For the greater part of my life a very large proportion of the music I have listened to has, like health care, come free at the point of delivery, so there is nothing so very radical in todays youngsters thinking they should have the same privilege.
First the radio was a major source. A radio licence, for which the head of household was liable, cost £1 a year.
Of course you had to have a radio, & pay for the electricity to run it, or, in some cases, pay for the battery to be recharged. I can remember several small boys who earned a penny or two by carrying accumulators to the radio shop to be topped up.
When the transistor radio arrived on the scene I remember disputes about whether they needed a separate licence to be played outside the home, & a particular controversy over whether students needed to have their own licence to cover them for listening while away at college during term time.
The cost of a radio licence had risen to only £1.25 a year when it was abolished in 1971. Since then you do not have to pay for the privilege of listening to music on the radio unless you also own a television, in which case your tv licence does include a contribution to the cost of BBC radio.
