Any use of music in a business or commercial premises requires, by law, a licence from PRS.It also states that the fine is for a period following a warning about the use of music.
I can understand a strict policy where copyrighted music is played in public areas, such as shops, and gyms and of course in connection to live performances and radio. But I'd be reasonably surprised if a police force is playing music in this way. More likely having the radio on in the canteen or a CD player in an office for quiet night shifts etc...
So what does that mean for other businesses. I was unpacking boxes the other day for my friend's workplace. As we were doing this away from other people working and it is a fairly dull task, we tuned into Radio 2. Are we putting our employers at risk of a fine? Could a business be fined for its employees listening to their generic mp3 players to aid concentration? Will professional drivers have to turn off their vehicle radios, at least when on a business site?
The PRS generally do a valuable job for musicians and songwriters in this country, but pursuing any organisation that owns a CD player strikes me as petty and unenforceable.
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