What little tiddlers can hear - the sound of profit

I have heard the argument that musicians need money for their toil. And that is absolutely right. Presumably they get paid for the gig, recording and the sales of their records/downloads and other distribution outlets.

We are allowed to hear them legally if we've paid our money.

If we own a disc that we bought, we may not play it anywhere but for our own hearing. If you play the disc in your own office and someone else hears it - that's illegal. But listening to it through headphones is legal.

The same rules apply to the radio and TV. You have to buy a license to play them out loud even though the Radio and TV have already paid their own fees.

" PPL is different from PRS for Music.
In most instances of recorded music being played in public, a music licence is required from both organisations. PPL collects and distributes licence fees for the use of recorded music on behalf of record companies and performers, while PRS for Music collects and distributes for the use of musical compositions and lyrics on behalf of songwriters, composers and publishers."

"Why do I need a licence?

In order to play recorded music in public, legal permission is needed from the copyright holders. A music licence gives you this permission."

What happens to the licence fee? 

Understanding my royalties.

You need two licences. Even the smallest business, a garage playing a radio in the workshop, a tiny office of two workers, a small co-operative craft shop, a charity shop, a one-man rural dentist, a home hairdresser - all the little tiddlers in the net - need these. It could cost you £400. This is a heavy cost to a small business.

Now the point of these licenses - i.e. playing the radio/CD in your tiny shop/home hairdressing/workshop is that collecting fees from you, when the artist is already being paid for a public broadcast/the disc, seems like concentrated greed. Do I believe that the artists that you heard get paid much of the little tiddler fees you paid with great difficulty, even if little tiddler fees add up? Nah!

I think a great deal of YOUR money is going to the business of the licencers, their police and staff and to pay for keeping their jobs and the whole profitable operation afloat! But that's only my opinion of course.