Industry trade body ADF is alerting the trade to the increased activities by officials from the Performing Right Society (PRS), the body which licenses music use by businesses and distributes royalties to the writers and publishers of the music. With the increase in music downloads from the Internet, music publishers and record companies face declining sales which, in turn, means that the royalties due to artistes and composers are more difficult to collect. The PRS has therefore become far more active in seeking out illegal use of music in workplaces. If you or your staff are listening to music in your business premises without a PRS Music Licence, you're probably breaking the law, in this case the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This includes music played by any means, including live performance, CD, radio, TV, on telephone systems, Internet, plus many more. The cost of a PRS Music Licence can depend on various factors, such as: The type and size of premises and the nature and extent to which music is used. In fact there are over 40 tariffs covering everything from music in shops to music on telephone holding systems. ADF chief executive Brian Spratt said, "The rate of visits from PRS officials is definitely on the increase and the answer is, either get a licence or stop music from being played, which is difficult to enforce. We know of one ADF member who restricts the area in which music is played and, in that fashion reduced the licence fee amount. It is clear, though, that some PRS officials can be quite stroppy in the way they approach businesses."