Music for Broadcasters and Production Companies

I Like Music provides both commercial music and production music to broadcasters and production companies in an uncompressed format that can be used in programmes that are broadcasted or publicly performed. Think of us as the company that supplies and delivers the CD to you so that you can use the music in accordance with the public performance licenses you have with the relevant performing rights organisations.

We offer two payment options in a similar way to a mobile phone operator. For larger users of music, we provide a subscription service which offers unlimited downloads for a fix monthly fee or we offer a Pay As You Go (PAYG) service where you can download uncompressed audio files for half the price of iTunes. In both cases, the audio files can only be used in a public performance.

Music for Retail and hospitality (In Store) – Music Licensing

Businesses that play music to their customers need to have a license to publicly perform the musical work and the sound recordings – this can be obtained from the local performing rights organisations. Since February 2018, PPL PRS have been issuing TheMusicLicence which allows you to legally play and perform music in your business, whether through the radio, TV, other devices and/or live performances. If you play or perform music in your business or organisation in the UK, you will usually need TheMusicLicence. It will cover you, with one licence and one invoice, for the use of virtually all commercially released music available – millions of songs and recordings, including the most popular and well-loved music not just from the UK but also from around the world.

In addition to this the company that provides the music service to you will need to pay for the copying of the musical works or sound recordings, or, if it is a streamed service, for the transmission of the service in the same way as a radio station would need to pay its music licenses. I Like Music, as a licensed music service provider, includes the cost of this licence in its monthly fee. We report the use to the Performing Rights Organisations so that they can distribute these fees to the music creators and administrators.

PRS for Music is a membership organisation consisting of over 100,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. It licences the use of its members’ musical compositions and lyrics when they are played in public. The fee for PRS is distributed to the writers, composers and copyright owners of the song that is played in public.

PPL is the UK-based music licensing company that licenses recorded music played in public and then distributes the licence fees to its performer and record company members. I Like Music, as a licensed music service provider, includes the cost of these two licenses in its monthly fee. We report the use to the Performing Rights Organisations so that they can distribute these fees to the music creators and administrators.

When businesses and organisations pay PPL PRS Ltd for TheMusicLicence, those royalties are passed on to PPL and PRS for Music (after running costs).

The royalties are shared between PPL and PRS for Music based on which of their respective licensing tariffs apply to the music usage under your licence, and the costs due under those tariffs.

PPL and PRS for Music each have databases storing details of millions of musical compositions and recordings. Together with a wealth of information about what music is being used by customers, this enables PPL and PRS for Music to determine fairly and efficiently which of their members to pay, and how much to pay them.

PPL represents record companies and performers for the use of recorded music, while PRS for Music represents songwriters, composers and music publishers for the use of musical compositions and lyrics (for both recorded music and live performances).

It is up to the venue to secure the public performance fees that are needed and these can easily be obtained from your local Performing Rights Organisations. These licences are required whether the music is played from a CD, the radio, TV or from our In Store Music streaming service.

Not having a public performance licence is classified as copyright infringement and may result in penalty fees. Similarly, sourcing music from a place or provider who does not have the licences to provide a music service is also classified as a copyright infringement and can also result in fines.

Music for Education Licensing

ILM’s Music Resource is a commercial music library specifically developed for the educational marketplace, granting teachers and students access to the world’s most complete commercial music collection. The copyrights for the sound recordings and musical works are licensed for streaming in lessons and extra-curricular activities including discos, school fetes, on-hold telephone music, dance classes and background music in communal areas. Subscribers can stream music from Desktop DJ to their heart’s content (subject to reasonable use)!

Please note

If you play music outside of the classroom environment, you must have a license for public performance from PP PRSL. These are available from The Centre for Education and Finance Management.

For more information on licensing for education, we recommend visiting Copyright and Schools.