PRS and PPL lauch a new joint venture for public peformance licensing

COPYRIGHT: In the United Kingdom, PRS for Music and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) have confirmed that, following a strategic review commenced in 2015, the two companies plan to create a joint venture. The new company, jointly and equally owned by PPL and PRS for Music, would focus on serving all PPL and PRS for Music UK public performance licensing customers for both music and sound recording rights. PPL is the music licensing company which works on behalf of record companies and performers to license recorded music played in public. PRS for Music represents the rights of over 115,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK. 

The two CMOs say that this will further streamline the experience for customers obtaining public performance licences, allowing them to secure a joint PPL and PRS for Music licence |"with a single phone call or a few clicks on the web, paid for with a single invoice." Over the coming months, PRS for Music and PPL will be undertaking the necessary preparatory work for the joint venture "Including engagement with regulators and other key stakeholders."

It is anticipated that the new company would start licensing in 2017, followed by a 12-month period during which the full transition of public performance licensing would be completed. It is likely that the new joint venture will be located in a UK city outside the M25.

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive, PRS for Music, said, “Creating a single point of contact for our UK public performance customers would allow us to significantly simplify music licensing for UK businesses. It is in our members’ and customers’ interests to ensure that our licensing is ever more accurate and efficient. A joint venture between our organisations would be a landmark event for both societies.”

Peter Leathem, CEO, PPL commented, “Both our organisations firmly believe that the proposed joint venture would be a very positive development for both our customers and our members, building on the successful joint licensing solutions and other joint working initiatives that PPL and PRS for Music have delivered over the last few years.”

PRS for Music and Soundcloud - war is over

PRS for Music has written to its membership informing them that it has settled the recently launched legal action against the online music platform, which is widely used by PRS members. The licence covers the use of PRS for Music repertoire from SoundCloud’s launch, and extends to. cover SoundCloud in its plans to introduce subscription and advertising supported platforms across Europe in 2016.  Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive of PRS for Music said: “On behalf of our members, I am pleased that we have been able to reach a settlement with SoundCloud without extended legal proceedings. This ends over five years of discussions on the licensing requirements for the platform, resulting in a licence under which our members are fairly rewarded for the use of their music." adding "The safe harbours in current legislation still present ambiguity, and obstruct the efficient licensing of online services, but our agreement with SoundCloud is a step in the right direction towards a more level playing field for the online marketplace." The letter from Karen Buse, Executive Director, Membership and International, reads:  I wrote to you earlier this year to explain our action against the online music streaming service SoundCloud. After five years of unsuccessful licensing negotiations, we believed that we had no alternative but to start legal proceedings against them. However, we have since, through intense discussion and negotiation, managed to reach an agreement. The agreement covers the use of repertoire controlled by PRS for Music since the service launched and is an important step in our quest to achieve a level playing field in the licensing of online services so that songwriters, composers and their music publishers can be paid properly for the use of their music online. We believe this agreement to be the best outcome because it sets us on the path towards receiving proper reporting from SoundCloud of their use of your repertoire, enables royalties to be paid and also avoids the cost of legal proceedings. Receiving enough accurate data on music uploaded to the platform remains a challenge but SoundCloud have committed to working with us to improve the quality of their reporting over time. We are conscious of the value that many of you derive from using SoundCloud and are pleased to have reached this landmark agreement. Whilst it is only one step along the road to a fully functioning online market, it is an important one. I would like to thank SoundCloud for breaking with the past and agreeing to work with us; a move which we feel is in not only your, but all rightsholders’, interests. We expect you have questions about what this means for you. To help answer these, we’ve put together some frequently asked questions which can be viewed here.

Yours sincerely, Karen Buse Executive Director, Membership and International PRS for Music

DJ reporting tool launched

PRS for Music are progressing talks with Pioneer to enable the collection society to receive the reporting of music played in clubs captured by their KUVO system. The new technology will capture club play data and potentially enhance the accuracy in the distribution of royalties for music played in clubs. KUVO is a mobile app that provides clubbers with details of the music played by DJs using Pioneer CD players (CDJs) in clubs where the KUVO hardware is installed. PRS say they have progressed talks with Pioneer with a view to evaluating and ultimately utilising the KUVO data to improve the accuracy of PRS distributions. Pioneer launched KUVO at Amsterdam Dance Event on 15 October 2014. PRS also say that a number of monitoring solutions to help improve reporting for DJ performances in clubs and at festivals are also being considered as part of the Amplify project.

Music hits the right notes for business success

A lot of us seem to pay twice when we listen to music in the workplace  - once because the broadcaster pays a blanket levy to the PPL and PRS for Music - and then again because the owner of a shop, factory, or garage also pays for music in the workplace - even if its just for their own staff and not customers. There have been a number of legal challenges to this over the years in the British Courts, including the leading 1943 judgement in Turner v PRS which seemingly supports PRS's view that “If your staff or customers are listening to music on your premises, played by any means from live performance through to radio, TV, CD or via the internet, you need our music licence". The battle has extended to a number of decisions in the European Court of Justice  which has managed to come to the conclusion that hotels do have to pay for providing music ti their guests - but dentists don't have to pay! Musicians and writers deserved to be paid. But paid twice?

Well, and no doubt with one eye on this argument and the need to support their tariffs for factories, offices and other workplaces, PRS and PPL have conveniently released some new research that shows "music hits the right notes for business success" with Christine Geissmar, Operations Director, PPL saying: “The results of this experiment are a clear indication of the value music can add to the workplace. Music is a key tool for business success.” 

The research, undertaken by Mindlab International, was commissioned by MusicWorks, a joint initiative of PRS for Music and PPL, the organisations that between them, represent the rights of thousands of composers, performers, publishers and record companies in the UK.  The experiment required 26 participants to undertake a series of on-line tasks 5 days in a row. Dr David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International commented: “The MusicWorks experiment revealed a positive correlation between music and productivity – overall it showed that when listening to music, 9 out of 10 people performed better. Music is an incredibly powerful management tool in increasing the efficiency of a workforce. It can exert a highly beneficial influence over employee morale and motivation, helping enhance output and even boosting a company’s bottom line."

The research show
·         81% of people worked fastest when listening to one of four music genres

·         88% of people worked most accurately when listening to one of four music genres

·         Pop music is best for working quickly and accurately

·         Classical music is most effective for solving mathematical problems

·         Ambient music improves data-entry accuracy

·         Dance music enhances proof-reading skills

When listening to a selection of different genres, classical music was found to be the most effective for improving the accuracy of tasks and resolving every-day mathematical problems with participants achieving a 73% pass rate. When listening to pop music, 58% of participants completed data entry tasks much faster. When proof-reading, dance music had the most positive impact, with participants increasing their speed by 20% compared to proof-reading tests undertaken with no music at all.  Dance music also had a positive effect on spell-checking with a 75% pass rate compared to 68% when no music was played at all.

The research also showed that when people did not listen to music, they made the most mistakes while solving equations and spell-checking. Ambient music worked best for accurate data entry tasks, with participants scoring a high pass rate of 92.%.                                                                                                   
Paul Clements, Director of Public Performance Sales, PRS for Music added: “The increase in levels of productivity when music is playing is striking. This project provides a refreshing reminder of the multiple benefits to be gained from listening to music at work.”   

PRS for Music restructures

PRS for Music has announced a new plan to restructure the existing business partnership behind the UK music collection society, with the joint boards of PRS and MCPS saying that the moves will enable significant cost saving within MCPS, the society that  represents mechanical rights, while continuing licensing administration, royalty processing and account management for members.  The move comes as MCPS has faced a significant decline in income as the consumer market moved from CDs and DVDs to downloads and streaming, despite collecting £176 million in 2012, out of a total PRS for Music income of £641.8 million.  The key components of the plan agreed include a change in the ownership of the operating company known as PRS for Music and MCPS has agreed to sell its shares to PRS and PRS, as owner of PRS for Music, will deliver royalty processing services to MCPS members under a service agreement.

PRS concludes new commercial radio deal

The UK music publishing sector's collecting society PRS has announced that it has reached a new licensing deal with the commercial radio sector, which will cover the royalties paid by 300 commercial stations for the rights that exist in the songs they play. The new minimum five year deal means stations will continue to pay rights owners a percentage of net revenue and an annual lump sum. The licence covers each station's main output plus online simulcast and catch-up services.

PRS 2012 collections up overall, but live music slips

UK collection society PRS for Music have announced a record £641.8m collected for songwriter, composer and music publisher members in 2012, equating to a 1.7% rise on 2011. A focus on efficiency resulted in a £3.6m reduction in overall costs, equivalent to 4.6%, meaning a total of £571.9m was paid to members (up 2.6% on 2011).

Royalties from online and digital services topped £51m for the first time, up 32.2% on 2011. Royalties from online services now provide a larger income stream for music creators than radio, live or the pub sector, but perhaps unsurprisingly, royalties collected from live music fell by 14.2% to £19.3m as fewer live events occurred in 2012. Collections from CD sales were also down, but overall PRS's 'recorded media' income was up slightly.

International revenue, which has seen considerable growth in the last decade, was down 4% in 2012, a result, in part, of exchange rate losses. However, this income stream is still the biggest single revenue generator for PRS members, bringing in £180.1 million.

2011 figures here: http://www.prsformusic.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PressPacks/March%202012%20-%20Financial%20results%20briefing%20paper.pdf

PRS name top 10 tours for 2011

PRS for Music have released their figures for 2011 showing the collections for the performance of music  music (TV, radio, live, cinema and digital) outside of the UK have reached £188 million, up 11% from 2010 (£169.6 million) and almost doubling in the last ten years. Royalties from live music have seen a near tenfold increase in the past decade from £2.1 million in 2012 to £21 million in 2011 representing artists such as The Rolling Stones, Adele and Muse.   The PRS have also released their top 10 tours based on worldwide ticket sales in 2011

1.  U2
2. Take That
3. Bon Jovi
4. Taylor Swift
5. Kenny Chesney
6. Katy Perry
7. Rihanna
8. Roger Waters
9. Foo fighters
10. Sade

PRS launches pub prize

PRS for Music has launched its Music Makeover 2012, ahead of the October implementation of the UK's Live Music Act.  And the prize? It's £5000 to help UK pubs create the right space for music so they can remain competitive and crucially, a key destination for locals to enjoy. PRS for Music will also be contacting 41,000 pubs with a comprehensive guide to making live music work including tips on genre choice, stage lighting, jukeboxes, gig promotion and ticketing. Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi  said “Don’t even start me on the importance of the pub circuit. In the early days we were always gigging in local pubs, throwing our kit in the back of the van and motoring from town to town. We pretty much mastered our live sound and style in those old pubs.” Last year’s Music Makeover winner David Pott of The Market Inn, Faversham, said: “We were extremely pleased to win – pleased for us and for the pub. The prize money will be a great boost for the pub and the community. This will put The Market Inn on the map for music. We’re already receiving demos from local bands who want to play here.”

Pubs can enter here https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2QPC5WP

PRS live income up by 8.2%

Collections from the UK live sector in 2011 were up 8.2% at £22.5 million. PRS for Music puts the increase down to a boom in festival acts and stadium tours in the UK. £20.8 million was collected in 2010 which were depressed by the World Cup. £22.3 million was collected in 2009 from live music.