PRS for Music

PRS for Music Limited is a British music copyright collective. It was formed in 1997 and is made up of two groups: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). These groups work together to help manage music rights for their members.

PRS for Music looks after the rights of songwriters, composers, and music publishers. It collects money, called royalties, when their music is played in public places. This makes sure creators get paid for their work.

MCPS also helps songwriters, composers, and music publishers. It collects royalties when their music is copied onto CDs, DVDs, or downloaded online. In 2018, PRS for Music started working with Phonographic Performance Limited to make it simpler for businesses to get the right music licenses.

History

The Performing Right Society started in 1914. A group of music publishers created it to protect the value of copyright and help composers, songwriters, and music publishers earn money. At first, PRS collected fees from people who bought printed music sheets.

PRS was different from two other groups. The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society started in 1910, and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) began in 1934, started by Decca and EMI. The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society originally began as Mecolico in 1910. PPL collected fees for playing music recordings on devices like gramophones.

Another group, the British Copyright Protection Company, or Britico, was founded in 1932 by Alphonse Tournier. It focused on collecting royalties in the UK for French and German music rights and became the British Copyright Protection Association in 1962. Starting in 1970, Britico began sharing computer resources with PRS.

Tariffs

PRS for Music helps manage the rights of millions of musical works for its members, like songwriters and composers. It gives permission and collects money when music is played on the radio, at concerts, in restaurants, or online — both in the UK and around the world.

After costs, the money is shared with members. PRS for Music has different rates for different places, like shops or schools. About 350,000 UK businesses have permission to play music, but some places don’t need permission, like hospitals, homes, or places of worship.
operating costs
tariffs

Initiatives

ICE – Global Licensing Hub

In July 2015, PRS for Music worked with music groups from Sweden and Germany to start a new project. This project, named 'ICE', helps manage music rights in many European countries.

PRS for Music and PPL joint venture for public performance licensing

In February 2016, PRS for Music joined with a group called PPL to create a new service. This service helps manage music rights when songs are played in public places in the UK. The service started in 2018.

Streamfair

In July 2015, PRS for Music began a campaign called Streamfair to help music creators. The campaign aimed to improve laws, make it easier to manage online music rights, show how important creators are, and teach people more about music. Famous songwriters and composers supported this campaign.

Heritage Awards

The PRS for Music Heritage Award began in 2009. The first award went to the band Blur. These awards give plaques to places where famous bands, artists, and songwriters first performed. They also recognize pubs, clubs, and venues that support music. Some of the honored names include Squeeze, Elton John, Pulp, Queen, and UB40.

Financial information

In May 2016, PRS for Music shared its financial results for 2015. It showed an increase in payments to its songwriter members. For 2016, revenues grew and royalty payments to members rose to £527.6 million. The organisation reported record royalty payments in 2017, with a total of £605.1 million.

Licensing

PRS for Music has been in some legal cases about music licensing. In 2007, they took a car servicing company to court because people were said to be listening to the radio at work. In 2008, they asked a police force to stop playing music without a license.

In 2014, PRS for Music had a disagreement with a TV company about a licensing deal. After a court decision in 2016, the deal was settled.

PRS for Music works with schools to collect licensing money for music. They also work with other music societies in Europe to help collect royalties for artists from different countries.

In 2008, PRS for Music asked more businesses to pay for licences to play music. This included small places like bakeries and community centres. Some people felt these requests were too strict. In 2009, a video site stopped showing music videos in the UK until they could agree on a licence with PRS for Music. Later that year, they reached an agreement and music videos returned to the site.

Some police forces chose not to pay for licences, and in 2010, one police force decided not to renew their licence.

Independent Welsh agency

In 2012, some Welsh-language musicians left PRS for Music to start their own group called Eos. This happened because changes in how PRS for Music calculated payments made musicians earn less money. In 2007, PRS for Music changed how it counted broadcasts on BBC Radio Cymru, which also lowered payments.

Starting in 2013, playing this music no longer needed a special license from PRS for Music. Eos still works with the BBC, which uses these musicians for its Welsh-language programs.