Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Licence definition

What does Licence mean? A licence is permission, granted by contract or law, to do something that would otherwise be unlawful, without creating a proprietary interest. In practice, lawyers most often see: licences over land (a personal, usually non‑assignable permission—often a contractual licence—to occupy or use property, distinguished in case law from a lease and generally revocable subject to contract and proprietary estoppel); intellectual property licences (permission to use copyright, trade marks or patents on agreed terms); and regulatory licences. Regulatory use varies across the UK and Ireland. In England and Wales, the Legal Services Act 2007 requires an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) to hold...

Live Music Licensing under the Licensing Act 2003: Regulated Entertainment, Exemptions, Venues and Time/Audience Limits (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Local Government expert

Practice notes

The Licensing Act 2003 (LA 2003)

The Licensing Act 2003 (LA 2003) regulates the sale of alcohol, the provision of regulated entertainment, and provision of late night refreshment (hot food and/or hot drink served between the hours of 23.00 and 05.00 daily). For the purposes of LA 2003, performing live music amounts to regulated entertainment, subject to the conditions and exceptions described below. If live music does not count as regulated entertainment, or is exempt under LA 2003, a Licence is ordinarily not required under the Act. Exemptions for live music have been introduced and expanded in recent years. In October 2012, the Live Music Act 2012 (LMA 2012) removed the licensing requirement between 08.00 and 23.00 for unamplified live music in any location (with no limit on audience numbers); and for amplified live music in on-licensed premises that are open for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises, or in workplaces, where audiences up to 200 persons. See the further exemptions section below. The Legislative Reform (Entertainment Licensing) Order 2014, SI 2014/3253 raised the audience threshold for permitted music Performance from 200 to 500 persons in on-licensed premises, open for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises,...

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Nicola Smith

Squire Patton Boggs

Nicola Smith specialises in hospitality and leisure. Her expertise covers both licensing and food law. Nicola acts for a wide range of clients from listed companies to entrepreneurs. She prides herself on providing commercially-minded advice as part of a one-stop shop for clients dealing with the management of all of their licensing and food law issues. In addition to direct advice on licensing and food issues, Nicola provides support on corporate, property and insolvency transactions and advises on the licences required for the playing of copyright music by PRS or PPL. Nicola is experienced in reviewing and advising upon due diligence systems and has drafted operations manuals and compliance documents for numerous clients following such reviews. She has also provided training at both a legal and operational level including general updates and training on specific changes in law.Nicola has...

Jonathan Smith

Poppleston Allen

Jonathan joined Poppleston Allen at the beginning of 1997. After being made Partner in 2002, he succeeded founder Jeremy Allen as Managing Partner in 2006, splitting his time between developing the firm and advising clients. In April 2018, Jonathan handed over the reins as Managing Partner to concentrate fully on helping licensed operators solve their alcohol licensing problems. Jonathan’s advice includes obtaining new premises licences, licence variations and licensing reviews, of which he is a veteran of over 250. To help understand the pressures that people working in the leisure sector face, Jonathan holds five licensing qualifications covering England, Wales and Scotland. Jonathan regularly speaks at conferences and seminars. He sat on the Institute of Licensing’s operational and development committee and has sat on various Home Office and Department of Culture, Media and Sport advisory groups. By request, he was called to give evidence as part of The...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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