Music licensing?

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Lolla

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
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Location
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Hi all - my first proper post so please be gentle :p

I am starting up work self employed and am going to be renting a room in the upstairs of a small hair salon to do holistic & beauty therapies, and eventually nails. It'll just be me, working on my own with one client at a time. The room is small and is just that, one room.

What I would like to know is;

a. What insurance will I need to purchase? (got Public Liability from treating friends and family, do I need a Tools of the Trade cover or such like, and anything else? Like when you rent a house, you would get Contents Insurance...)

b. Do I need some sort of license to have my little portable CD player on, just playing relaxing meditation music? Nothing famous, just some freebie CDs I got with a magazine!

c. What/when do I need to tell the Inland Revenue? Will they hit me with a bill for like, £8000 after 12 months?! :eek:

d. Do I have to have the likes of my wax heater and CD player properly certified/tested to be able to use them?

I think that's it for now...I am hoping that as I am a 'one-man-band' as it were, that some of these won't apply to me?! *crosses fingers* :)

Thanks in advance!

Lolla x
 
Yes you need a PRS licence to play radio or music.
You need all electrical items including cd and DVD players have to be pap tested.
Regarding public liability if you phone up the insurer for a little more money they will cover loss of tools and also re-quote you under the salon criteria. You need to inform the inland revenue immediately however my aunt who's a tax inspector says you have up to three months to register your business but advises you do it asap to avoid large bills. PRS costs around £67 a year
 
I think if electrical itema are under 12 months old they don't need PAT. Normal usual visual checks though.
 
Thanks so much for the info both - much appreciated.

That's such a bummer - nearly £70 just to play a couple of tracks from an unknown artist's cd...when I say unknown, the case/cd doesn't even have anyone's name on it, just says it's called "Tranquility" and has swirly patterns on it. What is the licence for? It won't be going to the person who made the CD as they can't be identified...?! Hmmm....

Will try my insurers again - I am with the Guild and when I enquired with one of their guys about this, he was about as useful as a chocolate tea pot - he wouldn't give me any info via email which is pants as I can't make outgoing calls at the moment :(

Thanks again both, anymore feedback is much appreciated :)
 
Hi,
I have owned my own salon for 4 yrs now and had no idea you needed a music licence when I started out, I like you was only a one man band to start and never played music, maybe the odd CD when I did massage/facials etc, I didn't bother researching the licence until I got a call from PRS out of the blue!!:0( I told them I never played music/radio and they told me I didn't need one! After a year I took on another girl and she specialised in holistic therapies so would be using her own CD player much more than I was, we completely forgot to contact them until the called again ( they must do this once or twice a year) and I explained my new situation and they advised me to get one!
My advice would be if ur renting a room in a hairdressers they may already have one so you won't need another your own as it's only per premises!
As for insurance I used professional beauty to start with until I got bigger and now have it through Aviva for full salon and liability insurance Inc my therapists too!!

Hope this helps x
Good luck with ur new venture and remember to have fun!!!
 
Just to say I've bought a load of CD's from I-Chill on a recommendation from a friend and the music is definitely most suitable for therapy use and to top it off you don't need a licence to play it. Hurrah!
 
Just to say I've bought a load of CD's from I-Chill on a recommendation from a friend and the music is definitely most suitable for therapy use and to top it off you don't need a licence to play it. Hurrah!

If any music including CDs they are copyright and you do need a licence, believe me and learn from my mistake.
 
Sorry Simba44 but I have to disagree with you. Go to ichillmusic.com and its right there in the heading License free PPL,PRS friendly music 100%. Its the only company I've found that do it anyone else, yes you need a license.
 
Sorry Simba44 but I have to disagree with you. Go to ichillmusic.com and its right there in the heading License free PPL,PRS friendly music 100%. Its the only company I've found that do it anyone else, yes you need a license.

In most circumstances you will need both a PPL and a PRS licence. Once you've bought a licence, you can then play just about any copyright music in the world.

Annual fees for a PRS licence vary according to the size of your salon, but start at £64.37 for a salon with up to and including 30 stylists' chairs, and then an extra £23.41 for each additional five stylists' chairs.

According to PRS you don't pay more for playing a radio and a TV.

A PPL licence is also based on the number of stylists' chairs you have - a licence for 16 to 20 chairs currently costs £159.78.

Be warned - the PRS and the PPL are clamping down on salons playing music without a licence, but the message is getting through. The PRS now has just over 23,000 hairdressers and beauticians with active licences in the UK - a 42% increase on 2005 figures.

If you haven't yet got a licence, it's worth calling both the PPL and the PRS to explain what you are intending to play, whether it be music, radio or TV.

The rates for a licence only apply to one obtained in advance - the PRS threatens a 50% increase on the standard rate if a licence isn't obtained in advance. HJi Hairdressers journal
 
you can buy license free music, ring prs and tell them this is what you will be playing and see what they say, simples x

check the hairdressers have one, as you will be more than likely covered as they pay for the building.

your PAT test is done on items that are over 12 months old. I've just had my stone heater and towel cabi checked but I rent from a chirpodoy clinic so I got them done the same time as them and pay them a percentage. ask the hairdressers to let you know when they are getting checked so you can link in with them.

if you've got valuables then it is a good idea to get insurance, but you will need public liability anyhow as if someone breaks a leg on the way downstairs you are covered. look into public indemnity also.

register with IR.

keep ALL of your receipts for anything to do with the business. Your personal allowance is about £6k, so that is automatically taken off your tax bill. If you are starting out you will be spending a lot on business cards, leaflets, equipment, towels etc, so probably find you will be tax free the first year unless you are fully booked every day.

see if you can link in with the hairdressers, you may be able to offer combination treatments ie the client gets a cut and blow dry and a manicure for a set price.

ask if you can put some leaflets on the reception area and invite the hairdressers up for different treatments so that they can tell their clients about specific treatments. give them discounted treatments to encourage them to use you.
 
In most circumstances you will need both a PPL and a PRS licence. Once you've bought a licence, you can then play just about any copyright music in the world.

The key word here is 'most' music. There are a number of companies, including Ichill who now make music that requires neither licenses as the musicians are not members of these licensing companies. If you work in a salon mainly offering massage then generally speaking the therapist doesn't want to listen to any music in the world, they want generic relaxing massage friendly music, which is what these license free companies are offering.

If you want to see the proof, it's right here!!

http://www.ichillmusic.com/Ichill_PRS.pdf
 
The key word here is 'most' music. There are a number of companies, including Ichill who now make music that requires neither licenses as the musicians are not members of these licensing companies. If you work in a salon mainly offering massage then generally speaking the therapist doesn't want to listen to any music in the world, they want generic relaxing massage friendly music, which is what these license free companies are offering.

If you want to see the proof, it's right here!!

http://www.ichillmusic.com/Ichill_PRS.pdf

I agree if your doing massage this meditation chill music maybe suitable however within a Hair salon this would not suffice. I teach hairdressing in a college and we do have to have a licence. Don't get me wrong ichill is very relaxing within the right setting but id rather more up to date stuff for my right setting.
 
I agree if your doing massage this meditation chill music maybe suitable however within a Hair salon this would not suffice. I teach hairdressing in a college and we do have to have a licence. Don't get me wrong ichill is very relaxing within the right setting but id rather more up to date stuff for my right setting.

But isn't the original poster doing holistic and beauty therapy and not hairdressing?
 
But isn't the original poster doing holistic and beauty therapy and not hairdressing?

Martin, Yep - only holistics with a bit of beauty, so I only want nice relaxing music - will definately be buying these iChill CD's so that I don't have to get a licence!! Thanks so much to those that suggested it :)

And yes, Meechnails, I shall see if the salon downstairs already has one as he plays the radio all day, good idea!! :D

Hippy your post was awesome, never thought to keep ALL receipts and thanks for the info on tax, had no idea what the threshold was but this gives me a rough idea. Oh and good idea to get the PAT testing done with the salon :D And yeh, was thinkin about doing offers with the hairdresser, he seemed to think that was a good idea too :)

So glad I registered on here, you are all so helpful!! Hope I can return the favour some day ^_^

Lolla x
 
Yes you need a PRS licence to play radio or music.
You need all electrical items including cd and DVD players have to be pap tested.
Regarding public liability if you phone up the insurer for a little more money they will cover loss of tools and also re-quote you under the salon criteria. You need to inform the inland revenue immediately however my aunt who's a tax inspector says you have up to three months to register your business but advises you do it asap to avoid large bills. PRS costs around £67 a year

Dont forget the PPL licence as well!

Just use rfmradio they have a standalone player for £49.99 and includdes 4 hours of music on sd cards more 4 hours at £29.99 NO PRS/PPL/IMRO fees if you have broadband get a members sub for just £4 a month for 30+ hours of music and entertainment
 
Dont forget the PPL licence as well!

Just use rfmradio they have a standalone player for £49.99 and includdes 4 hours of music on sd cards more 4 hours at £29.99 NO PRS/PPL/IMRO fees if you have broadband get a members sub for just £4 a month for 30+ hours of music and entertainment

It is literally just relaxing, instrumental music I will be using, no radio etc. :) But thanks anyway.
 
hi there i hope you dont mind me barging in lol :) i also rent rooms in hair salon and my landlady''owner of hair salon'' pays prs n ppl for the building does this not cover me? i also play music such as whales, and sea crashing the cds have no artists names ect on. will i still have to pay ? thanks ruth
 
I'm having a real dilemma at the moment! A field representative came to my shop in March told me he was from PPL and asked if he could leave an information brochure with me etc. Had a chat with him and i said i would keepp it for future use. Now the only time music was played during his visit was when my phone rang infront of him and i clearly kept rejecting the calls.
A week later a recieved a bill for this year....last year and also a surcharge totalling almost £400.
Clearly i disputed it as no music was being played. I heard nothing for over a month other than repeated calls from them asking questions such as are you playing music which i said no and they said they would take it off the system.
Today i have recieved a letter saying that a black portable radio was being utilized within the premises at the time of the visit and thus i was liable for the bill.
I'm totally beside my self and cannot understand why they would do this. xx
 
when i rented a room in a slon i never had a music license fee as the building was allready covered through the hairdresses. as for ins i only had public liability. really look into music licese as i was told a few things then when i queryed it they said i would need the ppl one still just not the other. however after much research i have now gone with sibee. its £49.99 a year however your first year is free with purchasing 5 cds. So all in i paid £63 for my license and 5 cds of my choice, which im actually really pleased with the music. Only thing is you cant listen to anything but there cds.
 

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