The current UK country terms support no additional collective music-rights payment for ordinary background playback of only the Open Hours catalogue. This is a direct-permission inference for the controlled repertoire, not a general exemption or automatic cancellation of a PPL PRS agreement.
Find a sound for your working day
Start with the UK venue offer
After creating an account, choose the United Kingdom as your venue country. You can then review the applicable monthly and annual options, current price and tax presentation, licence and local conditions. Your browsing language does not choose or change the venue country.
The seven-day trial requires a card and becomes a paid subscription unless you cancel before it ends. Annual plans are paid upfront. You can cancel to avoid the next renewal; access continues until the current paid period ends. Use the trial to hear the original catalogue through your actual speaker setup.
PPL PRS guidance and the catalogue you actually play
GOV.UK describes TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS as the usual route for live or recorded music in a business, distinguishes royalty-free music, and notes that music managed elsewhere may require another licensing route. Those distinctions do not establish permission for every recording labelled original or AI-generated.
For the supplied Open Hours catalogue, Escalera Labs grants the recording and underlying-music permissions it controls during active subscription coverage. The UK country terms use that retained/directly licensed basis for their no-additional-payment conclusion. The conclusion stays with ordinary background use of this repertoire.
A new soundtrack does not end an existing agreement
Before replacing a supplier, look at what your business still plays. A pub with television, a salon with occasional radio or a hotel with live entertainment has more to consider than its background player. Open Hours permission covers the music supplied through Open Hours; it does not absorb those other sources.
Keep your licence record. Check the scope and cancellation terms of any existing society or music-supplier agreement, and address that agreement directly if your music use changes. There is no automatic termination when you start this subscription.
Keep the permission and staff routine together
A clear music routine is easier to maintain than a collection of unrelated playback apps. Decide which covered venue uses the account, which device will provide the stream and who changes the programme. Keep the country/use terms and licence record where the person responsible for the venue can retrieve them.
- Use the supplied player and catalogue for the background programme.
- Ask staff before adding another music source, radio or television audio.
- Retain the licence record alongside the subscription’s coverage details.
- Contact Open Hours if a rights claim concerns a supplied recording; we will investigate against the shared catalogue records.
Background coverage has a defined boundary
The background plan does not cover a separate fitness-class or event service, hotel guest-room distribution, broadcast or internet retransmission, resale, redistribution of downloads, or music in videos and advertising. A different use needs an offer that expressly covers it.
Two independent room soundtracks also need an appropriate stream allowance. The initial plan supports one simultaneous stream; do not plan separately controlled room music on the assumption that a one-venue allowance means unlimited streams.
Test the sound through a normal opening day
Full playback runs through your account. Keep the browser awake and connected to the internet, and test the device and speaker connection before your first service. Stations play continuously in a shuffled order; collections play their ordered selections and stop after the selected ending. Save a weekly schedule if the music should change between opening, busier hours and closing.
Audition a few sounds during quiet and busy periods, then use the volume guide to keep conversations comfortable. Familiar chart music and imported playlists are different buying requirements; compare them with the original samples before choosing your plan.
Put it into practice.
Simple licensing
Original music and a direct business-use licence in one subscription. See what royalty-free means, which uses are covered and how your local offer works.
A Spotify alternative for your business
Explore a Spotify alternative for business: original music, a simple business licence, daily schedules and monthly or annual plans from Open Hours.
Choose background music for your business
Choose background music that suits your business, with a practical checklist for sound, licensing, total cost and everyday use.
Cafés
Original café music for mornings, lunch and relaxed afternoons. Hear samples, plan daily changes and choose a subscription with business licensing.
United States background coverage
Check the US Open Hours background offer: supplied-catalogue permission, one venue and stream, separate music sources, and the account-to-plan next step.