The Best Music Licence Alternative – Royalty-Free Music
Playing music in your café, shop, or restaurant is a great way to create ambience, retain customers and elevate your brand. But the cost of PRS and PPL licences can cut deep into profit margins, especially if you are a smaller independent business.
Fortunately, there’s a compelling alternative: royalty-free (licence-free) music curated specifically for business use. In this article, we’ll demystify how royalty-free music works, explain its legal safety and what you should expect from a great royalty-free music provider.
By the end, you’ll understand whether royalty-free is suitable for your business, and how to test it with zero risk.
What Does “Alternative to the Music Licence” Really Mean?
When people in the UK talk about a music licence, they are usually referring to PRS and PPL. The two organisations that collect royalties on behalf of the composers, songwriters and performers (the copyright holders) when their music is publicly played. Together, they operate TheMusicLicence.
- PRS (Performing Rights Society) collects royalties for the musical composition/songwriting side.
- PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) collects for the recording/performance side.
If you play mainstream music (radio, CDs, TV or streaming service) in a business, you will legally need to obtain a music licence from PRS and PPL. An alternative means a legally compliant path that does not require you to pay PRS/PPL, yet still allows you to play music in your business.
That alternative is royalty-free (also known as licence-free music). This music can be played legally without a PRS PPL music licence in any business because the copyright holders are not registered with PRS and PPL.
Is Royalty-Free Music Free to Use?
No, the term royalty-free means free of royalty, not free of charge. It’s a type of music licensing that does not need the PRS and PPL to collect royalties for the copyright holder. There is still a charge to use royalty-free music, but it’s substantially lower than paying PRS PPL, making it a fantastic alternative to the music licence.
Our customers have saved £100s, often £ 1000s, by switching to our royalty-free service. You can check out how much a subscription to Background Sounds is here.
Royalty-Free Music – Make Sure it’s Legal!
As a business owner, it’s important to ensure the royalty-free music you play in your business is not only of the highest quality but is indeed royalty-free and legal for you to use.
A reputable supplier of royalty-free music will be happy to provide you with confirmation that the music is royalty-free and legally sourced. In most cases, this is provided in the form of a confirmation email or certificate.
Using a reputable and established provider of royalty-free music will give you not only peace of mind that the music you’re playing is legal, but also…
- Higher-quality music
- Access to the very latest royalty-free tracks
- A wide selection of genres and playlists to choose from
- Regular playlist updates and refreshes without you having to do a thing!
Background Sounds Certificate of Subscription
Our certificates are accepted by PRS PPL, and they are available to all paid subscribers. Request yours after checkout.
Does Royalty-Free Music Mean Lower Quality?
Not at all! Over the last decade, thanks to the rise of gaming and YouTube videos, the demand for royalty-free music has surged. Now more and more artists, musicians and composers are choosing to monetise their work this way.
The result is an impressive increase quality of music and also the range of genres now covered. The days of royalty-free music sounding like lift Muzak have long gone!
Alternative to the Music Licence – Background Sounds
As a specialist provider of royalty-free background music, we pride ourselves on offering an array of playlists covering a variety of genres, styles and tempos.
Our easy-access streaming service gives you a superb selection of high-quality royalty-free playlists. There are 60 available covering in excess of 20 genres! We add new ones throughout the year and even have Christmas music 🎄
60+ Royalty-Free Playlists
A subscription to Background Sounds gives you unlimited access to our playlist library. Here you will find a wide variety of playlists covering a great selection of genres and styles.
For Subscription Packages – click here
Stream the playlist of your choice using your mobile, tablet, PC or Laptop. Set up is quick and easy, the hardest part is picking a playlist, you’ll be spoilt for choice!
Try Before You Buy!
We offer every customer a free 7-day trial of our service. It’s a great risk-free way to try royalty-free music in your business. You don’t have to add your card details, and there’s no hard sell from us. What are you waiting for?
Click here to get your free trial started
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much does a subscription to Background Sounds cost?
We offer two subscription packages. Both provide the same great service and access to the playlists; the only difference is how you pay us.
👉 Monthly subscription is £15 + VAT, per site (cancel anytime).
👉 Annual subscription is £150 + VAT, per site.
Unlike PRS and PPL, we charge a single price per site, regardless of size and how many seats/tables you may have.
2. What kind of music do you offer? Are there genre options?
Yes. We have a wide and varied library. At present, there are over 60 curated playlists, spanning genres such as pop, soul, indie, rock, country, jazz, classical, ambient, lounge, EDM, R&B, chill, and more.
We also have curated sector tabs (e.g retail, gyms, cafés, restaurants) to help you choose playlists matched to your environment.
3. How often is the library updated?
We add new tracks every month and introduce new playlists throughout the year. So far in 2025, we have introduced five new playlists, Jazz Chill. The Casual Mix, The R&B Collection, Deep House Vibes and most recently Disco Grooves. You can take a listen to a sample of each playlist here.
4. What if I run multiple business locations?
We can accommodate multi-site requirements. Contact us to discuss what you need.
Get in Touch
Need a little more guidance or want to chat? Get in touch, we’re always happy to chat.
Email support@backgroundsounds.co.uk
Background Sounds is a specialist provider of royalty-free music. Working with small businesses looking to play music without the need to buy a PRS PPL Music Licence.
The service is offered via online streaming and can be accessed when you take a subscription. You can find out all you need to know on our home page here.
