TuneIn removes more UK radio stations as confusion continues over music licences

TuneIn has removed a number of radio stations from its platform once again due to music licence reconciliation issues.

Community radio groups UKCRN and CMA are in talks with the website to try and fix the situation as soon as possible.

TuneIn is only allowed to list radio stations it can prove has the relevant licences from PRS, PPL etc, and regularly suspends stations which are not on the list provided by the royalty collection agencies.

It’s following a court ruling in 2022, where the obligation to confirm the licensing status of individual stations now falls on TuneIn.

However, sometimes the radio station name and the name on the licence are not the same, leading to confusion.

Some stations, such as speech stations who don’t require a licence, or those that play licence-free music or audio, have also been suspended.

Martin Steers from UK Community Radio Network, who also runs community station NLive Radio, tells us: “It’s impacted at least a dozen stations that we’re aware of, first brought to my attention because it impacted NLive Radio.

“We have a good relationship with TuneIn and are working with them to resolve the issue.”

Any station having problems are urged to contact UKCRN for help via hello@ukcrn.radio with some details such as station name, TuneIn ID, and the name on your PPL licence.

We’ve contacted TuneIn for a comment but had no reply at the time of publication.