PRS for Music (formerly the Performing Right Society) is a UK copyright collection society undertaking collective rights management for musical works. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 as the MCPS-PRS Alliance, bringing together two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and Performing Right Society (PRS).[1] The PRS for Music brand was adopted in 2009.
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PRS for Music manages about 10 million musical works on behalf of its songwriter, composer and publisher members. PRS for Music licenses its members' musical works whenever they are played, performed or reproduced both in the UK and globally through its partner network. [2] A PRS for Music licence gives the user permission to play or use the music it represents in a number of circumstances such as on radio, TV, online or in public premises.
After operating costs are deducted[3] , the remaining money is distributed to the copyright holders (in the case of PRS for Music, these are the songwriters or the publishers with whom they have agreements). The owners of the copyright in the recording itself are served by an independent organisation (the PPL). If, for example, a cover version of a song is played on BBC Radio 1, PRS for Music collects a fee on behalf of the writer and publisher while Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) collects a fee on behalf of the record company whose recording is played.
PRS for Music has a range of tariffs for organisations (businesses, government organisations, educational establishments, and so on) dependent on their size and the extent to which they are using music, and whether they are commercial premises or not.
Around 350,000 UK businesses [4] have paid for a licence from the PRS, but some workplaces do not need one:
In February 2010, PRS for Music announced its 2009 financial results, which showed a modest 2.6% increase in revenue to £623m. [6]
| Business Area | 2009 (£m) |
|---|---|
| Broadcasting & Online | 177.4 |
| International | 166.9 |
| Public Performance Sales | 150.2 |
| Recorded Media | 128.5 |
| Total | 623.0 |
In 2007, PRS for Music took a Scottish car servicing company to court because the employees were allegedly "listening to the radio at work, allowing the music to be 'heard by colleagues and customers.'"[8]
In June, 2008, PRS for Music accused 11 police stations, one of which is in Lancashire, of failure to obtain permits to play music, and sought an injunction and payments for "damages".[9]
The Santiago Agreement was established in 2000 between five European collecting societies including the UK's PRS for Music and France's SACEM and Germany's GEMA. The agreement allows each collecting society to collect royalties on behalf of members of the other collecting society — e.g. the PRS would collect money for German artists listed with GEMA — but to restrict licences to be sold only within the member organisation's home country.
The European Commission decided in 2008 that the cross-licensing agreements formed by 24 collecting societies in Europe were in violation of anti-competition laws.[10]
Along with Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), PRS for Music use the Centre for Education and Finance Management (CEFM) as agents to collect licensing monies from schools and colleges. Universities have separate arrangements.
In 2008, PRS for Music began a concerted drive to make commercial premises pay for annual "performance" licences. In one case it told a 61-year-old mechanic that he would have to pay £150 to play his radio while he worked by himself.[11] It also targeted a bakery that played a radio in a private room at the back of the shop.[12] a woman who used a classical radio to calm her horses[13] and community centres that allowed children to sing carols in public.[14] However, questions have been raised about the tactic of targeting small businesses:
"Radio stations pay large amounts of money to licensing organizations PRS and PPL for the music they play, and music has been on the radio for many years. During the war, there were programmes like Music While You Work. Now, many radio stations have features about workplaces. If the PRS forces people to switch their radios off then how are these stations going to survive? Music has to be heard before people go out and buy it." (The Bolton News)[15]
As BBC radio is publicly financed through the TV licence fee providing a service free of charge, further legal questions have arisen over the PRS's remit. The BBC pays a fee towards PRS Licensing and a TV Licence only covers you for a broadcast signal, not the nature of the programming in a commercial premises.
In March 2009, the on line video-sharing site YouTube removed all premium music videos for UK users, even those supplied by record labels, due to a failure to find "mutually acceptable terms for a new licence" with the PRS.[16][17] As a consequence, PRS established the Fair Play for Creators campaign in order to provide a forum where musicians could "publicly demonstrate their concern over the way their work is treated by online businesses".[18] David Arnold, Jazzie B, Billy Bragg, Guy Chambers, Robin Gibb, Pete Waterman, Mike Chapman, Wayne Hector, Pam Sheyne and Debbie Wiseman sent a letter to The Times newspaper in support of the campaign launched by PRS.[19] A rights deal was settled in September 2009 between PRS and Google that allowed YouTube users in UK to view music videos.[20]
Wiltshire Constabulary refused to pay PRS for a £32,000 licence fee in April 2009. Instead the force told all officer and civilian staff that music could no longer be played in their workplaces but that ban excluded patrol cars. A total of 38 of 49 UK police forces currently hold PRS licences.[21]
In October 2009, the PRS apologised to a 56-year-old shelf-stacker at a village in Clackmannanshire for pursuing her for singing to herself while stacking shelves.[22][23] PRS initially told her that she would be prosecuted and fined thousands of pounds if she continued to sing without a "live performance" licence. However PRS subsequently acknowledged its mistake.[24]
In October 2010, it was reported that Sussex Police, in a money-saving move, were not intending to renew their PRS licence, meaning that Police officers would no longer be able to listen to the radio in their squad cars or other work places. However, it must be noted that the mention of not being allowed to listen in squad cars is incorrect as PRS does not licence work vehicles. [25]
There are internet radio stations that play music which has been licensed by the copyright holders such that it can be played without paying the PRS. This may include some Creative Commons or Public Domain music. According to these radio stations, there is no need to pay money to the PRS if only these radio stations are played at your workplace. [26] There are many radio stations that play creative commons music. [27]