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Music, licensing and brand sound

Guides, playbooks and case studies on business music, licensing and using sound to build your brand.

Comparisons 7 min read

PPL PRS vs Melodial: UK Business Music Compared

PPL PRS (TheMusicLicence) charges a combined annual fee for the licence alone, while Melodial bundles fully licensed background music and the commercial right to play it into one subscription from £4.99 per month.

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Licensing 6 min read

Do I Need a Music Licence in the UK?

Yes, if customers or staff can hear music in your UK business you need a licence. Melodial is a low-cost, fully licensed option at £4.99 per month, instead of a separate streaming subscription plus a PPL PRS licence.

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Licensing 5 min read

How Melodial Works: Licensed Music for Business in the UK

Background music and a commercial licence in one £4.99 per month subscription. How UK businesses stay fully licensed without paying PPL PRS, with a Certificate of Compliance included.

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Licensing 5 min read

Melodial Legal Assurance: Fully Licensed Music in the UK

Because Melodial owns or directly licenses every track it plays, businesses in the UK that use it exclusively owe no PPL PRS public performance fees. Here is the legal reasoning in plain language, plus the real cost of getting caught without a licence.

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Licensing 6 min read

Can I Play Spotify in My Business in the UK?

No, Spotify (even Premium) is licensed for personal use only, so playing it across a UK business breaks its terms and still needs a PPL PRS TheMusicLicence, while Melodial bundles the music and the licence for £4.99 per month.

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Licensing 6 min read

Business Music Licensing Guide for the UK

In the UK, any business playing music for customers or staff needs a public performance licence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The traditional route through PPL PRS (TheMusicLicence) costs hundreds to thousands per year, and the music is extra on top. Melodial includes both the music and the licence for £4.99 per month.

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Licensing 6 min read

How Much Does a Music Licence Cost in the UK?

A traditional music licence in the UK typically costs £151 to £5,755 or more per year through PPL PRS (TheMusicLicence), and the music source is extra on top. Melodial includes both the music and the licence for £4.99 per month.

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Licensing 5 min read

How to Play Music Legally in Your Business in the UK

The two legal ways to play music in a UK business: TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS plus a separate streaming service, or Melodial from £4.99 per month with the licence included.

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Licensing 6 min read

Understanding Business Music Licensing in the UK

Playing music in your UK business is a public performance under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, so you need a commercial licence. Melodial includes both the music and the licence from £4.99 per month, instead of a separate PPL PRS fee.

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Licensing 5 min read

Music Licence Fines and Penalties in the UK

What PPL PRS can charge UK businesses caught playing unlicensed music: back fees, damages and court costs, plus the £4.99 per month way to stay legal.

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Licensing 5 min read

The Lowest-Cost Fully Licensed Music Option for Business in the UK

A low-cost, fully legal way to play music in a UK business is Melodial at £4.99 per month, which bundles the music and TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS into one subscription instead of paying £151 to £5,755 a year on top.

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Licensing 4 min read

Is Royalty-Free Music Safe for Your Business in the UK?

Royalty-free is a marketing label, not a legal clearance, and a single mislabelled track is enough for PPL PRS to build a case against your UK business. Melodial gives you a fully cleared catalogue and a Certificate of Compliance for £4.99 per month.

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Comparisons 5 min read

Melodial vs MoodBy: The UK Business Music Compared

MoodBy - charges £25 per zone. Melodial - £4.99 per zone, includes AI voice ads, scheduling and offline playback.

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Features 6 min read

Set It and Trust It: Scheduling with Melodial Plus

Scheduling that is effortless by default and precise when you need it: daypart and zone your music automatically, then roll proven schedules across sites.

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Features 6 min read

Brand Control at Scale: User Management in Melodial Plus

How Melodial Plus roles, permissions and zones protect your brand across every location and let you build consistent, structured ambiences everywhere.

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Case Studies 5 min read

Music That Gives Back: How Two Charities Put Sound to Work

Farfield Mill and C Care use Melodial's charity program to play fully licensed, on-brand music for free, creating warmer, more welcoming spaces.

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Case Studies 6 min read

How Rage Brought 650+ Stores Into One Sound

Rage, one of South Africa's largest fashion retailers, moved 650+ stores onto Melodial, cutting over $100,000 a year in licensing, gaining central brand control and network-wide messaging, and lifting turnover and brand awareness.

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Features 6 min read

In-Store Messaging, Without the Studio: AI Ad Voiceovers

Turn a line of text into a broadcast-quality announcement in seconds, and use it to inform guests or sell more across any industry.

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Playbooks 16 min read

The Retail Music Research Report

What decades of research reveal about how in-store music shapes shopper behaviour: mood, time perception, tempo, volume, genre and music zoning, with the studies behind every finding.

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Playbooks 5 min read

Music Licensing Is Becoming a Brand Virtue, Not Just a Legal Box

New research on 1,250 shoppers shows being licensed is now a trust signal customers reward, and its absence one they punish. The lesson applies squarely to UK venues.

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Playbooks 4 min read

The Retail Music Playbook: How Sound Sells

Use tempo, volume, genre fit and zoning deliberately to lift dwell time and spend on the retail floor, the compliant way.

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Playbooks 4 min read

The Resort Music Playbook: Scoring the Whole Guest Journey

How to design a cohesive sound across every space of a resort, from arrival to pool to dinner.

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Playbooks 4 min read

The Dayparting Playbook: One Venue, Many Moods

Tune a restaurant, cafe or bar from open to last call, matching energy to each part of the day.

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Playbooks 4 min read

The Calm Playbook: Designing Sound for Wellness Spaces

Build soothing, considered soundscapes for spas, salons and treatment rooms that put clients at ease.

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Playbooks 4 min read

The Sonic Identity Playbook: Music as Brand in Hotels

Turn music into part of your hotel's brand, with one coherent sound from lobby to lift.

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Comparisons 6 min read

Soundtrack Your Brand, Rockbot and Mood Media vs Melodial

How Melodial compares to Soundtrack Your Brand, Rockbot and Mood Media on licensing, pricing and features for multi-site businesses.

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Licensing 6 min read

Multi-Site Music Licensing: One Platform Across Every Location

How chains and groups replace per-site licences and vendors with one fully licensed platform, controlled centrally, at a flat rate per stream.

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