Music in the workplace

[aka_kerrly]

No not the usual do you like it or do you not, I want to be a little more specific as there is a situation where I work whereby management now believe that a Public Performance licence is needed for listening to music in the factory.

My interpretation of the rules is that if there was a Radio/CD player/bluetooth speaker in the office which broadcast this music via multiple speakers to the entire factory then yes a licence would be required as the business is providing the music. However , if an employee has a small bluetooth speaker near their workstation this is not the same as a broadcast nor should it be considered so if 10 employees in a factory larger than a football pitch have speakers playing music from their personal devices.

I suspect that HR management simply want a hassle free "it's the law" approach to introducing a ban on speakers especially since the ban of headphones appears circumnavigated by speakers but I'm also curious as I don't think the broadcasting rules are being broken.

[119]

Have you read the actual rules of what is and isn’t considered as needing a PRS licence?

[esuuv]

from the PRS website

PRS Website said:

Recorded music

If your business plays any type of recording in a public or staff space, you'll need a PRS for Music licence, including any music that's played by a DJ, downloaded or streamed.

So yes - in your example, one would be required - it's a business, it's a staff space.

Edited by esuuv on Sunday 19th May 20:21

[havoc]

esuuv said:

from the PRS website

PRS Website said:

Recorded music

If your business plays any type of recording in a public or staff space, you'll need a PRS for Music licence, including any music that's played by a DJ, downloaded or streamed.

So yes - in your example, one would be required - it's a business, it's a staff space.

Edited by esuuv on Sunday 19th May 20:21

I'm not convinced.

The BUSINESS isn't doing it. It's individual employees doing it. That feels like a very grey area to me...