PPL PRS Ltd Avis 

I do not understand how this organisation is allowed to treat honest business people in this way, it’s a monopoly, you can’t switch.
Sending invoices too late to cancel because of the bogus months notice rule.
Dragging their heels then doubling prices because you’re two weeks overdue.
Keep ramping up the price of a licence with no alternative.
Constant hounding and threats from people who only give their first names.
Lying about what is said in telephone conversations.
We need to demand much higher standards it’s not right that we are abused like this.
I have been in the retail business 35 years, I pay all my bills, all my tax, I am following the rules regarding the music licence and have been paying music licenses for 35 years but still I am hounded and threatened.
It’s stressful and takes too much of my time.
Class action needed.

This organisation operates like a legalized scam, using sneaky methods to try to trap business owners. They persistently call my business every day, which I view as harassment, and they refuse to accept 'no' for an answer. You are under no legal obligation to provide this company with any information, and you do not have to allow them access to your premises if they happen to show up, which is highly unlikely. They make a living by trying to catch business owners off guard over the phone. The TPS should really look into this company. It's best to avoid any interaction with them. They would need substantial evidence to take legal action against you. With people working from home and hospitality businesses shutting down all over, they are hemorrhaging money.

Received ‘evidence’ of playing music today in my small business - a picture of an MP3 player that we don’t own, not taken in our shop, and a sound file without any evidence it was taken in our business (it wasn’t; we don’t play music).

Threatening letters, unhelpful calls, told I’d be getting a bill. Will be forwarding this as well as own experience to regulators and consumer champions.

In terms of the reply from PLS - this is their standard response across many, many reviews all citing the same issues. I have phoned, to be told I will get a bill regardless of the lack of evidence of us playing music and, should I choose not to pay, this will be subject to legal action. I have completed their webform, twice, to explain my concerns. It's absolutely no use asking people to contact you, to look for a resolution, if the only resolution is an invoice for a service you don't use, and which uses faked evidence to generate.

Unregulated scam of a business. Another phone call today, despite telling them last year that we have never played music in our B&B, and ceased trading over a year ago. How do we stop their constant harassment? Do they have no recording service of what people tell them? Sounds very similar to the people constantly ringing about the 'accident' that I recently had. Sick of them, now.

Edit 29/10/24. See below. They want me to contact them with details of my account! I've never had an account, you morons. I've never played music to anyone, I don't have a business. How do these crooks sleep at night?

Unregulated organisation taking huge profit from businesses, charging whatever they fancy.... We did the right thing and obtained a licence, for a tiny coffee shop (15 seats) to play background music, at a cost of £800per year (Which I have queried for the last three years)

With the cost of living crisis and trying to stay afloat we removed all of of our unnecessary outgoings, including having background music at our premises.

We cancelled upon receiving the renewal request, but have been told we must pay for another 12-months. Diabolical and have had threatening and bullying letters, emails, calls and now possible court proceedings and bailiffs to attend our coffee shop and remove goods.

We did not sign a contract, how can this legally be enforced I hope my Ombudsman and watch dog complaint will support a bigger investigation into PPL PRS.

Read the trust pilot reviews, this is not a one of case this is their standard working practices. You want to build faith and trust in customers doing the right thing and securing the relevant licences, do the right thing PPL PRS! My advice? Don't play music.

Awful, outrageous organisation. I cancelled my renewal (we don't plan to music next year) on the same day I received their invoice (for a period beginning 27 days later). They are now trying to claim/bully me into paying £230+ for a service I will not use and for a charging period that has not yet even begun. Ombudsman here we come if I hear from them again. These people need to be investigated - it's clear this is a pattern of behaviour that is not new. Conclusion/warning: don't try and do the right thing by engaging with PPL/PRS.

Just an awful company. I needed a license 5 years, but have not needed one since 2020 - it seems they just auto renew and use bully tactics to try and obtain money. I would strongly urge any small business to swerve using these.

Absolutely disgraceful company, I closed my business over 20 months ago and contacted them at the time to confirm cancellation of my account, I have now been sent an aggressive debt collection letter asking me to pay for a service i cancelled, obviously i will be disputing this. Just nasty how they operate when you are trying to do the right thing. Avoid at all costs

I was asked to pay for a 2 months cancelation fee on a premises I no longer operate.

I already paid for the time I owned the business but they claimed because I didn't give them 2 months notice I'm still liable for the next 2 months even though I don't own or operate the business anymore. (I didn't know the date I was going to sell two months in advance so I couldn't have given notice even if I wanted to)

They can get stuffed, I would rather go to jail than pay for a music licence on a business I don't even own.

The whole thing is a total scam and people need to start standing up to these evil graspers, I will be writing to my MP.

Constant harassment over the phone, they don’t listen when told that we don’t play music, just continue with their threats. No phone calls for a while so I thought they had finally grasped that I don’t play music, today received a bill for a music license I don’t need.
The stress involved with dealing with this company has put me off of even considering playing music

Absolutely shocking company! Sent a spotter round to check on new businesses. apparently they caught us playing music whilst open. When i asked for proof they took a photo of the alexa device that was plugged in and we were using WHEN WE WERE CLOSED as we were still building things in the shop at the time. a sound clip that is not proof that it was being played in my store and a photo of my business card! When they called earlier in the year i was told no further action to be taken... However they must have been behind on sales/ targets as i have since received communication stating that they want £223 from me! If i don't pay up they will start court proceedings! I have tried numerous times to phone and speak to a human but no joy! What a way to kill a start up independant business, who doesn't play music in the shop and never intends too!

Absolute joke of a company
Called today to cancel as it become stupidly pricey, only to be told I had to pay £95 fee to cancel , for not giving one months notice my yearly bill is £263 ,my contract came in post 16th September, contract starts 7th October. How the hell am I suppose to remember that !! I said to the women why don't you email and remind us like all other companies, she didn't have an answer.
I'm absolutely fuming, 15 years I have been paying for this , absolutely disgraceful. I was also threatened, if I didn't pay this fee to cancel I would incur a full payment , even if I cancel contract.

Call staff are Incredibly rude. I wish I had read reveiws before I told a friend (Who has a license) to call because she is being grossly overcharged.

The woman on the phone shut her down & was incredibly condescending. I am looking forward to Monday. When I will be calling on her behalf to get this straightened out.

Avoid working with this company directly. If you can. Work with your local council & apply for
premesis licensing. Save the headache of dealing with these lot directly.

Harassment and a total lack of empathy for struggling small business. This company is quick to threaten and worry our business both on the phone and via email . They asked for several years of back payment and refused to accept any mitigation or even a staged repayment offer. Threatened with debt collection and court proceedings they are truly awful people .

I obtained a quote for my charity event music license in January for just over £400. I phoned back the month before the event as instructed to take out the license and I was informed due to an employee error the quote was wrong and my cost was £2,000. As a not for profit who relies on grants this could have completely crippled us. There was a total lack of understanding and empathy from PRS.

Endless telephone and email harassment from them trying to get me to pay for a music licence to play music to my customers, which we don't do, and have never done, and have told them we don't do every damn time they ring.

Despite repeatedly registering complaints with TPS over their call based harassment and trading standards about their conduct, they still bloody keep ringing. They need shut down, its harassment and blackmail at best.

Don’t really know what more I can add to the 97% of people that have commented on this company.
Trust-pilot asks how I think this company can improve but it’s pretty clear to me that PPL-PRS aren’t interest.
My tip is, if possible , avoid this company like the plague.

This company have hounded, persecuted and bullied me constantly and all we do is run a charity shop..
They had an account in someone’s name (never heard of the name) a phone number (didn’t know the number) We have never had an account with them.. They sent a bill for over £1000 pounds I phoned them and explain that we don’t have music.. They said they have a photo of a speaker which I replied it was for sale.. They then said if we are testing music items we have to pay. We very rarely get music items if any it would of been approximately 3 times so 5 mins testing equates to 15 minutes.. They asked for the charity Registration number which we sent.. Then they want proof we are donating (bank statement) They say we will get discount as a charity..We don’t need discount as we don’t need a licence.
They sent a spy into a little charity shop that is not part of a big organisation to take a picture of a tiny speaker that was for sale.. How low can a company get ???
This treatment is disgusting !!!!!

absolutely impossible to deal with this company double charging for the same and unnecessary charges added to the bills demanding to be paid no interest in listening and taking us to the court
absolutely useless for the customer and the musicians

Absolutely useless company to deal with. l have been dealing with them for four years and once they have threatened court action and once had an CCJ issued against me even though l had been paying.
l refuse to have a direct debit because their bills are ALWAYS wrong and noone listens to me.
l have now recieved a bill for £600 even though l have been paying every month for four years!!!!