PPL PRS Ltd Reviews 

One star is too good for these cowboys. Warning do not use these people they don't contact you when you try to cancel and then they add in surcharges. I am now homeless and I don't use the licence for fitness classes. The worst people ever, how will they get money of me if I'm homeless and my mental health is really bad and these people are just making it worse. 4 times I have emailed and they don't reply apart from we are gone add surcharges if you don't pay us. They are like criminal gangster loan sharks charging 100% interest.

I fully appreciate the need for a music licence and wholeheartedly agree with the principle, unfortunately I can't say the same for the business tactics of PRS PPL.

As many others have mentioned, this company harass and bully small businesses into paying for an automatically renewed (!) 12 month music licence, with limited and inflexible payment options.

After explaining that we won't require a licence for 12 months and that we would be happy to pay for the specific period of use, I was repeatedly told that it's not an option to pay for anything less than 12 months.

The representative I spoke to, although friendly, repeatedly asked me to verbally commit to a contract and invoice being issued despite me explaining I did not have the authority to do so.

Not a company I would recommend but unfortunately seems to have the monopoly on issuing licences therefore giving them the autonomy to operate using pressuring and threatening business practices. If we all ran our businesses in the same manner we wouldn't have any customers, yet PRS PPL seemingly don't have that worry.

Bloody awful. They don't reply to online/website messages or emails. It's taken three months and I've still not had the correct invoice, even though it has been agreed. Then they send me a threatening letter with a late payment surcharge! No doubt they will reply to this with meaningless platitudes and excuses though, but won't compensate me for the time I've wasted trying to get someone to do a simple task. They are at best incompetent and at worst dishonestly trying to get me to pay an invoice they know is overcharging.

Charlotte was absolutely amazing! She was so kind and so helpful, she really took the time to help me in a complicated situation and was so understanding!

They've got a debt collection agency contacting us for an outstanding balance which has been paid via direct debit. Don't even have the correct address on file. We alerted them of our move to a smaller unit months ago and they still trying to charge us this random amount for a place which is no longer ours. Strange behaviour

PPL PRS Ltd keep phoning my little shop and harrassing me, even though I keep telling them I don't play unlicensed music in any form. This is hardrassment!

LEAVE ME ALONE!

I've recently taken over as Treasurer for a local charity, and received an annual assessment form to fill in for out. I hadn't a clue. PRS? PLS? I phoned customer services and spoke to Chris. He was so helpful and informative. I've now submitted our return thanks to his help. Thank you Chris :-).

We've dealt with Charlie at PPL PRS Ltd for a number of years now and I have to say it is a pleasure working with him. The process PPL PRS Ltd follows is so much more efficient, effective and open compared to some other suppliers in this sector. They work with you to achieve a common goal; and one can have an open and honest conversation with Charlie to find solutions that are fit for purpose.

I’ve held a Music Licence since 2013 and have always paid because I believe artists should be paid fairly. I am not opposed to music licensing itself, but it’s time that businesses are treated fairly by PPL PRS as well.

I run a very small salon as a sole trader and work completely alone in a single 7m x 4m room. I have three chairs, no employees and no separate staff area.

After contacting PPL PRS and asking for a review, I was advised that I am already on the lowest tariff available and that there is no flexibility whatsoever for a business of my size. Their Direct Debit options are 5 or 6 monthly payments with no options to spread the costs out further over the year.

I also questioned why listening to radio via a digital stream is treated differently from traditional FM radio, despite the content being identical and the vast majority of people now accessing radio digitally. We are in 2026. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain a meaningful explanation.

I understand the need for licensing and fully support artists being paid, but I feel the system has not kept pace with modern technology or the realities faced by sole traders and very small businesses.

The Federation of Small Businesses has previously raised concerns regarding the fairness and inflexibility of music licensing for small businesses, and after my own experience I can understand why those concerns were raised.

After thirteen years as a paying customer, I came away feeling that the system is rigid, outdated and lacks the ability to recognise and understand how modern micro-businesses actually operate in the 21st century.

I had discovered that the music license I had only covered one of the 4 charity events planned, so a panicked phone call to Chris 9.6.26, who was great, really explained what my licence covered, what I needed to do now and cover future events and assured me that my next event would be covered and what charges might be applied. Very helpful and reassuring phone conversation.

As a local club for adults with disabilities, their families and friends, we rely heavily on the expertise of business's like PRS. Without their invaluable help and support, we would find it hard to keep running amazing live music events for our fantastic members. Thank you guys!!

Honestly, reading from all the other reviews I can only confirm that this is a daylight robbing company. I am also being chased by creditors for a company I called them about to gather all information and do due diligence for business plan idea I was working out. I have been threatened now with legal action and being harassed regularly with email and calls from the credit company.

Being able to work closely with PPL/PRS and discuss our exact requirements, confirm the use of music and the location we play our music has made what is a complicated process much easier. This leaves us safe in the knowledge that we have our appropriate licence without over paying or leaving ourself short on licenced areas.

A pleasure working with Niall O'Connor at PPL ensuring all our sites at Splendid's QSR estate setup correctly

Literally the worst company ever. Demanding for payment without even provide me an invoice!! I called multiple times, they will promise to email me the invoice but nothing received and no one called me back! They have the audacity to charge me late payment fee because of their own incompetence!

If I could give them 0 I would. They don't get back to repeated requests for quotes. Then out of nowhere a random invoice arrives and they give you 7 days to pay it before passing it onto a debt collector. No discussion.

so far a 9 day delay in payment. No faith that anybody really understands what is going on. The lack of information and communication feels like a cover up. Get your act together!

Awful company to deal with ! Took out a license they made it sound great, that i could pay it monthly then slapped me with the whole amount due. I couldn't pay that amount in full, they took it to court. Ive had sherriff officers at my store, counting up assests even though I keep offering a payment plan amount. They say "they will consider all payment plan offers" absolute no sense! Straight away they rejected it, saying i had to pay this certain amount that just wasn't possible. Months this has gone on and in meantime I pay what I can when I can because im not having them say im making no payments. Be very wary as they are not helpful in trying to help you !! They dont even deserve one star !

I contacted this company proactively to understand whether I required a music licence for my business. Following this, a licence and invoice were issued, which I later disputed due to lack of clear advice and communication at the outset.

What followed was a very prolonged and frustrating process. Communication was inconsistent, I was passed between multiple advisers, and my account was escalated to collections while my concerns were still unresolved.

Despite repeatedly asking for clear information, I was continually referred to website links rather than being provided with straightforward answers. Even when the matter was close to resolution, I had to request multiple times for a basic breakdown of how charges had been calculated.

To be fair, the original invoice (over £3,000) was eventually reduced significantly to reflect actual usage. However, this only came after considerable time, effort, and persistence on my part.

The overall experience felt unnecessarily difficult and, at times, pressured. A clearer, more transparent and customer-focused approach from the outset would have avoided most of this.

My advice to other businesses:
   •   Fully understand the licensing requirements before agreeing to anything
   •   Consider royalty-free music options early
   •   Keep all communication in writing

The final outcome was reasonable, but the journey to get there was not. It is no surprise that this company and their parent company PRS for Music have well over 93% 1 star reviews and is a true reflection on how they run their businesses. Whoever is at the top of these companies should carry out a major review of the Extremely Poor Customer Experience. Anyone thinking of contacting them beware. Do like I did produce your own royalty free music, it's easy, great quality, you get what you want and best of all it is FREE!
Updated response
The response from this company is a bit of an April Fool joke ! If they took reviews/complaints seriously they wouldn't have so many 1 star reviews, I have never came across any business with over 95% 1 star reviews apart from their Parent company who has a similar number of poor reviews, clearly those at the top just take their exuberant salaries and probably over the top bonuses.
They clearly don't care about the customer experience. Out of date run company who needs to move along with the times, currently it's vintage and they staff have a couldn't care less attitude.

I stage an annual concert to raise funds for charity, and have been very grateful to PPL PRS for consistently supporting this endeavour by offering a 100% discount on the necessary license. Without this, we would make no profit at all, so the discount directly benefits the charity we are supporting. Thanks PPL PRS.