110 Years of PRS

Tim Ingham Founder and Publisher, MBW

Over the following pages, we celebrate 110 years of PRS for Music. The magnitude of change in that time is mind-blowing. In the music industry alone there have been upheavals, revolutions and growth that could never have been predicted in 1914.

PRS itself has also changed, utterly. Yet, in many ways, it’s also stayed the same. Most fundamentally, PRS has remained true to the driving principle on which it was founded: to protect the value of music copyright while delivering essential remuneration for artists and composers.

In 2024, PRS will achieve that goal in radically different ways and on a vastly different scale than it did a century ago –but it remains absolutely core to the organisation’s mission.

The future of songwriter royalty collection will be defined by speed, efficiency, fairness and global ambition. With this in mind, PRS’s modern leadership team, led by CEO Andrea Czapary Martin, deserves credit for reshaping the organisation into what it is today — bigger, swifter and more streamlined than at any point in recent memory.

Understandably, much will be made of PRS surpassing the milestone of £1 billion in collections for the first time in 2023.

Yet in the grand scheme of things, there’s an even more significant stat to highlight: the non-profit org’s annual cost-toincome ratio has now dipped below 10% for two years on the bounce.

In a streaming-led world where songwriters need every penny that is due to them, this is an encouraging trend from the UK’s flagship PRO. Of course, there is always more progress that can be made. Yet while certain prominent collection organisations blithely refuse to grapple with bureaucratic bloat, it’s heartening to see PRS determined to evolve into a service organisation befitting tomorrow’s world.

In 2024’s music industry, every sector and every company professes to have the best interests of songwriters and artists at its heart. But let’s not dress it up: most composers still feel squeezed by a pervading unfairness – exacerbated by a fog of obfuscation in the connection between getting played and getting paid.

PRS seems committed to being on the right side of that issue. It is embracing a vital truth: getting money into the hands of the people who make the music industry possible, the songwriters, isn’t just something PRS does. It’s the reason it exists.

2024

110 YEARS OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT SOCIETY (PRS)

Over a century of supporting its membership through innovation, troubled waters and exponential growth, PRS for Music today represents a thriving, 175,000-strong global community. The society’s founders couldn’t possibly have envisaged in 1914 just how much their vision would directly impact the world’s music industry in 2024.

A world where all music is available everywhere, all at once, and where computers would be independently capable of composing a song. Or even that PRS would be processing trillions of lines of data and royalty payments in a cloud.

While so much has changed over the past 110 years, the idea of PRS was, like all great ideas, simple. To share a vision to protect and grow the rights entrusted to us by songwriters and composers – rights which had been fought so hard for.

That purpose still sits at the heart of everything we do today and what I stand by as CEO. While the challenges of the 21st century differ from those which PRS members faced in 1914, the necessity to pioneer with a real sense of purpose still drives me today, as much as it did in my first few days at PRS five years ago.

Today, we’re not just surpassing financial milestones, we’re orchestrating a significant shift in the music business. My vision to ascend to a billion-pound society in royalties paid out isn’t just a goal – it reflects my firm commitment to music creators worldwide.

We exist to ensure that every member receives fair compensation for their artistry, wherever and whenever their music is played and it is the most important measure of our success. We owe it to our membership to be the best we can be.

We have achieved so much recently and as a result we started 2024 in a strong position, with historic revenues and distributions. This means we have the opportunity to do even more for you, the members, to ensure the society’s successes are your successes.

Whatever the future holds, I am confident that PRS for Music will hold true to its founding principles: a society by the members for the members.

Andrea Czapary Martin CEO, PRS for Music

ANNUAL FINANCIAL RESULTS

Paid out

£943.6m 6k 210k

songwriters and composers were paid for the first time, receiving £1.5m in royalties.

£1.08bn

Cost-to-Income ratio up 12.8% from £836.2m in 2022

Royalties paid out to the songwriting community have increased by more than half a billion pounds in the last 10 years (121% or £518.3 million).

A historically low cost-to-income ratio, cementing PRS for Music as one of the world’s most efficient top-ranking collective management organisations. Collected

PRS revenue collections have increased twofold (111.2%) in the last 10 years.

International royalties paid out

£283.4m 9.2%

setlists were submitted by PRS members in 2023, a 25% increase compared to 2022. up 12.5% from £964m in 2022 up 19.3% from £237.6m in 2022 (excl. donations & subsidies)

Major live concert tours from PRS members in 2023 included: Elton John, Coldplay, Harry Styles, Shania Twain, Little Simz and Sam Smith.

ONLINE ROYALTIES PAID OUT

£360.3m

Top UC tracks include: Escapism by RAYE ft. 070 Shake, Calm Down by Rema and Boy’s a Liar pt. 2 by PinkPantheress & Ice Spice.

BAFTA and OSCAR-nominated Barbie was one of the most streamed payto-watch movies at home in the UK, featuring chart-topping songs including:

Dance the Night – Dua Lipa

Speed Drive – Charli XCX

Man I Am – Sam Smith

2023 saw music by PRS composers and songwriters feature in new seasons of such acclaimed dramas as:

Our venture with STIM and GEMA

245 territories across all rightsholders in 2023

330k+ rightholders represented €4.5bn paid back to rightsholders since launch

Based on an initiative by PRS and STIM, the joint copyright database ICE was launched GEMA joined the joint venture to help further develop its vision

Based in UK, Germany and Sweden

Integrated processing hub, including online licensing, launched

Our venture with PPL celebrated its six-year anniversary in February 2024

£1bn+

in royalties paid out to music creators since its launch, ensuring songwriters, composers, musicians and performers are paid when their works are played in public.

MICHAEL PRICE

‘THERE’S NEVER BEEN A MORE IMPORTANT TIME FOR PRS TO EXIST THAN RIGHT NOW’

Emmy-winning film and TV composer Michael Price discusses the vital role PRS plays when it comes to advocating on behalf of its 175,000 members.

One of the most useful metaphors I’ve encountered when explaining the importance of human creativity, copyright and fair compensation is imagining the music community as a natural ecosystem. At every level, a sustainable amount of nutrition and a mix of diversity — from the tiny plants and insects to the majestic 500-year-old oak tree – is required. None of it exists without the rest.

Similarly, all parts of the music community are dependent on one another. From the current top 10 singles through to grassroots music creators, they all belong to a flourishing musical ecosystem that we should be incredibly proud of, particularly here in the UK. With that in mind, we must preserve the underpinning solid structure that copyright and fair compensation provide to this ecosystem.

Over the coming decades, there will be a crucial debate about what it means for humans to create art — human artistry, if you will. The voices and compelling stories told by creators are vital to music-making, and I fear that if we let the music ecosystem break down over the next five to 10 years, it will be difficult to rebuild. Without a culture that encourages music education in schools and among young people, an entire generation of potential young musicians won’t get the chance to pick up an instrument.

PRS for Music has been at the forefront of sustaining, innovating and strongly advocating for this music ecosystem for decades. In recent years, the most significant challenge to this support has been the emergence of a three-way dialogue: government and regulators on one side, multinational tech companies on another, and us creators, caught in the middle.

Effective advocacy involves explaining to tech companies that the success of their streaming platforms, whether that is TV and film or music, hinges on the content, and that content is made by us creators. Simultaneously, we must convey this to the governments that regulate these companies, creating an advocacy triangle that is more fundamental than ever.

I’ve been part of PRS advocacy delegations who lobby governments in the UK, the EU and beyond. The PRS connection has got me in the room with politicians, but the real connection is the love of music that we share. When you find that common ground with a politician, they

members — from those who’ve just written their first song to those with long careers in entertainment — means that the scale argument can be made very quickly.

While PRS represents a large group, there also needs to be space for individual voices from the music community to be heard. Without personal and real connections with politicians or representatives from tech companies or trade organisations, the issue can become distant. PRS’s role in advocacy is to provide this sense of scale in terms of its vast membership, while also highlighting the stories and experiences that can directly connect with the people in positions of power.

‘When PRS takes a stance on behalf of music creators, it speaks with authority.’

go from being a committee member or party representative to someone who lights up when talking about music. Whether it’s them remembering learning an instrument when they were a kid or recognising music I’ve worked on from films or TV shows, music is a wonderful cultural bridge that spans the political divide. It then becomes about sharing in what music, film and TV can be at their very best: entertaining, inspiring and moving, which gives them their validity.

There are two sides to advocacy: being present and being effective. Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you’re trying to explain your position to government, the public or any other group, the first question we often get asked is, ‘How many people is this affecting?’ The fact that PRS represents 175,000

A body like PRS possesses a practical infrastructure that can process trillions of lines of data every year, which is an extraordinary technical achievement. The success of that achievement gives them a strong position of validity as a membership organisation, one that can stand up on behalf of the composer community and back it up with hard data evidence. PRS has a unique insight into the day-to-day economics of being a music creator, which means that when PRS takes a stance on behalf of creators, it speaks with authority.

PRS’s role as the representative body for 175,000 songwriters, composers and publishers is vital. As an organisation that represents its members with conviction, there has never been a more important time for PRS to exist than right now.

MASTERS OF THEIR CRAFT

HOW FAR HAVE MUSIC CREATORS COME?

From embracing an entrepreneurial spirit to calling for positive change across the music industry, creators are more empowered than ever when it comes to determining their own destiny.

When it comes to enabling entrepreneurship, few sectors have felt the impact of technological advancement as profoundly as the music industry.

Gone are the days when aspiring musicians relied solely on traditional structures to navigate the complex terrain of the music market. Today, propelled by digital innovation, a new era of collaboration and empowerment has emerged, with business-savvy music creators charting their own paths to success.

Increasingly, creators are embracing entrepreneurship, seizing control of their businesses and, by default, their futures.

Today, these creators often perceive themselves as self-sufficient startups with bold global ambitions, with some even owning and operating multifaceted businesses to supplement their craft. From the pioneering likes of Jay-Z with Roc Nation to Stormzy’s burgeoning #Merky initiative, an entrepreneurial spirit continues to permeate the musician and songwriter community.

Yet while such business ventures carry inherent risks, the digitisation of the music industry over the past 25 years has dramatically altered the landscape. The rise of DIY platforms, label services and social media has democratised access to audiences, empowering creators to navigate the industry on their terms. Consequently, today’s generation of creators are arguably the most independent in history.

Innovations in recording software have revolutionised the way music is created, produced and distributed. New and innovative digital audio workstations have made music production more accessible than ever, allowing artists to produce professionalquality recordings from the comfort of their own homes.

Platforms like TikTok have become powerful tools for selfpromotion and fan engagement. This direct connection with fans has empowered artists to take creative risks, experiment with new sounds and cultivate unique identities both with and without the help of traditional industry infrastructure.

Shifting cultural attitudes and consumer preferences have also played a significant role in empowering music creators. Today’s audiences value authenticity, diversity and independence, gravitating towards artists who forge genuine connections with their fanbases. This shift has enabled independent artists and niche genres to thrive in ways that were previously unimaginable.

‘Creators are advocating for better terms for everyone, not just themselves.’

With a wealth of career-advancing tools, information and technology at their disposal, creators now have the power to realise their visions both creatively and financially like never before. Initiatives like the Get Paid Guide, a collaborative effort between PRS for Music, the UK government, the Ivors Academy and the Music Publishers Association, underscore the industry’s commitment to further empowering creators by demystifying essential concepts like music metadata for maximising royalties.

Speaking on a recent Get Paid Guide panel, SoundCloud’s Bina Mistry told creators: ‘Remember: you’re a business. Yes, you’re a creative, but you’re also a business. I think there’s this notion of the “starving artist” not being able to make a living wage. I’m not saying the Get Paid Guide is going to solve it, but if you follow the steps in it and understand what metadata is, I guarantee you’ll double your money.’

By educating and empowering themselves, a collegiate spirit is burgeoning within the music-making community, replacing solipsism with altruism. Creators are advocating for better terms for everyone, not just themselves.

Creators have also become more forthright when it comes to calling out inequity in the industry. Musician and Ivors Academy Chair Tom Gray’s #BrokenRecord campaign has called for a major shake-up of the music streaming business model.

RAYE, meanwhile, has become a champion for change in the industry, particularly when it comes to songwriting rights. After being released from her contract with Polydor in 2021, the Londoner released her hugely successful debut studio album My 21st Century Blues in 2023 as an independent artist. She went on to pick up a record-breaking six BRIT awards earlier this year.

‘British music industry, please — I want to have a lovely, brief conversation about normalising [business by] giving songwriters master royalty points,’ she said during one of her BRITs acceptance speeches. ‘It means if the songs win big, the writers get to win too. Please allow that to happen — please.’

Outside of high-profile campaigns, the creator community in the UK has also benefited from regularly coming together to share their experiences and learn from one another. In 2023, PRS for Music launched PRS Connects, an event series designed to facilitate exactly this, offering creators a greater understanding of the ins and outs of the industry in an open and safe forum. These regular events enable PRS members to gain knowledge from experts in various fields — including sync and music management — while also getting a valuable chance to network with industry figures and their peers.

A knowledgeable and interconnected music community is a force to be reckoned with. As more music creators put their shoulder to the wheel, they are propelling themselves into a bolder and braver future.

‘Today’s generation of music creators are arguably the most independent in history.’

HOW IS AI SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MUSIC?

The rapid development of AI has touched all parts of the creative industries, not least music. But as the fierce debate over its usage continues, how much of a major player will the technology be for music creators and the industry at large?

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and music creation represents a complex, evolving dynamic carrying significant implications for human artistry. While AI undoubtedly augments certain technical aspects of the music production process, its ability to replicate the totality of the creative experience remains hotly debated. As this technological frontier rapidly advances, it is crucial to examine it through a measured lens — one that neither overstates AI’s capabilities nor dismisses its potential to fundamentally transform how music is created.

At its current stage, AI music creation tools operate by training machine learning models on vast datasets of existing musical compositions. This algorithmic approach allows AI to identify patterns and statistical tendencies which it can then utilise to generate new material like melodies, basslines, chord progressions and even complete songs within defined musical styles or genres. The likes of AIVA, Amper AI and Jukedeck represent the vanguard of this AI composer toolkit.

However, this statistical repackaging of training data highlights AI’s core limitation: a lack of sentient contextual understanding. Music is inextricably linked to human experiences, emotions and the unique personal narratives its creators endeavour to convey. AI cannot inherently grasp the intimate stimuli and expressive intent behind why a particular musical motif or creative decision resonates or holds deeper meaning. Its output remains confined to regurgitating calculated probabilities based on the data it ingested.

‘It’s important to distinguish between assistive AI and generative AI,’ says Julia Rowan, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager at PRS for Music.

‘By assistive AI, we mean using AI as part of the composition process without necessarily substituting out the composer themselves,’ she explains. ‘One use of AI that has existed for years is for mixing and mastering: it’s a way of augmenting the capacity of the tools that already exist.’

‘Even generative AI tools can be used as a small part of the composition process that is otherwise carried out by a human. Music creators can use AI tools for inspiration and completely transform AI output, for want of a better term, with their creativity. I don’t think it’s quite as binary as not using AI or compromising one’s artistic integrity.’

This becomes even more apparent when examining the global impact of technological advances on music creation and consumption. The accessibility of recording software and hardware has opened Pandora’s box, empowering creators to inexpensively produce and digitally distribute their music worldwide. The rise of streaming platforms, social media and mobile technology has been similarly transformative. The likes of Bandcamp and SoundCloud have broken down geographical and economic barriers, allowing artists from across the world to share their music at the click of a button.

AI-driven data analytics tools help predict consumer trends and artist popularity, enabling record labels and marketers to better target their audiences. These tools analyse streaming data and social media engagement to provide insights into what music is trending, which is invaluable in an industry as dynamic as music.

Organisations like PRS for Music are playing a pivotal role in stewarding the responsible development of AI in music. Back in February PRS published its AI principles, a proposed balanced framework for how AI should be ethically

‘It’s important to distinguish between assistive AI and generative AI in music.’ Julia Rowan

In this emerging AI-assisted age, technologists and composers may be better served by forming a symbiotic relationship akin to an extended creative collaboration. AI could help identify unconscious creative tendencies, inspiring new modes of expression by revealing novel possibilities beyond conventional paradigms. It could augment a musician’s toolkit while still preserving their autonomy as the prime creator and curator.

used in music creation while promoting and protecting human creativity.

PRS’s AI principles establish a balanced stance: avoiding outright rejection of AI while implementing pragmatic governance to mitigate risks like plagiarised outputs, diminished human agency or creator exploitation. The focus remains squarely on empowering and protecting PRS’s human composer

members as they judiciously determine if and how to incorporate AI’s emerging creative capacities. These principles aim to provide initial guidance, mandating transparency through clear attribution when AI is involved, while still reserving full royalty payments and membership benefits for human creators maintaining oversight of the process.

Asked whether there needs to be a change in copyright law to keep pace with AI technology and protect creators, Julia Rowan says: ‘The UK copyright regime is one of the best in the world, we don’t need a wholesale change of that framework. Instead, it’s about putting some AI-related safeguards in place to ensure the copyright regime remains de facto valid and the core principles of authorisation and remuneration still stand. What I mean by that is, for instance, clarification that authorisation ought to be sought and obtained by AI developers if they want to train their models on copyright-protected works.

VULVA VOCE

‘As a creator you should also be entitled to compensation for that use, which is the second important part of this picture.

‘What’s missing in legislation is a transparency regime for AI,’ she continues. ‘We need regulation that would place an obligation on AI developers to disclose what their models have been trained on in a way that enables enforcement of their rights by music creators. Without record-keeping of training data, music creators won’t be able to know whether their works are being used by AI models.

‘Finally, a big concern that is emerging around the world and cross-sector, not just in the creative industries, is around provenance and authenticity of content. People ought to be able to know whether the content they are consuming was generated by AI or by human beings. This is not only a matter of consumer choice and protection, but it even relates to the integrity of democratic processes when it comes to deepfakes.’

Ultimately, AI music creation tools could serve as viable supplementary tools to augment and stimulate the artist’s personal creative expression, not automate it entirely — but only if robust safeguards are implemented. Their works must be protected from uncompensated use as training data, with copyrights and royalties clearly upheld through an established licensing framework. With these crucial protections in place, AI’s maturation represents an evolution that musicians can help consciously shape through proactive exploration, experimentation and open crossdisciplinary dialogue, rather than a forced obsolescence of human artistry.

PRS for Music’s AI principles

Protection of human creativity: Music is an expression of human emotion, a record of our shared lived experience. Songwriters and composers are at the core of all great music. PRS is committed to championing human creativity, by ensuring creators are paid and credited whenever and wherever their works are used.

Choice: Authorisation is the central pillar of copyright and must be protected. Rightsholders should always have the right to decide whether their works are used, including by AI systems. Music is not data; it should not be mined for others’ benefit.

Transparency: Auditability and transparency must be enshrined in the development of all AI systems. AI-generated content should be clearly labelled as such, for everyone to see.

Global cooperation: PRS will work with its partners around the world to secure an enforceable regulatory framework for AI companies, one which holds them accountable for their actions.

VV BROWN

ON THE ‘PRIVILEGE’ OF SERVING ON THE PRS MEMBERS’ COUNCIL

The musician discusses the vital role played by the Council, the strides forward made in terms of diversity and why PRS’s writer members need representation at board level.

Having seen that I’d become quite a rebellious voice on representation across the music industry, Women In CTRL’s Nadia Khan suggested I stand for election to the PRS Members’ Council. I had imposter syndrome at first, but soon realised that my voice would be influential. With 20 years of experience in the industry, I felt qualified to go for it: that was important to me, because I wanted to make sure that if I was going to get involved, I felt experienced enough to make a difference.

I felt honoured when I was elected, having won the trust of members. I take my role on the Council seriously. It’s important we recognise that it’s a privilege because we’re making decisions that can impact people’s lives, from putting food on the table to helping pay the mortgage. I’ve lived and breathed that experience, logging into my PRS account and waiting for that royalty cheque.

The PRS Members’ Council comprises people from across the music industry, including musicians, writers, composers and publishers. We debate and propose legislation with the PRS membership collective’s best interests in mind, while also ensuring that PRS as an organisation is held accountable and subject to governance. We’re a driving force for the business, albeit one that ensures that the rights and needs of members are front and centre.

As a writer member on the Council, much of my focus is on representing my fellow writers when it comes to decisions that will affect both them and the business. I’m able to bring a reality check to the conversation from the perspective of a writer — if those viewpoints aren’t heard, then there can be a disconnect in the

room when it comes to decisions that will impact the everyday life of an artist. I’m acting in the name of the member who’s sitting in their bedroom writing songs all day and who might not have the platform to have their voice heard. I also come to the table with real experience of how PRS works as a consumer — somebody that uses it in their everyday life — so I feel like I’ve contributed greatly in that aspect.

As a woman on the Council, I’m able to have conversations about work-life balance, opportunities and funding by providing my perspective as a woman and a mother in the industry. From my experience with the Members’ Council, I’d

patronising and disheartening when there’s a level of surprise that an artist or woman of colour can be articulate enough to stand in these rooms, engaging in meaningful dialogue and negotiations.

I firmly believe there have been significant strides made within PRS to bring individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds into those spaces. But there needs to be more than just a few of us: all races, sexes, disabilities and classes must be included. It’s crucial that this conversation around diversity continues to progress authentically, rather than as an act of tokenism. PRS has certainly evolved in that regard.

‘I feel lucky to be a part of PRS’s evolution, and to be a voice that makes sure it continues to happen.’

say there has been a dramatic change over the past two years when it comes to representation. PRS is leading the way when it comes to uplifting women in music, typified by Andrea Czapary Martin, PRS’s first female CEO who is committed to advancing diversity in the industry.

Being a Black woman on the Council and a representative voice for people from ethnic backgrounds has also been interesting. I’m able to influence and navigate the tone of cultural conversations, which can be subtle and nuanced. In the past, the music industry has tended to question the qualifications of individuals like me — a tendency I’ve encountered throughout my career. It’s

If you have any kind of democratic purpose or power, you need to use it correctly. Even before I was on the Council, I knew that my vote mattered. Life can get busy, but it is so important to vote the right people in to the Council because there are decisions being made that really affect your life as an artist.

As musicians, it’s difficult to make money and live and survive. By voting, you can have a massive impact. It’s a collective consciousness: if one person does it, then 20 people do it. If 100 people do it, then 100,000 people do it. Before you know it, you’ve activated change. Voting is important, and as a Council member I’ve realised that now more than ever.

NURTURING AND SUPPORTING MUSIC CREATORS

PRS Foundation CEO Joe Frankland and PRS Members’ Fund General Secretary John Logan discuss the key services, development initiatives and financial assistance that each organisation provides for PRS members.

From proudly standing up for songwriters’ rights to consistently championing the next generation of musicians, composers and producers, music creators have been at the very core of PRS for Music’s purpose throughout its 110-year history. These values are similarly advocated by PRS’s sister organisations, the PRS Members’ Fund and PRS Foundation. These two charitable bodies provide grant funding, career development initiatives and vital financial assistance to those in need, helping advance the careers and support the wellbeing of PRS members across the board.

Speaking about the mission of the Fund, General Secretary John Logan tells us: ‘It’s a vital support system for songwriters and composers, providing a safety net for these PRS members and their families when they face hardship. We offer grants and assistance to cover essential living costs and, in certain situations, medical expenses.

‘Beyond financial aid, we provide mental health support and career guidance to help members navigate the industry’s

highs and lows. We’re here to safeguard the wellbeing of those who make the music we cherish when they need help.’

The key function of PRS Foundation, meanwhile, is to help develop the UK’s ‘huge array of talented music creators and industry professionals,’ as its CEO Joe Frankland explains.

‘Together with our industry partners, like our major donors PRS and PPL, we’re able to offer support in the form of grants to music creators in any genre, no matter where they are based in the UK, their background, gender or ethnicity,’ he says. ‘Our funding for non-profit organisations, whose work is often unsung and undervalued within the music sector, plays a vital role to reach and nurture talent from the grassroots up.’

Through its range of accessible programmes, PRS Foundation has supported over 8,900 new music projects since it was founded in 2000.

‘This has enabled and empowered many artists to record that landmark release,

embark on vital UK tours or take their first steps into international territories,’ Joe adds. ‘We work closely with our colleagues at PRS and enjoy a collaborative relationship to ensure members, and members of the future, have the opportunity to develop and build towards a sustainable career making music.’

Sam Fender, Little Simz and 2023 Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective are among the Foundation’s notable former grantees. The organisation’s proven ability to nurture music creators, particularly at a grassroots level, ‘works for the whole music ecosystem,’ says Joe.

‘We’re helping the creative and career development of PRS members and future members, bolstering the talent development pipeline and making sure different types of support are available to meet the complex and ever-changing needs of the creator community,’ he says.

The Fund’s wide range of services, from their Winter Crisis Scheme to will-writing workshops, are available to members at

WORDS: SAM HARTEAM MOORE

Since 2000 PRS Foundation has given more than £47m to over 8,900 new initiatives

Over the last 10 years the Fund has awarded £6.5m in grants and loans

‘The PRS Members’ Fund safeguards the wellbeing of those who make the music we cherish when they need help.’

John Logan

every stage of their career. The Fund is particularly keen, John adds, for new and emerging music creators to know that their door is open to them should they need help.

‘The music business is dependent on success, basically. If someone’s music hasn’t quite achieved that then they may regard themselves as a failure, and of course that’s not good for anybody,’ he explains. ‘We’re here to help them through that particular struggle. We can’t provide musical instruments or support with their next tour, but we are that safety net that is available to members from those early stages.

‘No one knows what’s going to happen in the future, so members need to know where to come when they’re in need. It’s about visibility and awareness: through early knowledge or understanding of the work of the Fund, they will remember that we’re here if they fall on hard times or become sick. It’s crucial that we get our message out there so that members know that we are that safety net.’

Joe says that despite ‘positive overall trends’, such as record revenues in the recording and live sectors, funding is necessary to continue combatting the ‘vast inequity within our industry’.

‘It’s no secret that emerging creators are struggling to sustain careers and face far too many barriers to progression,’ he continues. ‘We’re determined to help creators overcome those challenges, and alongside our trustees, partners and external advisors we dedicate a lot of our resources to addressing these inequities.’

PRS Foundation also works to uplift underrepresented and marginalised communities within music through such initiatives as Keychange and the Women Make Music fund.

‘We’re able to support and champion incredible women and gender-diverse music creators and innovators, creating vital communities of grantees and participants,’ Joe explains.

In addition to PRS’s 110th anniversary, the Fund is celebrating 90 years since its inception. The Foundation, meanwhile, will mark its 25th anniversary in 2025.

‘The music landscape is a very different place to when we started in 2000,’ Joe says about the upcoming milestone. ‘We do live in uncertain times, and the huge increases in application numbers over the last 25 years makes it feel like our support is needed more now than ever. However, we’ve been delighted to partner with more and more likeminded people and organisations to break down barriers and give UK-based music creators the best chance possible to develop, and we encourage more to get involved as we move into our 25th year and beyond.’

Looking ahead to their future, John hopes that the Fund will remain ‘effective and relevant to an ever-increasing number of members and partner organisations’.

‘We want to make sure they’re aware of us and our value to the community,’ he adds. ‘We want to continue improving our communication, increase our resources,

build stronger data, evidence and insight. We’re confident of our ability to be there for members no matter what.’

The chance to make a positive difference to members’ lives makes John especially proud of the work the Fund does.

‘People often approach us when they’re at their lowest, and it’s about being able to give them hope and offer solutions,’ he says. ‘By working together, we can hopefully get them through whatever they are dealing with.

‘Some of the letters, emails and messages we receive afterwards just acknowledging the part we’ve played in their recovery is the best part [of the job]. The whole team feel that as well, making that little bit of difference by doing what we do.’

‘The impact of our work at PRS Foundation feels undeniable.’

Joe Frankland

Asked the same question about the Foundation, Joe cites the post-Black Lives Matter launch of the POWER UP initiative alongside the fact that five out of the last six Mercury Prize winners have been Foundation grantees as among his proudest moments as CEO.

‘There’s no prouder feeling than being at festivals, events and industry conferences and seeing the sheer number of outstanding individuals who have come through our programmes who are now fulfilling their potential,’ he adds. ‘There’s a tangible constellation of influence, and the impact of our work feels undeniable.’

PRS COMMUNITY

2023

41m

£2.5m 10k 4.5m 175k 35% 700k 81k 200+ works represented by PRS donated by PRS for Music to the PRS Members’ Fund and PRS Foundation

works registered

new members joined since January 2023

strong member community of songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe of new members were 25 or under

total impressions across social media PRS community events across the world

ÄYANNA

GLOBAL IMPACT

HOW PRS FOR MUSIC HAS BECOME A WORLD-LEADING PRO

With music creators from all corners of the globe representing an increasingly significant proportion of its 175,000-strong membership collective, PRS for Music has become the gold standard for performing rights organisations internationally.

What do the following all have in common? Ed Sheeran, Björn Ulvaeus, Adele, A. R. Rahman, Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain, Paul McCartney, Burna Boy, U2, Ludovico Einaudi, Rema, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wizkid.

All great songwriters and artists? Oh yes. All global superstars? Of course. But the other thing that bonds them together? They’re all members of PRS.

When the Performing Right Society was founded 110 years ago, it was very much a UK society for British composers, songwriters and music publishers. But times have changed and now, as PRS for Music, the collection society also represents tens of thousands of international writers among its 175,000 members.

‘International is incredibly important,’ says Martin Maguire, PRS for Music’s Director of Business Development and Publisher Relations. ‘In the old world, the predominant base of our membership was British — and that music exported incredibly well. But now there are significant rightsholders we represent globally, despite the fact we’re a UK-based operation.’

In this increasingly global — and ever more competitive — business, international music creators are joining PRS at all stages of their careers, whether they’re just starting out or already at the top of their game. Martin says these creators are joining for a variety of reasons: PRS’s low operating

costs (the society’s admin rate is the lowest in the world); its ability to track down more royalties and swiftly deliver them to members; the top-quality service delivered by the membership department; and the data and analysis tools that allow members to keep on top of their revenue streams.

According to PRS’s Chief International Business Officer Sami Valkonen, the society’s Major Live Concert Service (MLCS) means that anyone who is a touring artist ‘has a specific incentive to join PRS’.

MLCS has transformed the way in which royalties from arena performances are collected, processed and paid out to music creators. In 2023, international MLCS revenue increased from £6.2m to £19.3m, a year-on-year uplift of over 200%.

LUDOVICO EINAUDI

International figures in general are also on the upswing. International represented PRS for Music’s second largest revenue stream in 2023 by bringing in £339.3m, up 25.9% on 2022. International income has risen by 80% in the last decade.

‘Because of the volume of international revenue, we can afford to invest much more than any other society to ensure that international revenues are received in their totality,’ says Sami, who leads a 27-strong international team, larger than any other society.

‘We generate tens of millions of pounds a year in finding missing royalties, and that’s a virtuous cycle,’ he adds. ‘It’s a good selling point for creators who have international revenues, so we get more revenue and can continue doing it even better. There’s probably a limit somewhere, but we haven’t reached it yet!’

They’re certainly not done yet. PRS now has over 150 reciprocal agreements with international societies, while it has seen great results from a recent recruitment drive for writer-composer members in Africa, India and the US. The society has also been progressive in licensing in both developing markets and on emerging platforms.

‘We know there is still considerable growth — particularly in digital — in markets such as India, China and the Middle East, where members’ repertoire travels incredibly well,’ Martin explains. ‘The beauty of the industry is it continues to evolve and, as it does, it will present more opportunities.

SHANIA TWAIN

‘There is open competition for talent between societies, pushing them all to be better — that can only be a good thing for songwriters.’

Sami Valkonen

‘We’re constantly adapting to new technologies,’ he adds. ‘We were one of the first societies to license an NFT, and the first to offer licensing solutions for global online concerts. We’re always looking at emerging trends and trying to put licensing schemes in place so we’re ready to protect our members’ repertoire and maximise the value of their rights.’

That advocacy role is increasingly important as PRS fights for music creators’ rights around the world in what is a fast-moving technological environment. There are numerous local differences in how territories treat performing rights, while some developing markets lack a comprehensive copyright framework, let alone a collection society with the power to enforce it.

‘With a lot of the work that we do in international, we can count the difference we’re making in pounds and pence,’ says Sami. ‘On the policy front, it can be difficult to put your finger on exactly what we’ve achieved, but it’s important to keep pushing on. Every now and then we see incremental progress, and we must celebrate and be happy that we’ve been part of that.’

PRS works with trade bodies such as CISAC and The Ivors Academy on such lobbying efforts, as well as other Performing Rights Organisations (PROs). But, when it comes down to international talent acquisition, it’s often in direct opposition with the latter group.

‘Some other PROs like to use advances and operate very much like publishers in that space,’ says Martin. ‘We understand that we have to remain attractive to our members in an increasingly competitive environment, but we would rather royalties are distributed accurately to the relevant rightsholders, instead of being used to gain market share. We don’t believe that’s the best use of members’ funds: we want to get as much of their money out to them as we possibly can.’

Despite such tactics, Sami believes the contest for new members raises everyone’s game.

‘There is open competition for talent between societies,’ he says. ‘That pushes all the societies who are part of that competition to be better — and that can only be a good thing for songwriters.’

PRS recognises that some international members may want to stay with their ‘home’ society for domestic collections, but remains confident its international operation trumps the competition.

‘We’ve got the broadest overseas representation of any society, and we distribute the highest value of international royalties of any society globally,’ declares Martin.

‘That’s testament to the strength of members’ repertoire. But we also believe they entrust us with their work because we’re the gold standard of PROs. PRS for Music is the best place for your rights, wherever you are in the world.’

ED SHEERAN

Award-winning Nigerian producer and songwriter Andre Vibez tells us about his songwriting process, how he helped craft the first Afrobeats track to hit a billion streams and why PRS has ‘changed my life’.

Afrobeats is one of the music world’s most exciting and fastest-growing genres. One of its main architects is Andre Vibez, who is dominating playlists, charts and airwaves with his work.

Having worked on Ayra Starr’s 2022 hit Rush and last year’s Rema and Selena Gomez collaboration Calm Down, a track with more than 1.35bn streams and counting, the numbers being registered by Andre Vibez’s music are impressive. The accolades have started to mount up, too: most notably, the Nigerian songwriter was nominated for the inaugural Best African Music Performance award at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

His early songwriting ambitions were inspired by a plethora of hip hop and R&B artists: Eminem, Sisqó, Usher, Dr. Dre, Timbaland and Darkchild all featured prominently in his record collection. Andre’s father, the legendary Nigerian musician Victor Uwaifo, also held great sway over his burgeoning musical tastes.

‘I come from a very musical family: my dad was a very popular musician in Nigeria and across Africa,’ Andre tells us. ‘I grew up surrounded by jazz, classical, R&B and soul. It always felt natural for me to blend genres together. That’s what people know and like about the music I make, this ability to mix up different styles.’

Joining Mavin Records as a producer and sound engineer, Andre got the chance to work with the likes of Omah Lay, Crayon, LADIPOE and Bnxn. The latter two’s collaboration Feeling was a hit in Nigeria in 2021 and reached the top three of the UK’s own Afrobeats chart.

‘When you meet people who have different approaches, it really helps push you forward,’ Andre explains. ‘Musicmaking is a never-ending process of learning and growing. You must keep an open mind as there’s always a new way for you to create and innovate.’

Despite his groundbreaking work in the studio, Andre is modest about his success and professes to not having had too many initial expectations for some of his biggest tracks.

‘It’s very important for everyone to take copyright seriously.’

‘Calm Down came out of a day of making different beats,’ he reveals. ‘At the time, I was making two or three every day in the studio. I liked the track when Rema came to record it, but I had no idea it would become one of the biggest Afrobeats songs of all time.’

If you ask Andre for his recipe for musical success, he stresses the need for originality: ‘Try to be different. You tend to get lost in the crowd if you try to make what everyone else is making. You need some special sauce to put into your music.’

Rush, his hit collaboration with Ayra Starr, was the end result of a similar process, though Andre felt more assured of its eventual popularity once it was crafted.

‘There has to be a connection or some kind of synergy where the other collaborator understands you,’ he says. ‘Working out how to create something that fits can take you a long way.’

His father’s experience as a PRS member make Andre’s decision to join easy.

‘I was aware of my father’s royalty slips when he’d get a letter and statement,’ he recalls. ‘When it was time to choose a performing rights organisation to join, it was an easy decision to go with PRS and I’m very glad I did. It’s changed my life and those of the people around me.’

A keen advocate for protecting intellectual property rights, Andre recognises the importance of ensuring his music is only used with his permission, particularly when it comes to sustaining his own career.

‘It’s so essential to protect your copyright: there are so many benefits,’ he says. ‘I feel it encourages creativity, too. Once you’ve copyrighted something, any artist who likes your work and wants to use it must come through you. It’s very important for everyone to take copyright seriously.’

When it comes to maintaining a successful career in music, he cites the importance of staying curious.

‘Keep learning, watching videos and reading about music. Open your mind to the process and how to apply whatever you’ve learned to your own music,’ he advises. ‘Creatives need to be different too: if you can maintain this, I’m sure you will see great results.’

KARAN

WORDS: JIM OTTEWILL

Raised in a rural village in northern Panjab, Karan Aujla has taken the sound of his homeland worldwide. With millions of streams to his name, we explore how he’s brought different cultures together to become an international success story.

Karan Aujla’s career as an artist, rapper and songwriter has been on a nearvertical ascent over the last 10 years, with billions of YouTube views, 11.1 million Spotify monthly listeners, numerous UK hits and many devoted followers in tow.

‘Music has put me on billboards around the world,’ Karan tells us. ‘Something I’m proud of.’

Thanks in part to Karan’s music and creativity, Panjabi has become a significant global fixture across streaming platforms. Making Memories, his 2023 record of summer pop hits, became the highestcharting Panjabi album in Canadian history last year when it debuted at number five. Karan told Billboard Canada about the achievement: ‘When we saw these numbers, and we saw that mark, we were like, “OK, it’s all finally worth it now.”’

Karan was raised in the village of Ghurala, Panjab amid a rural and farming lifestyle. It was here that his deep passion for musicmaking and songwriting was initially kindled.

‘I started writing songs at the age of 14. It was a way for me to express my feelings as I wasn’t confident enough to speak to people,’ he explains. ‘I was searching for a way to communicate, and music felt right: that’s how I found myself immersed in songwriting.’

In those early days, there were a handful of Indian songwriters, including Babbu Maan and Manmohan Waris, who Karan has since taken the creative baton from.

‘They inspired me, helping me find my creativity and giving me the passion to continue to write,’ he states of his predecessors.

After co-writing Jassi Gill’s track Range in 2014, Karan left India and moved to Canada.

‘It was 2019 when Don’t Look and Don’t Worry came out: that was when people started noticing me and showing me much more love than before,’ Karan recalls. ‘When I wrote Don’t Worry, it happened so quickly: the whole songwriting process felt so natural, it just flowed through me. There wasn’t too much thinking behind it, it just happened. That’s what made the track what it is today and why it became such a hit.’

Panjabi singer to perform at Coachella Festival in 2023, while AP Dhillon has collaborated with grime artist Stormzy. The latter is a perfect example of the way in which the music world’s digital ecosystem is fostering new fusions and breaking down barriers.

‘Sometimes as a songwriter, you never quite know how far your music can go,’ agrees Karan of the way the sound he heard as a kid has since transcended borders. ‘Whether it’s on the radio in London, in a club in Brazil or at a festival in the US, it really is global.

‘PRS for Music plays an important role in ensuring songwriters are getting paid consistently.’

Karan’s 2021 debut album, BacTHAfuKUP (B.T.F.U.), marked a career highlight, with its mix of hip hop and Panjabi beats cementing his signature sound. With more than 50 tracks to his own name and a similar number as a featured artist, music continues to course through Karan. For him, there’s no silver bullet or winning formula to songwriting. Instead, it’s about getting stuck into his music and wrestling with his creativity.

‘Even after releasing a huge amount of music, I sometimes get to the studio and I’m not sure what I want to explore or say. But then I allow the creativity to come to me. I feel like if you put the time in and stay at it, then it will come to you — it always does in the end.’

It’s clear that Panjabi music is on trend like never before. Diljit Dosanjh became the first

‘PRS for Music plays an important role in ensuring songwriters across the world are getting paid consistently. It’s so important to sustaining the creative industries.’

Karan became the first Panjabi winner at Canada’s Juno Awards back in March, collecting the Fan Choice Award — an accolade he now shares with Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber and Avril Lavigne. Next up? More new music and a debut world tour, It Was All A Dream, which includes a series of sold-out arena shows.

‘2024 has already been so crazy,’ he says. ‘I have so much planned and I’m so excited to continue with my music.

The world seems to be Karan Aujla’s oyster, and there’s no sign of him slowing down.

WORDS: STEPHANIE PHILLIPS

Sarah

Liversedge

Platz

BDi Music

‘WE

NEED TO STAND TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY’

BDi’s founder and managing director tells us about the challenges facing the music publishing industry, why emerging songwriters need to be nurtured and the knock-on effect this can have on royalties.

As the founder of the Grammy-winning publisher BDi Music, Sarah Liversedge Platz is always on the lookout for music creators who have ‘a strong work ethic and know who they are’. Take, for example, Ed Sheeran.

‘Ed knew who he was right from the off,’ she tells us. ‘He had that confidence even though he was so young, and musically he knew where he wanted to go. I took that as a learning curve in terms of who else I look after going forward. Identity is incredibly important.’

While an artist’s individual identity has long been a key selling point, the recent rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a passionate debate across the music industry about the future of creativity, songwriting and ownership.

BDi, along with the rest of the publishing community, has been lobbying the government about pressing issues like AI and copyright that are reshaping the music ecosystem.

‘We need the government and global organisations to understand the importance of copyright protection across the music community, especially considering the expansion of AI,’ Sarah explains. ‘We need to stand together.’

But let’s rewind to the beginning. When you ask young children to picture their future, they might imagine themselves as an astronaut, a firefighter or any exciting role that is effectively an extension of their playtime. When Sarah dreamed about her future as a child, she was both prescient and businessminded in her predictions.

‘I actually found an old school document from when I was about 11 years old that featured one of those questions like, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”’ Sarah tells us from her home in Cornwall. ‘I wrote: “I want to be a music publisher”. I actually put that!’

JAKE GOSLING

How she even knew what a music publisher was at such a young age still baffles her to this day. But the rediscovery of this precocious streak now serves as a strong source of personal motivation: ‘I keep [the document] on my piano to remind me of where I’m at now, because I find it quite inspiring.’

Founded in 2004, BDi represents songwriters, composers and TV production companies. Their roster includes the Emmy-winning film and TV composer Sheridan Tongue, Welsh artist Novo Amor and his regular co-writer Ed Tullett, and London-based songwriter and producer Ben Lythe (Netflix, ITV and BBC).

BDi also represents SISTER Pictures, whose composer Arthur Sharpe recently won Best Television Soundtrack at this year’s Ivors for his work on The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies.

As an independent publisher, BDi has no delusions of operating at the same level as its major competitors. But there is power, Sarah stresses, in being a small fish in a big pond.

‘We find our talent very early because we have to,’ she explains. ‘We can’t compete with the majors in terms of how much they can spend on signing [someone]. But we are at those shows that the majors probably wouldn’t go to if they were looking for new artists to sign.’

BDi’s big break arrived when they signed songwriters Jake Gosling and Amy Wadge, leading Sarah to introduce the pair to a young Ed Sheeran. The trio instantly gelled: Jake and Amy have co-written several hugely successful songs with Ed, with Amy co-writing and Jake producing Ed’s 2014 single Thinking Out Loud which topped the charts internationally, picked up two Grammys and has, at the time of writing, nearly 2.5 billion Spotify streams.

‘The more creative opportunities our songwriters are given, the greater the chance their songs will garner a commercial cut with an artist on a label,’ Sarah explains. ‘This then has a knock-on effect to their songs generating royalty income streams and sales.’

Sarah adds that it is up to publishers to ensure they are ‘paying out properly’ to songwriters. As part of the wider music publishing ecosystem, BDi will ‘continue to work hard in their field of expertise’.

‘That’s all we can do: we just need to keep being us,’ Sarah says. ‘Something’s working. We’re here 20 years on, we’re still thriving and still successful.’

Created by members. Driven by music.

For 110 years, we have grown and protected the rights of our songwriter and composer community around the world. As the global music ecosystem continues to change, our commitment stands firm: we’re in your corner.