What rights are covered in the licence?
The right to communicate music to the public (which is a restricted act under UK copyright law and something you will be doing whenever you make music available online).
How do you apply for a licence?
To apply for a PRS Online licence you must complete and sign a hard copy of the application form and return it to us by post, at: Online Licensing, 5th Floor BMH, 29-33 Berners Street, London, W1T 3AB
How much does it cost?
The PRS Online licence is charged in units of £50 (+VAT). For each £50 unit you are granted a certain amount of streams/downloads for your site. For example, if you anticipate you will be providing more than 5000 downloads in your music service you will need to buy two £50 units for £100.
The tables below shows the usage limits per £50 (+VAT) Unit. The minimum fee is £50 (+ VAT). Fees will not be pro-rated for services that operate for less than a year.
Music Services
| On demand streams |
Up to 45,000 streams |
| Background to a website (akin to webcasting) |
Up to 100,000 streams |
| Permanent downloads |
Up to 5,000 downloads |
General Entertainment Services
(For audio-visual services where music is not the main focus of content)
| On demand streams |
Up to 3,000 music hours streamed |
| Background to a website (akin to webcasting) |
Up to 8,000 music hours streamed |
| Permanent downloads |
Up to 300 music hours downloaded |
Music hours are calculated by multiplying the viewer hours (i.e. the amount of time in total that users spend watching the content) by the percentage of music in the content.
E.g. If 1,000 people watched a programme that was 1 hour in length and the music percentage was 25% (15 minutes), then the music hours consumed would be 250.
How does the reporting process work?
You will need to provide details of the music you want to use as part of the application process. Please speak to the Broadcast and Online Licensing Team on 020 7306 4991 for more details.
Further Information
View the full terms and conditions or contact the Broadcast & Online Licensing Team on 020 7306 4991 or email onlinelicensing@mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk for further information.