UK Online Radio Licensing: What You Need Before Launch

To start a UK online radio station using commercially released music, you normally need permission for both the songs and recordings. For most internet-only stations, online radio licensing involves separate agreements with PRS for Music and PPL.

Your requirements depend on listener location, music usage and whether programmes are live or available on demand. Define how listeners will access your station first, because that decision shapes your licensing route.

Key takeaways

• PRS for Music licenses musical works, while PPL licenses sound recordings. Most stations playing commercial releases need both.
• Internet-only radio, broadcast simulcasts and on-demand programmes can need different arrangements.
• Free listening, charitable status and artist credit don’t create a general copyright exemption.
• Licensing costs, audience measurement and music reporting belong in your launch plan.

What online radio licensing covers

A released track contains separate rights. Permission covering one part doesn’t automatically clear the other.

PRS for Music covers the song

PRS for Music handles rights in musical compositions and lyrics on behalf of songwriters, composers and publishers. Its Internet Radio Licence is the named route for eligible online-only radio services broadcasting to UK listeners.

These rights still matter when your programme features a newly recorded cover rather than the original release. Changing the singer or recording doesn’t remove copyright in the underlying song.

Also, an artist’s PRS membership concerns their rights and royalties. It doesn’t give your station permission to broadcast their catalogue.

PPL covers the recording

PPL licenses recorded-music rights on behalf of recording rightsholders and performers. Its Linear Webcast Licence covers qualifying real-time internet radio and internet simulcasts.

For this licence, PPL describes a linear webcast as audio that listeners receive in real time, without pausing or skipping tracks.

The recording owner and songwriter may be different people or companies. Therefore, a songwriter’s approval alone doesn’t necessarily clear the released recording. Likewise, permission from a record label doesn’t automatically clear the composition.

Choose the licence that fits your station

Describe the actual service before choosing a product. Calling a station “community radio” or “non-commercial” doesn’t settle its licensing position.

Internet-only radio

For a conventional online-only music station, the starting points are PRS for Music’s Internet Radio Licence and PPL’s Linear Webcast Licence.

PRS includes non-profit and community services among the service types eligible for its internet-radio route. However, eligibility doesn’t mean every service receives the same price or permissions.

Funding and access arrangements matter. Advertising, sponsorship, subscriptions and other revenue can affect the assessment, so include the whole operation in your application. A station with no advertising still uses copyright music and doesn’t receive a general exemption.

Simulcasts and community broadcasters

An existing broadcast station can have a different route. PPL’s Traditional Radio Licence covers qualifying Ofcom-licensed commercial radio, including internet simulcasts.

Eligible Ofcom-licensed community stations can use the PPL and PRS for Music Joint Community Radio Licence for qualifying broadcasts and UK internet simulcasts. An online-only community station may instead need PPL’s Linear Webcast Licence.

Also, TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS Ltd concerns public music use in businesses and organisations. It doesn’t replace internet transmission permissions. Our guide to business music licensing explains the separate position when staff or customers hear music at premises.

Match permissions to your audience and features

A small studio can reach listeners internationally. Meanwhile, a simple player can become an on-demand service when you add programme archives.

Listener location affects coverage

PRS’s Internet Radio Licence is described for online-only radio broadcasting to UK listeners. A UK-based studio doesn’t, by itself, establish permission for every overseas audience.

PPL also treats territorial reach as a pricing factor: its Band 3 applies when a service webcasts to multiple territories.

Define your permitted audience and configure access accordingly. Where your agreements limit territories, geographical restrictions form part of operating within that scope. Include your website, apps and other listening routes in this planning, because each can expose the stream to a different audience.

Replay changes the rights involved

PRS’s Internet Radio Licence page allows listeners to pause, rewind and replay for up to 30 days. However, PPL’s description of its Linear Webcast Licence excludes pausing or skipping.

A replay feature permitted on the composition side doesn’t automatically clear the same feature for the recording.

PPL treats customised radio and on-demand clips as separate categories. Its short-clip permissions aren’t a substitute for full-track, listener-selected streaming.

Similarly, downloadable shows, podcasts and filmed sessions require their own rights assessment. Our guide to licensing livestreamed music covers the distinction between a live transmission and later publication.

What the published licence fees mean

Budget for composition and recording rights separately. As of November 2026, PRS’s Internet Radio Licence starts at £193 plus VAT annually.

That is a starting price, not a universal station fee. PRS bases the charge on factors including service category, funding, access model and reported revenue.

PPL publishes these 2026 annual Linear Webcast Licence rates per channel, excluding VAT.

PPL band	Annual performances	Published charge
Band 1	Up to 150,000	£207
Band 2	150,001 to 270,000	£345
Band 3	Over 270,000, or another Band 3 trigger	£691 advance against usage charges

For PPL, one performance means one track streamed to one listener. This differs from counting playlist entries or people who visited your website.

Under PPL’s Linear Webcast Licence, Band 3’s advance is recoupable against a charge of 0.1380p per performance. Band 3 also applies where annual revenue exceeds £5,000 or the service webcasts to multiple territories. Additional administration fees may apply.

For launches after 1 January, PPL prorates the charge to the nearest full calendar quarter.

The practical takeaway is to budget around measurable listening and your service model. Neither the lowest PRS starting price nor PPL’s lowest band is a complete broadcasting budget.

Get licensed before launch

Prepare one written description of your station for both applications. Include the operator’s details, launch date, channels, schedule, music content, territories, funding and proposed listener controls.

Then submit the relevant applications to PRS for Music and PPL. Supply the usage and financial information each application requires. Keep the resulting agreements, invoices and effective dates together, and begin public transmission only when the necessary permissions are in force.

Your audio source matters too. Consumer Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and TIDAL accounts don’t grant general permission to reuse their streams in your broadcasts. Paying for personal listening and paying for broadcast rights address different issues.

Build your playout library using files supplied or acquired for the intended use. For directly licensed tracks, retain written permission identifying both the recording and composition rights covered.

Finally, set up reporting before the first programme. Keep track titles, artists, recording identifiers such as ISRCs, transmission times and durations organised alongside audience and revenue records. An ISRC identifies a recording, not its underlying composition. Accurate records support reporting and help rights organisations match usage to the right music.

A launch checklist for new station operators

Use this sequence before opening your public stream:

1. Define whether the service is linear radio, a simulcast, customised radio or on-demand listening.
2. Record every channel, listening platform, intended territory and planned replay feature.
3. Identify the relevant PRS for Music and PPL routes, or document direct permissions covering both rights.
4. Prepare realistic music-usage, audience and revenue figures for the applications.
5. Budget for both licences, VAT, applicable usage charges and reporting work.
6. Submit applications with a consistent service description and proposed launch date.
7. Keep the licence documents and use music sources permitted for your operation.
8. Configure audience measurement, playlist logs and any required territorial restrictions before broadcasting.

Keep this record available to whoever manages programming and technical changes. Revisit it when adding a channel, changing access controls or introducing downloads. Those changes can move the station beyond the activity described in its original agreements.

Frequently asked questions

Does a free or charitable station need licences?

Usually, yes, when it broadcasts protected music. Free access, volunteer staffing and charitable aims don’t remove the separate recording and composition rights.

PRS includes non-profit services within its Internet Radio Licence categories. The appropriate arrangement depends on the service, rather than whether the operator intends to make a profit.

Does my streaming host cover the music?

A hosting package provides technical delivery unless it also includes an express licensing arrangement. Server space, an automation system and a player don’t, by themselves, grant music rights.

Where licensing forms part of a package, its written scope determines the covered repertoire, territories and activities. Keep that documentation with the station’s own agreements.

Can I broadcast music offered as a free download?

A free download doesn’t remove copyright. Direct permission can be a useful alternative, but it must cover the intended transmission and the relevant rights.

We offer original songs through our Free Music channel and ask creators to credit Restorm and restormuk.com. Creator-project permission and radio transmission rights remain separate. Giving an artist credit doesn’t replace a required broadcast licence.

Build your station around clear permissions

A workable licensing plan starts with a precise description of your station. Match both the song and recording permissions to your audience, delivery method and listener controls.

Put licensing and reporting in place before launch. That gives your team a clear basis for programming and a useful record when the service changes.