Record international revenues boost UK recorded music industry

09 April 2014 - Press release

Over £13 million in international revenues to be distributed in first quarter of 2014 by music licensing company PPL

London 09 April 2014. As performance rights continue to grow and become a major income stream for the recorded music industry, not-for-profit music licensing company PPL has today announced that its internationally mandated members – consisting of record companies and performers - will be receiving record international revenues in its quarter one distribution.

PPL distributes international payments on a quarterly basis. This quarter’s payment of over £13 million has beaten previous records by 20% (£3 million) and has been distributed to those members that have registered to receive royalties when their recordings are played internationally.

PPL’s International payments make an important contribution to the UK’s recorded music industry. The global strength of UK music is widely recognised; it is one of only three net exporters of music in the world (along with the US and Sweden) and is in turn becoming an increasingly significant part of the wider UK creative sector.

Laurence Oxenbury, Director of International, PPL said: “We are proud to ensure our members continue to be deservedly paid for the use of their recordings around the world. Our concentration on improving global licensing and distribution processes and the delivery of revenue means that they can focus on creating music.”

PPL’s continued investment in new IT systems and technology has also helped to make music licensing much more comprehensive and accurate, helping to maximise royalty payments and increase pay-through rates to members. The company’s advanced repertoire database and online portal myPPL provides members the opportunity to have direct access to payment information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allowing for increased accuracy and enhanced payment potential. The volume of PPL members receiving international revenues this quarter has increased by 18% in comparison to 2013.

PPL is committed to actively maximising royalties for its members via reciprocal agreements with other Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) globally. The company currently has 68 reciprocal agreements in place with CMOs in 34 countries, representing over 90% of the total global value of the performance rights market, ensuring that internationally mandated members receive monies when their repertoire is used in those territories. These include the US as well as most European countries through to the Asian and South American continents - a full list of CMOs and associated countries from which royalty payments have been both received and allocated for inclusion in this quarter’s distribution can be found online. The company also has Qualified Intermediary (QI) status meaning that royalties collected from the US need not be subjected to US withholding tax of 30%.

Peter Leathem, CEO, PPL said: “PPL remains at the forefront of addressing the many challenges associated with international rights management. While the EU Directive on the European copyright licensing landscape will seek to set common standards across European CMOs, focussing on core principles of governance, financial management, and transparency and reporting, there is still some way to go in effectively managing the accuracy and processes around performance rights management internationally. We are actively working collaboratively with our international counterparts to help transform the licensing and distribution process to maximise revenues for all those involved in creating recorded music across the globe.”

In the latest Digital Music Report from international record industry trade body, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), published last month, global performance rights income exceeded the US$1 billion threshold for the first time in 2013 to hit US$1.1 billion - an increase of 19 %, more than double the growth rate in 2012. This now means that performance rights now account for 7.4 per cent of total record industry revenue.