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On Hold Music Licensing in the UK: What Your Business Needs

On Hold Music Licensing in the UK: What Your Business Needs

7 November 2026

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On Hold Music Licensing in the UK: What Your Business Needs

Business owner reviewing telephone music licensing terms

If you play commercially released music to callers while they wait, you will usually need a music licence in the UK. For most businesses that means TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS, because music played down a phone line to customers counts as a public performance. Music you have bought, downloaded or streamed does not remove that need on its own. Below we set out who needs what, how copyright works for hold music, how to check a supplier’s paperwork and what to do about your own or commissioned tracks.

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TL;DR

  • Playing commercially released music to callers on hold is a public performance, so you will usually need TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS.
  • Two layers of copyright sit behind most tracks: the composition and the recording. A licence has to cover both.
  • “Royalty free” describes how a track is priced. It is not a guarantee that telephone use is covered, so read the licence terms.
  • Playing music in public without permission infringes copyright and can lead to a claim for damages.
  • Ask any supplier to confirm in writing that the music and its intended use on your phone system are covered.

Table of Contents

Do you need a licence for music on hold?

Yes, in most cases. PPL PRS states that if you use commercially released music on your telephone system, you will usually need TheMusicLicence, because the music is played for your customers and is classed as public performance (PPL PRS Help).

This sits within a wider rule. GOV.UK explains that you usually need a licence to play recorded music in public or at your business, and it names workplaces such as shops and offices. The House of Commons Library briefing on playing music in public places adds that under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, permission is needed from copyright holders to play or perform music in public, and that businesses playing music for customers or employees will usually need a licence.

A caller waiting in your queue is a customer hearing your music. The size of the business does not change that. A two-person firm with a single line is in the same position as a call centre.

What a licence is not

A few assumptions catch businesses out:

  • A purchased download. Buying a track for personal listening gives you personal listening. Playing it to callers is a different use.
  • A streaming subscription. Consumer subscriptions are for private listening, not for piping music to customers.
  • A track on the radio. Playing a radio feed down the line is still a public performance of the music in it.

If you are unsure which situation you are in, PPL PRS and your telephony provider are the two people to ask, and you should ask them before you load any audio.

Who issues the licence: PPL, PRS and TheMusicLicence

You do not have to chase individual songwriters or record labels. PPL and PRS for Music are collective management organisations. GOV.UK describes these bodies as organisations that administer the rights of many copyright owners, grant licences for use of their work and distribute the fees collected back to those owners. The Commons Library briefing notes that, because of this, businesses do not usually need to contact songwriters and music publishers directly.

TheMusicLicence is the combined product. GOV.UK says it is issued by PPL PRS and replaces separate licences from PRS for Music and PPL. PPL PRS describes it as one licence and one invoice covering virtually all commercially released music, from independent artists to major names.

The money then goes two ways. PPL distributes fees for recorded music to record companies and performers, while PRS for Music distributes fees for compositions and lyrics to songwriters, composers and publishers.

How music licensing fees reach rights holders

Hold music appears in the tariffs

PPL PRS publishes tariffs for different kinds of organisation. Its tariff for churches, for example, explicitly lists telephone music on hold among the uses it covers. That is one tariff, not a rule for every sector, but it shows that on-hold use sits inside the licensing framework. To find the tariff and fee for your own type of business, use PPL PRS directly. We do not quote fees here because they depend on your sector and circumstances and are updated by PPL PRS.

Most recorded songs carry two sets of rights:

  1. The composition: the melody and lyrics, owned by songwriters, composers and publishers.
  2. The recording: the specific performance captured on the track, owned by the record company and performers.

PPL’s own explanation is that recorded music is protected by copyright and permission is needed from every recording rightsholder whose recordings you use. Its licences give that permission on behalf of the rightsholders it represents. TheMusicLicence puts the composition side and the recording side in a single licence for the vast majority of commercial music.

This is why “I paid for the track” is a weak defence. The payment may have covered one layer for one purpose. It rarely covers both layers for playback to the public.

Readers often ask whether old music is free to use. The answer depends on which layer you mean.

Type of right How long it lasts in the UK Source
Original musical work (composition) The composer’s life plus 70 years after death PRS for Music copyright guide
Co-written work Until 70 years after the end of the calendar year in which the last known living composer dies PMLL Code of Fair Practice
Sound recording 50 years from the end of the calendar year it was made or released PRS for Music copyright guide

Two practical points follow. First, a classical piece can be centuries old and out of copyright, yet a modern recording of it is a separate, protected work. Second, a new arrangement of an old tune can create fresh rights of its own. Do not assume “old” means “free” without checking both layers, and ask the supplier or the licensing body if the track is anything other than plainly in the public domain. Copyright terms have exceptions and have changed over time, so treat this table as a guide rather than a ruling on any one track.

What does royalty free hold music really mean?

Searches for royalty free hold music in the UK are common, and the phrase is often misread. In general, royalty free refers to the pricing model: you pay once, or on a licence basis, rather than paying a royalty each time the track is played. It says nothing, by itself, about where you may use the track.

So the question to put to any supplier is not “is it royalty free?” but “does your licence expressly allow telephone on-hold use, for my business, in the UK?” Some libraries do say in their licence terms that tracks may be used on telephone messages. Others restrict use to video, podcasts or websites. The wording of the licence decides, not the label on the product page.

There is also a link back to TheMusicLicence. PPL PRS says that if you choose not to use commercially released music, you should ask your supplier to confirm that the music is not covered by PPL PRS so its records can be updated. In other words, music written and cleared specifically for business use may sit outside TheMusicLicence, but you need that confirmation in writing. PPL PRS also says it has arrangements in place with some telephone on-hold music suppliers, so what you need to buy can depend on who supplies your audio (PPL PRS).

What does royalty free hold music really mean?

How to check a supplier’s licence covers your use

Work through this list before any audio goes onto your system.

  1. Name the use. Say plainly that the music will be played to callers waiting on your business phone lines.
  2. Ask what is covered. Does the supplier’s licence cover the composition, the recording, or both?
  3. Ask about PPL PRS. Is the music commercially released, in which case you will usually need TheMusicLicence? Or is it music outside PPL PRS, in which case ask for written confirmation, as PPL PRS advises?
  4. Check the territory and term. The licence should cover the UK and state how long it lasts.
  5. Check the number of lines and sites. Some licences are tied to a single site or number of users.
  6. Keep the paperwork. Store the licence, invoice and any written confirmation somewhere your office manager can find it.

If a supplier cannot answer these points clearly, that is a signal to look elsewhere for your audio. Clear answers cost them nothing.

Using your own or commissioned music

Own music gives you the most control, but the rights have to be sorted out in writing. We would not rely on a handshake. There are three common cases:

  • Music you wrote and recorded yourself. If you own both the composition and the recording outright, you hold both layers. If anyone else performed on it or contributed, confirm in writing that they have assigned or licensed their rights to you.
  • Music commissioned from a composer or studio. The contract should say who owns the composition and recording, that you may use it on telephone and in public, and for how long and where. Many commissioned works remain owned by the creator unless the contract assigns the rights, so ask for the wording.
  • Members of PRS for Music or PPL. If the writer or performer is a member of a collecting society, ask how the music is registered and whether it falls inside or outside TheMusicLicence, then get that confirmed in writing.

This is the area where a short conversation with a solicitor who handles intellectual property, or with PPL PRS directly, is worth having if the music is central to your brand. Our point here is simply that your own music is not automatically cleared for the use you have in mind, and the contract is what proves it.

What happens if you play music on hold without permission

GOV.UK is direct: playing live or recorded music in public without a licence infringes copyright and could result in you being sued for damages. Rightsholders and the bodies that represent them can take that step.

For a small firm the sensible position is simple. The licensing route is designed to be one licence and one invoice, so getting covered is straightforward compared with dealing with a dispute. If you have been using music on hold for a while and are unsure of your position, contact PPL PRS to get it regularised rather than waiting.

Practical alternatives to commercial tracks

There are several ways to keep callers informed while they wait, and each has its own licensing consequence:

Option Licensing consequence
Commercially released music You will usually need TheMusicLicence
Music from a supplier with a licence that expressly covers telephone use Follow the licence terms and get written confirmation of what it covers
Your own or commissioned recording Confirm you hold both composition and recording rights in a signed agreement
Spoken messages, queue information or announcements Your own words carry no music licence need, though any music bed underneath does
Silence or a simple tone No music is being performed

Many firms now pair a short message with a light music bed. If you use a voice recording alone, you avoid the music question entirely. If you add a music bed, the questions above come back.

Our perspective

We install and support business telephone systems across Essex, London and the South East, and hold music is one of those small details that turns out to matter.

The mistake we see is treating hold audio as a technical setting rather than a business decision. Someone uploads a favourite track, the system plays it, and nobody asks who owns it. Fixing it later is awkward, so we would rather you ask the questions at the start.

Our advice is to decide what you want callers to experience first. Often that is clear information about wait times and what to have ready, with music as a light background. Then choose audio whose licence you can actually produce on request, and keep it with your telecoms paperwork.

Our hosted phone systems are set up with no long-term contracts, so you are not locked into a platform when you review how your calls sound. If you are changing provider or system, it is a good moment to tidy up your hold audio at the same time.

Paul

Getting your phone system and hold audio in order

If you are reviewing how your business answers and queues calls, it makes sense to look at the system and the audio together. Our VoIP and SIP hosted telephony is built for businesses in Essex, London and the South East, with UK-based support if something needs sorting quickly. If you want calls answered and routed automatically, take a look at our AI-powered business phone systems. Pricing for both is on application, so get in touch for a quote.

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A reliable phone system also depends on a reliable connection. Our business broadband starts from £24 per month for Basic Business Broadband, £38 for Standard and £49 for Fibre, and our 4G and 5G routers start from £20 per month. If you would rather talk it through, contact us via our site.

FAQ

Do I need a licence if I only play music to callers on hold and nowhere else?

Usually, yes. PPL PRS says that commercially released music on a telephone on-hold system is played for customers and classed as public performance, so you will usually need TheMusicLicence. Playing it in only one place does not change that.

Can I use music I bought or downloaded for my hold queue?

Not safely on that basis alone. A purchase or subscription is normally for private listening, and playing the track to callers is a public performance. Check the terms of the purchase and ask PPL PRS or your supplier what covers business use.

Is royalty free hold music automatically covered for telephone use?

No. Royalty free describes how the music is priced, not where you may use it. Look for a licence that expressly allows telephone on-hold use in the UK, and keep a copy with your records.

A musical composition is generally protected for the composer’s life plus 70 years. A sound recording is protected for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was made or released. A recent recording of an old piece can therefore still be protected.

What happens if I play music on hold without a licence?

GOV.UK says it infringes copyright and could result in a claim for damages. Getting the right licence or written clearance in place is the straightforward way to avoid that.

Sources