Today, the music licensing company PPL provides an update on its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy and publishes its gender and ethnicity pay gap report for 2024.   

There has been positive progress across several areas against the company’s five-year EDI strategy (2022-2027), with a commitment to drive further change over the coming years. 

For the reporting period 5 April 2024, gender balance has improved by 2% across the organisation to a 60/40 split of men to women. The company has a target of 50/50 across the workforce by 2027. The senior leadership team (Executive Management Team and Heads of Department) is slightly above gender parity in favour of females, and this is one of the key factors contributing to a significant reduction in the gender bonus pay gap this year.  

The ethnicity pay gap has also decreased, with more people than ever from non-white backgrounds moving to senior roles in the organisation. The proportion of white to non-white employees in the business remains constant year-on-year (70/30), with the company on track to meet its goal of 65/35 by 2027.  

PPL is committed to sharing this information despite not meeting the legal threshold of 250 employees required to publish gender pay gap data. PPL’s ambition is to be transparent in its progress and encourage more companies to share this data to create a more diverse and equitable music industry.   

Gender Pay Gap 
The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings. It is a measure across all roles within a business. This number is a single snapshot of everyone (239 people) employed by PPL on 5 April 2024.  

This year, PPL recorded a mean gender pay gap of 9.7%, four percentage points higher than 2023 (5.4%) but lower than the previous five-year average of 11.2%. This figure is the result of a combination of factors. Given the relatively small size of the organisation, changes in just a few roles can have a significant impact on the data; whilst the nature of some roles within PPL, such as those available in our sizeable technology team (to which 30% of the mean pay gap is attributable), are occupied by a greater number of males than females. Whilst this is representative of the trend in the wider tech sector, which counts only 17% female inclusion according to a recent report from Vestd, it is an area PPL has identified for targeted improvement and is working to change.”[1]

When the CEO’s pay was excluded, the mean pay gap was 5% (2023: 0.3%).   

The median gender pay gap, the difference in hourly pay between the middle-paid male and female employees, has increased to 18.7% (2023: 12.5%). The median measure reflects the overall ‘shape’ of the organisation. In 2024, this uplift has been driven by an increase in the proportion of women in the lower earning half of the organisation and an increase of men in middle management roles.  

  

Ethnicity Pay Gap   
The total percentage of white relative to non-white employees is 70/30, remaining constant year-on-year. With the senior leadership team excluded, the proportion of non-white employees increases to 34%, demonstrating the impact of PPL’s efforts in recruiting and retaining a more diverse range of candidates for roles. PPL’s target is to achieve a 65/35 workforce split by 2027, representative of the 2021 census data for London and the South East, where most of PPL’s employees live. The organisation is ahead of the wider music sector, whereby the non-white population is 25.2% (UK Music Diversity Report 2024).  

PPL’s mean ethnicity pay gap has fallen three percentage points to 27.1% (2023: 30%) and the median pay gap remains similar to the previous year at 23.7% (2023: 23.6%). Despite closing the gap further, the proportion of non-white employees is higher in the lower earning half of the workforce. This data also reflects wider industry trends shared by UK Music, which found that respondents from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK are under-represented at the senior and mid-level positions but over-represented at all other levels.  

PPL will continue to expand its recruitment pool through dedicated initiatives and partnerships, whilst developing our in-house talent also remains a key focus for the business. In the medium to long term, the current workforce will provide a sustainable pipeline of talent to promote into the top half of earners within the organisation. The company’s focus will be on personal development to enable more non-white colleagues to secure higher paying roles. Already, the proportion of non-white staff in the upper quartile of the business is improving and is the highest it has ever been. Last year, almost half of internal promotions were awarded to those from a non-white background.   

Gender and Ethnicity Bonus Pay Gaps 
PPL offers a bonus scheme which is based on company and individual performance. It is subject to certain eligibility criteria – for example, an employee’s start date. The proportion of male and female employees who received a bonus for work in 2023 (paid in March 2024) was 90.9% and 88.4% respectively.   

PPL’s mean gender bonus gap has decreased to 13.9% (2023: 39.9%) and the median gender bonus gap decreased to 15.8% (2023: 26.3%). The company’s mean ethnicity bonus gap rose to 66.9% in favour of white employees, compared to 20.7% in 2023. Its median ethnicity bonus gap is now 37.1% in favour of white employees, up from 10.4% in 2023. These correlative swings across the gender and ethnicity gaps are caused because of an increase in the ratio of white women in senior roles at PPL. As noted above, the size of the organisation means that changes in one or two positions can impact the data considerably, as has been the case this year.   

A long-term approach  
PPL has a long-term commitment to EDI and is focused on improving representation across the board. It continues to evolve and adapt its recruitment processes to ensure there is a diverse pool of candidates selected for all roles and that interview panels are representative and balanced. It runs regular training programmes for employees and a quarterly EDI Forum.  

PPL supports multiple programmes to drive opportunities for people from under-represented backgrounds across the nations and regions to become part of the music industry. This includes PPL Giving, an annual £1 million purpose-driven strategy to give back to music, awarding 30 recipients with support for programmes promoting access to more opportunities across the UK. These include organisations that are driving positive change in the music industry, through musical education, talent development, later career support and artist welfare.  

This is in addition to numerous other programmes that PPL takes a leading role in. The company works with The Cat’s Mother, a network of established women in the music industry who offer mentoring for young women. It also has a partnership with Mentivity, an award-winning mentoring and alternative education provider which supports young people at risk of exclusion from schools in London and Brighton. PPL also works with Leonard Cheshire, offering paid summer work placements, professional development, and mentoring to young people with a disability or long-term condition. To date, five interns have transitioned into permanent roles within the company. Work is ongoing across the company to drive up declaration rates of protected characteristics such as disability, sexual orientation and social mobility in order to reach practical levels to report on externally.    

Kate Reilly, Chief Membership & People Officer, said: “This year, we have made progress on our wider EDI targets, improving the representation of women in the business and increasing the number of people from non-white backgrounds in the upper echelons of our organisation. However, there is clearly more work to be done so we can close the gender and ethnicity pay gaps, and the Executive Management Team is focused on ensuring we have the right strategy in place to train and develop our existing talent into future leaders.”

Read our Gender Pay Gap Report 2024

Read our Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2024