, so playing it needs no TheMusicLicence: £150 a year covers the player, the channels and the paperwork.
One café, three moods a day
Flat whites at eight, the lunch scramble at one, cake and laptops by four — the same room asks for three different soundtracks, and Oktava schedules them once: a calm channel for the morning, pace for the rush, warmth for the wind-down. The player changes over by itself, the transitions are clean, and there are no ads — the room never lurches from a ballad into a shouted promotion.
PPL PRS licenses actively, and a café with open doors and audible speakers is the classic first knock. On Oktava, nothing from the PPL or PRS for Music repertoires is playing — and the named certificate by the till proves it via live QR verification, with the playback log listing every track behind it. Letters, if any, can be forwarded straight to us.
How it works
Sign up, open the player on the counter tablet or any phone, set the daypart schedule and volume. Certificate and playback log appear in the dashboard from day one; cached channels keep the room playing through broadband drops.
What it costs
£15 a month or £150 a year per location — while TheMusicLicence is priced per venue by PPL PRS on top of any music service. The trial runs 7 days, no card needed.
Questions, answered
Do I still need TheMusicLicence?
Not for the Oktava catalog — it's registered with neither PPL nor PRS for Music, so there's nothing for TheMusicLicence to cover. Radio, TV or Spotify at the same café still needs it; the playback log shows which case is yours.
Can we keep Spotify on quiet mornings?
That playback is repertoire music — TheMusicLicence applies to it regardless of our certificate, and Spotify's terms forbid business use anyway. The playback log records both sources honestly; most cafés choose one source and keep it simple.
Can the sound change from breakfast to afternoon on its own?
Yes — the schedule is set once in the dashboard and the player switches channels on time every day. Staff can still skip or override from the counter.
This information is provided for general reference and is not legal advice.