Phonographic Performance Limited

PPL
Phonographic Performance Limited
Founded12 May 1934
FounderDecca Records, EMI
Merger ofAssociation of United Recording Artists (AURA) and the Performing Artists' Media Rights Association Ltd (PAMRA) into Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) in 2006
TypePrivate company limited by guarantee
Location
Area served
International
ServicesMusic Copyright Collective
Revenue
£272.6 Million (2022)
Websitewww.ppluk.com

Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) is a British music copyright collective.[1] It is a private limited company that is registered in the UK. PPL was founded by Decca Records and EMI and incorporated on 12 May 1934,[2] and undertakes collective rights management of sound recordings on behalf of its record-company[3] members, and distributes the fees collected to both its record company (rights holder) members and performer members.[3] As of 2022, PPL collected royalties for over 140,000 performers and recording rightsholders.[4]

PPL continues to be owned by record companies, which it refers to as "rights holders", who are legally the only "members" and the only ones entitled to attend the annual general meeting.[5] In 2023, PPL announced its 2022 financial results, revealing £272.6 million was collected that year, an increase of 7.8% on 2018, and that growth was achieved across broadcast and public performance revenue, but international revenue had decreased from 2021.[6] PPL is a member of the British Copyright Council (BCC).[7]

After administration costs and contributions to anti-piracy activities and music industry charities—all of which are agreed by the membership at the AGM[8]—all revenue generated from PPL licence fees is passed onto its registered record company and performer members as royalties for the use of their recorded music. PPL members range from session musicians and emerging artists to major record labels and globally successful performers. It is free to join PPL as a member.

PPL's field of operation is distinct from the UK's other main music copyright collective previously known as the "Performing Right Society",[9] now called PRS for Music, which was founded in 1914 and originally collected fees for live performance of sheet music.[10][11]

As of 2018, PRS has entered a joint venture with PPL under a Leicester-based private company called PPL PRS Ltd, which aims to make it easier for their customers to obtain a music licence, which they have called "TheMusicLicence".[12][13][14]

PPL's CEO is Peter Leathem OBE.[15] Leathem was awarded the OBE for services to the music industry in the Kings 2023 New Years Honours List.[16]

  1. ^ Adams & Adams - Werina Griffiths (29 April 2013). "The role of collecting societies | Lexology". www.lexology.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  2. ^ "PHONOGRAPHIC PERFORMANCE LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Code of Conduct - PPL". www.ppluk.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  4. ^ "PPL - What we do". Ppluk.com. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  5. ^ Aguilar, Ananay (9 August 2019). "The collective management of performers' rights in the UK: a story of competing interests". SCRIPTed. 16 (1): 4–48. doi:10.2966/scrip.160119.4. ISSN 1744-2567.
  6. ^ "PPL publishes 2022 financial results and Annual Review - PPL". www.ppluk.com. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Members". BCC. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  8. ^ "PPL Company Annual Review 2011". PPL. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Licensing commercials. (PRS for music, 2017). PPL (Phonographic - Summary Writing Examples". Weather Bird. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  10. ^ Aharoni, Yair; Nachum, Lilach (1 June 2000). Globalization of Services: Some Implications for Theory and Practice. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-73636-2.
  11. ^ Popular music and society - Page 39 Brian Longhurst - 2007 "The three types of right identified in figure 1.5 are sometimes further grouped into performing and mechanical. The Performing Right Society (PRS), which was founded in 1914, is the principal collecting agency for performing Right Basis for "
  12. ^ "PPL PRS Launches in Leicester | In the News". PPL PRS. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  13. ^ "PPL and PRS launch joint venture to offer single public performance licence". Music Business Worldwide. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Music licensing made simple". Business Matters. 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Meet the PPL team". www.ppluk.com. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Peter Leathem, YolanDa Brown, Geoff Taylor and Robin Millar named in UK New Year's Honours List". Music Business Worldwide. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.