PPL PRS Ltd Reviews 

I run a small hotel and do not play any background music. The only audio in the building is from Freeview TVs in guest bedrooms. Despite this, PPL PRS issued invoices of more than £2,000, going back five years, all sent at the end of May 2025.
Not only were the invoices completely unexpected, but during part of this period our business was closed due to COVID lockdowns and also due to serious illness in the family, as my wife was undergoing treatment for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Even while we were closed and not using any music whatsoever, PPL PRS continued to charge as if we were fully operational.
We immediately questioned the amounts because they made no sense for a small hotel with no background music. Unfortunately, one of their emails went into our junk folder and, instead of attempting to contact us properly, they sent the account straight to a debt collection company.
Later, PPL PRS admitted the invoices were wrong — the number of bedrooms and the type of licence they charged us for were incorrect. After their own corrections, the true amount should have been under £500, not over £2,000.
Despite acknowledging their errors, they are still demanding late payment fees and nearly £200 in legal costs, even though the delay was minimal and the dispute exists solely because they issued incorrect invoices. Meanwhile, they took over four years to produce the original wrong invoices.
As a small business, especially one that has already struggled through COVID closures and personal hardship, this treatment has been incredibly upsetting. It feels like harassment, and it raises serious concerns about how PPL PRS operates and whether small businesses have any real protection.
The complaints department has offered no meaningful help, and we are left dealing with the consequences of their mistakes.
In my view, this company’s behaviour is unethical, unfair, and deeply damaging to small businesses simply trying to survive.

I work for a charity, a community centre, and many of our activities would be greatly improved with music. However, we cannot have music now, because of the unfair pricing system of PPL PRS ltd.

They demanded 2% of our income as their price for 1 year's subscription. That amounted to £2000, way out of our budget. Why isn't it 2% of our profit? Most years we don't have any surplus (especially since Covid) so this price is outrageous. If it was £200 we could manage it, but £2000? No way!

Had an invoice for £542.97 and it should be £373.94. When questioned they said it’s because they had to come to me ??? The letter just says license invoice. Surely you have to state the payments. When is someone going to stop these bandits wow !!!!!!!!!!

These guys have no clue! I have it in writing that they did not engage a debt collection agency against me and that the team was actually part of their company - a blatant lie! They then switched and said it was a different account that I have and to confirm all of my details again, details they already have! Time wasters.

Looking forward to going to the ombudsman and court over the impact to my credit score due to their mistake.

Very very BAD

Who are these cowboys?
And why is no-one questioning their unethical and unprofessional business practices?!

My dealings with them have been perfunctory, but already I'm suspicious of their integrity and seemingly dodgy business practices (the reason I checked out Trustpilot).

I made an enquiry through their website 2 weeks ago and have been hounded daily by call back voice messages urging me to call them back.
This in itself felt suspicious and the tactics of an aggressive sales campaign.
Judging by others' experiences, clearly their sole purpose is to profiteer. To me, this feels contradictory to their alleged goal of supporting the music business.
I'll be investigating further!

We needed to amend our usage because the business closed. I put the request in and was told I would get a response by Monday. I didn't hear anything so I chased and chased.

The next contact I got was debt collectors chasing a debt saying I hadn't been in touch. I contacted and was told this would stop and my bill would be amended.

I was harassed and bullied by debt collectors claiming to be these guys telling me I owed 5k and I hadn't spoken to anyone else.

I called again and again and this kept on happening.

Eventually they managed to sort my bill. So instead of the claim of me owing them £5000, they actually owed me £800.

Make sure you understand your charges and bill or they will bully you and rob you! I've got evidence of this and they should be investigated!

I find both their websites very awkward with misleading links and the fact that it keeps opening new pages rather than 'moving on' make it annoying. Some links terminology and explanations on how to do things are written in a 'too technical' way and for a lot of people who are doing this on their own behalf as a musician or a sole performer/ writer it's a real head f***.
A glossary page may be a good idea to explain the difference and or define "Performer' "Musician" "rights holder" "publisher" "writer" "copyright" etc
I also find the sites very slow and when I have rung up, on the rare occasions, to query something, I do not get a straight answer as I believe the person on the other end of the phone doesn't know the answer to these things either. Try asking them to explain how to deal with copyright free music. What about rights holders who are also performers! etc

Would give no stars if the option was there - this company uses bullying tactics.
We have a community space at our shopping centre and once a month we have a tea dance for the elderly and as we play music was told that we are required to pay £775:96 - the sum was calculated on the size of the unit. Nobody ever visited, and I was told on the telephone what the sum was and that we needed to pay it - reluctantly this was paid. We relocated the community space to a smaller space as the large unit was relet to a paying tenant.

I never heard anything from PPL PRS until a court proceedings letter landed - we couldn't get hold of any one to discuss so again reluctantly paid - we have now received a letter from Pannone Corporate saying that due to late payment we have incurred court proceeding costs of £191.88 of which must be paid. I rang Panone and spoke to someone very aggressive and in no way trained, no telephone recording in place which make me very suspicious of the whole set up and I will be taking legal advice. I cant get to actually speak with PPL PRS and Pannone are saying that the ownness is on me - very frustrating in deed.

Extremely Unfair and Aggressive Experience with PPL PRS

I’m genuinely shocked by the experience we’ve had with PPL PRS (TheMusicLicence).

Our business, Fitnastic Health Club, has been using Pure Energy GO since July 2023, paying monthly for a fully licensed music subscription that covers all public performance rights for fitness facilities. We even renewed our subscription through July 2025. The only gap was a short 2-month period during refurbishment, which was purely due to we were closed for 2 months, we reinstated the subscription in October and have full proof of all payments.

Despite this, PPL PRS representatives turned up unannounced with a £2,500 bill, claiming we owed for a music licence we already had covered. Two days later, they returned with bailiffs and police which is more shocking no one is with small business even the police is with them and wasting their time on matter like this , threatening to bring a van and remove property unless we paid immediately. We showed them everything — our Pure Energy GO invoices, bank statements, and emails — but they refused to even review the documents.

In the end, we were forced to pay £2,900 on the spot just to stop them from taking equipment. There was no proper notice, no clear explanation, and no breakdown of how that figure was calculated. It felt completely unjustified and intimidating.

We’ve since filed a formal complaint and are seeking a full refund. I would strongly urge other small businesses to double-check what you’re already paying for before letting PPL PRS pressure you into anything. Their communication, transparency, and handling of this situation have been appalling.

They are constantly calling and sending letters, I tried explaining I do not need any music licence, I don’t have tv I don’t have radio I do not play any type of music. They are constantly threatening me that they will take me to court, this is harassment pure harassment.

Been paying these cowboys for 21 years their customer service is shocking.
Sadly I think a pre requisite for working there is that you are extremely good at being rude and disrespectful.
Requesting payments without invoices saying they had no idea on us changing our email address when somehow they managed to bill us last year.
A simple request for what’s normal in a business transaction is met with aggressive dialogue, diplomacy is needed when dealing with them as it’s a challenge.
If this is who the government recommends to conduct this service it’s appalling seriously needs an overhaul.
Will be checking who I can complain to further on this

Edit:
In response to the reply from PPL PRS, I have messaged that email address 4 times and had no reply at all. I have also since been sent an ‘overdue’ invoice from over a year ago which is complete nonsense and guess what? After messaging almost 10 times I have received no reply. I am now taking the matter further as they are complete con artists and I am sick of it

Awful company to deal with! Tried for a month to set up a license. Most messages ignored, spoke to 4 different people, sent them all the requested details and none of them sorted anything out. I then got letters threatening me with legal action for not having a license.
Finally spoke to someone who was half decent and sorted out the license and set up direct debit payment.
A couple of weeks later i have received a letter and 3 emails threatening me with legal action as I don't have a license. Absolute shameful company who I wish I didn't have to deal with.
And I'm sure they'll respond to this with the usual 'please email us at .......... so we can look into it for you'. Guess what? I've already emailed and surprise surprise nobody has replied. Next time I get a email/letter/phone call threatening me I'll be reporting them for harassment.

If I had the option to give them a minus rating, I would without hesitation. An absolutely vile company with zero ability to deploy a solitary atom of common sense or discretion.

Long story short, my daughter launched an online fitness class in Jan 2021 during COVID lockdown. She paid the fee for the appropriate licence so she can use protected music during her classes. PRS for Music Ltd then unilaterally withdrew the licence mid-year, thus closing down her online biz. She could have asked them for a pro-rata refund (around £49.00) for the remaining licence period, but she let it go. She thought, as any reasonable person would, that that was the beginning and end of the matter.

Guess what? That's right, they invoiced her for the subsequent year (2022)!! That's AFTER they withdrew their own licence! You just couldn't make this stuff up. They eventually realised their mistake and cancelled it. End of 'short' story, you might think? You wish. They then proceeded to issue yet another invoice for 2023. And no, I'm not kidding. Cue a flurry of exchanges between them, their atrocious legal reps - Pannone Corporate LLP - and me. But even that wasn't enough to forestall proceedings - after they had already cancelled a previous invoice. How they ever imagined they had a viable claim simply beggars belief.

We stood our ground, put in a counterclaim, and as the hearing date approached, the bunch of cowards threw in the towel. What a surprise. Which only goes to show, the only way to deal with bullies who use litigation as a tool of intimidation is to stand up to them. But they messed with the wrong family this time, and it ended up costing them £££. All they had to do was let sleeping dogs lie, just as my daughter did with 50% of the fee she paid.

And yes, that was the short version!

REPLY TO PPL PRS REP.

It's a bit too late for that now, isn't it? This fiasco is done and dusted, and we were not expecting anything else from your criminal outfit. The only remaining question here is why your attack dogs ever thought they had a viable claim against my daughter AFTER PRS for Music Ltd withdrew their own licence?

We gave your company unassailable evidence of its cancellation, yet some jobsworth automaton in your organisation still thought that litigation was the way to go. Why? What on earth was going through their head when they made that asinine decision?

Whatever the reason, it backfired on you pretty spectacularly, and if the courts made allowance for the stress and anxiety you inflicted on my daughter, your costs would have multiplied tenfold - at least. It was fortunate for her that she had me to fight her corner.

Absolutely outrageous behaviour from this company and the credit control they use - expecting us to pay for music license as well as TV licenses (when does it end). I have been harassed by the credit control people for money threatening me with legal action if I don't pay. Saying I owe for a property I do not own nor play music at! I explained this to
them and they still are saying I owe the money! It's an utter disgrace. Iv looked through email and only received one email from this PPL. Think they just send the credit control to scare you into paying for something you shouldn't be. Furthermore I have two completely different number for the ppl group one off the creditors and a different one off the website, the creditors didn't even know the email address for the ppl that they are so called collecting money for, so all seems very Dodge to me! - How do you get rid of them!?

A few weeks ago I wrote a negative review for this company. I was dissatisfied on a number of issues. I was invited to make contact with them to try and resolve the issues. I had intended to make contact but my 'to do' list was full of more significant tasks. However, unprompted, their Complaints Advisor, Loren and Chris, the Community Building Team, made a telephone appointment with me that took place today. During that telephone meeting I raised a number of questions and Loren and Chris answered them fully and I was happy with their response. Loren and Chris responded to me in good time without my having to chase up the company. I thank them for that. I made a couple of suggestions about the tarrifs and Chris reassured me he would feed that back up the line and will be part of their annual review. Thank you Loren and Chris.

A Warning to Small Business Owners About PPL PRS.
Be cautious when signing up with PPL PRS — their practices can feel incredibly unfair, especially when circumstances change.
I have been paying for a PPL PRS licence for many years since I started playing music in my store. However, in September last year, a van crashed into my premises, severely damaging my office along with all the back-office IT systems and music equipment. It took nearly 10 months for the insurance process to be completed and for everything to be rebuilt.
During that time, I stopped playing music in the store, and due to ongoing complaints from upstairs tenants and the associated costs, I decided not to resume playing music after the rebuild.
Despite this, in August, PPL PRS issued a new invoice for £513, covering another year of licensing starting from August 25. I called their office and explained the situation — that I hadn’t played music for the past 12 months and wished to cancel the licence. I was told I needed to give 30 days' notice, and would be charged pro-rata for approximately 55 days. I was expecting a charge of around £85 based on that explanation.
However, I was later shocked to receive an invoice for £248 for just two months. I immediately emailed them to question the amount and their pro-rata billing method. Their response stated that, according to their terms and conditions, the pro-rata charges apply across the full year's rate and also include administrative fees — none of which could be waived.
It feels incredibly unfair that small business owners are treated this way. We are left paying large sums for services we are not using, under rigid and unreasonable terms. This experience has been frustrating and disappointing. I believe there should be greater scrutiny of PPL PRS’s practices, and the government should step in to ensure businesses are treated fairly, rather than being pressured by what feels like exploitative and inflexible policies.
I understand and appreciate the intention behind the music licensing system — supporting artists and writers is a good idea in principle. However, the way it is currently being implemented feels far from fair or transparent. Instead of operating with integrity, the process is often enforced with what feels like bullying tactics that alienate customers rather than support the creative community.
If the goal is to help artists profit from their work, then this approach is failing. Driving away businesses through rigid policies and unfair treatment only results in fewer licences being purchased — which ultimately means less money for the very artists the system is meant to protect.
Like any business, PPL PRS should value its customers. Treating them unfairly will only lead to loss of trust, lost revenue, and damaged reputation. Based on my experience, I will not be signing up with them again, nor would I recommend them to others. If music is needed in-store, it's far better to play royalty-free music or avoid playing music altogether than to deal with this system.

Taken over a small (4/5 bed guest house) with TVs in the room and wanted to do the right thing and continue the payment for the PRS/PPL. Found prevoius owners one @ around £50 + VAT.
Sent details though and sent an invoice for best part of £500! had to chase as didnt get any response fro the emails, then eventually back and forwards with Dean. Asked to clarify a few points, ie why is it more (SO MUCH MORE!), what each element covers, and what if any is the discrection they could show to a very small family business run from our own home. Repsonse were basically " thats what it is", "last years prices were wrong", "its a different licence so you have to pay it". utter confusion for me. i asked to a simple breakdown of the charges, but keep getting very short replies. spoken to so many similar business who say there licences are no where near £500. Seems sert up to harvest the low hanging fruit and take advantage of small buinesses who want to do the right thing and get the licence. very very bad experience.

This so called company is something you would expect from a dictatorship like North Korea, not the UK. There needs to be an Investigation into their practises of bullying, corruption and dodgy terms and conditions ( which you are ever told about).
Useless correspondence back from them, delay tactics obviously, utter crap about their admin fees we have to pay to run their company.
We are trying to close out business and getting them to actually acknowledge that is impossible. Send invoices out two months before the due date expecting payment. Anyone working for this company should hand their head in shame and if they have any moral fibre in them they should leave.

Absolute rip off company
They charging me £900 for one day music which it.
They did not give any notice and they are sending bay lift to my shop to collect the money
They harassed me and my wife calling me 10 times a day threatening me that if I pay they do this and try hat