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PPL revenues exceed £300 million for the first time 26 Mar 2025

UK businesses continue to invest in music and international collections return to growth
 
Music licensing company PPL’s revenue reached £301.0 million in 2024 (2023: £283.5 million), an increase of £17.5m (6%) year-on-year and the highest in its 90-year history. Often referred to as ‘Neighbouring Rights’, PPL income includes public performance and broadcast revenues collected in the UK and globally. Growth was driven by UK businesses investing in public performance licences, rising international revenues, and stable income from broadcast and online licensing. 
 
Net revenue after operating costs and other deductions was £261.9 million, with the cost to revenue ratio increasing slightly to 13.2% (2023: 13%) driven by ongoing investment in long term technology infrastructure. In 2024, PPL paid over 172,000 performers and recording rightsholders (record companies, self-releasing artists etc). A total of 19,300 performers or recording rightsholders were paid either as direct members of PPL or indirectly through other international collective management organisations (CMOs) for the first time last year.

 
Public Performance income reaches new heights as more businesses invest in music
PPL’s public performance revenue (licensing of recorded music in public places such as shops, bars, restaurants, gyms, offices and warehouses) and dubbing income (licensing of B2B services providing equipment and music to public performance venues) grew 9% to £121.4 million in 2024 (2023: £111.7 million).
 
These results reflect the continued success of PPL’s licensing of more than 400,000 venues through Leicester-based PPL PRS Ltd, a joint venture between PPL and PRS for Music (who represent composers, songwriters and music publishers). It also highlights the continued investment in music by a broad range of businesses to help grow revenues and enhance the customer and employee experience. This includes brands such as Amazon, B&Q, British Airways, DHL, Marks & Spencer, Oliver Bonas, Sofology and Travelodge.
 
As more companies look to attract staff back into the workplace, PPL saw sector revenue growth of 8% as the number of factories and offices taking a music license increased in 2024. This supports findings by PPL PRS Ltd that 82.3% of people surveyed agreed that they would prefer a workplace that plays music when considering a new role, while just over 70% said music played at work makes them feel more engaged with the business.
 
The UK’s appetite for health and fitness shows no signs of slowing down with 10.7 million registered gym members in 2024, an increase of 4.1% year-on-year according to the State of UK Fitness Report. PPL also saw a revenue uplift of 8% as the number of customers in the fitness space, covering gyms and exercise classes, grew.
 
In addition, some of the growth in 2024 came from the revised Specially Featured Entertainment (SFE) tariff which PPL launched two years ago. Covering recorded music used in DJ sets and discos in pubs, bars, nightclubs, hotels, restaurants, and cafes, it has continued to drive increased returns for performers and recording rightsholders. 

 
International revenues grow 7% as more performers choose PPL for neighbouring rights
International revenue increased by 7% to £81.0 million (2023: £75.4m), reflecting a rise in the number of performers and recording rightsholders choosing PPL for royalty collections overseas. The organisation remains a leader in neighbouring rights, with 113 agreements across 52 countries, covering more than 95% of the market by value, as not all countries have neighbouring rights. These revenues include public performance, broadcast, blank media levies, cable retransmission and, in some cases, streaming royalties from other collective management organisations (CMOs) around the world.
 
The growth was driven by strong returns for recording rightsholders from several countries, including high payments from traditional markets such as France, where there were in-market increases in collections as reported by IFPI in the Global Music Report 2025. Some backdated payments continued to flow through from CMOs in both Canada and Sweden as long-term collection disputes were resolved or close-out policies implemented. PPL also saw an uplift in collections from the Netherlands, Spain and the US, with ongoing data improvements increasing the speed of payment and an increase in the number of performers represented by the organisation. Royalties were also paid for the first time in 2024 to PPL performer members for use of their music in India and Azerbaijan, and to recording rightsholders for use in Guatemala.
 
Tens of thousands of performers choose PPL for international collections and 2024 was no exception. Hundreds of new mandates were signed with established and emerging artists including Ice Spice, Kenya Grace, Lewis Capaldi, The Last Dinner Party, Yoko Ono and the estate of John Lennon. PPL also retained over 99% of its existing mandates, and renewed agreements with performers including Artemas, Cat Burns and Eve.

 
Broadcast and online revenues see steady overall growth of 2%  
Broadcast and online licensing revenue grew by 2% to £98.6 million (2023: £96.4m), with PPL licensing music across linear and on demand TV services, and radio and online stations which broadcast in the UK.
 
Most of PPL’s larger television deals were in the middle of their terms in 2024, although the growth in TV broadcasters' online services continued to contribute to increased revenues for PPL through the annual adjustment mechanisms built into those deals. With the BBC, PPL licensed the launch of new webcast audio services on BBC Sounds including R1 Anthems and R3 Unwind.
 
Growth from commercial radio revenues came from a recovery in the radio advertising market and PPL continued to make progress with its webcast licensing, signing a new multi-territory webcast agreement with Deezer for the multi-channel Sonos Radio service covering the UK and six other European territories. This, coupled with settlements with broadcasters for webcasts in prior years and PPL now licensing over 1,200 online webcast services, saw PPL revenue improve in this area
Peter Leathem OBE, CEO of PPL said: “2024 was another strong year for PPL as we grew licensing revenue across the board. These landmark collections in our 90th year are a result of our team’s consistent efforts to ensure our members’ talent and investment is fairly rewarded when their music is broadcast or played in public spaces.  More and more performers and recording rightsholders are choosing PPL for international collections, as we continue to produce positive results through our collaborative approach with partners around the world, helping speed up collections and payments to our members.”
 

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THE HEADLINES

24 Jul 2025

  • Government efforts on streaming reform fall short of a reset – next steps? (see Comment)

23 Jul 2025

  • Government secures label-led measures to boost earnings for UK artists (see News)

  • Tributes paid to Ozzy Osbourne (see Features, Showbiz&News)

22 Jul 2025

  • Darcus Beese talks ADHD, signing Sabrina Carpenter and the ‘headf*ck’ of running a major label (see Features)

  • Spotify publishes AI-generated songs from dead artists without permission (see Digital)

21 Jul 2025

  • Why 2025’s charts are so stale (see Comment)

18 Jul 2025

  • Has pop music become stagnant? Kind of yes but also no (see Analysis)

  • Why are we still using Spotify? (see Opinion)

17 Jul 2025

  • TikTok launches TikTok Songwriter Features (see Digital)

  • EU Commission reportedly prepares ‘full-scale, four-month investigation’ into UMG’s proposed Downtown purchase (see Business)

16 Jul 2025

  • Lisa Nandy MP addressed the UK Music Summer Party (see News)

  • Building fandom is about the journey, not the destination (see Opinion)

15 Jul 2025

  • Industry calls for streaming sites to tag music created by AI-generated acts (see News)

14 Jul 2025

  • “Content is king” say analysts - so why is Spotify worth more than the entire music rights industry? (see Comment)

11 Jul 2025

  • Where’s the next wave of working-class rock stars? (see Features)

  • Populists vs. tech titans: The battle over AI and the future of music (see Comment)