All you need to know about metadata – Leading music and copyright organisations unite to produce expanded Get Paid Guide for music creators

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), in partnership with PPL and PRS for Music has launched a new Get Paid Guide to help demystify music metadata for music creators.

The newly expanded resource builds upon the original guide for songwriters and composers and now provides performers, and the managers and representatives who support them, with a step-by-step guide on registering and managing their metadata so they can protect their recorded music rights and get paid fairly for their work in a timely way.

Following last summer’s launch of the original guide by the IPO, PRS for Music, The Ivors Academy, and the Music Publishers Association (MPA), it now represents a comprehensive guide for music creators of all kinds on how to protect your intellectual property and earn income when it is used. Since its launch, the resource has been viewed thousands of times.

The official launch of the complete Get Paid Guide is being marked today at an event hosted by Viscount Camrose, Minister for AI and Intellectual Property, at Amazing Grace in London Bridge. It will also feature opening remarks from Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The UK was the first country to formally sign up to the WIPO for Creators initiative, a programme to ensure creators are equipped with the knowledge they need to successfully manage their intellectual property rights.

The event will also bring together leading advocates for copyright to discuss the importance and potential impact of the Guide, including Camilla Waite, General Counsel, PPL; Julia Rowan, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, PRS for Music; Crispin Hunt, Singer/Songwriter/Producer and former chair of The Ivors Academy; and Singer/Songwriter/Producer, Eve Horne. It will close with comments from Ben-Llewellyn-Jones OBE, Director of Business and International Policy of the IPO.

Camilla Waite, General Counsel, PPL said: “Building on the great work already done to educate songwriters and composers, the enhanced Get Paid Guide offers a crucial resource to performers wanting to protect their recorded music rights and build a sustainable career. With the fast pace of technological change we see across the industry, being aware of how to register and manage data around recordings is essential. This dedicated guide goes a long way in making music creators aware of what they need to have in place in order to get paid whenever their work is used.” 

Crispin Hunt, Singer/Songwriter/Producer, added: “Knowing how to manage your metadata is a prerequisite for creators to get paid in the modern music business. This expanded, comprehensive guide on understanding that data and protecting the value of your work will be especially valuable for the huge number of songwriters who, like me, also perform their music. Most importantly, it will empower those songwriters and performers to make a living from their art.” 

Michelle Escoffery, award-winning songwriter and President of the PRS Members’ Council, said: “With the inclusion of relevant codes for performers and artists, the Get Paid Guide now has all the tools to make it easier for creators to master the art of good music data. My hope is that by simplifying what can be quite complex, we empower our songwriter, composer, and performer community to understand that inputting accurate music data is a key contributor to financial success. By closing the knowledge gap, we will improve the quality of metadata across the music industry and ensure we’re paid timely and correctly for our creativity.”

The IPO’s Head of Research David Humphries MBE : “Following the Metadata Agreement, published in May 2023, the Intellectual Property Office and representatives from across the music industry have been working together to determine how best to improve the quality and accuracy of data. Industry led working groups on technical solutions and education have been meeting regularly to consider how best to improve the current data systems and how best to engage with the creator community.

“The IPO is delighted to continue supporting the Get Paid Guide.  Now updated to take performers as well as creators through the necessary steps to get paid and attributed, it provides a user-friendly, accessible tool to ensure all in the value chain have access to the best information and is a great example of the industry working together. We are grateful to PPL, PRS, the Ivors Academy and the Music Publishers Association for driving this work forward. We look forward to building on this through the proposed Metadata Education Group, and through the WIPO for Creators initiative – CLIP.”

Check out the Get Paid Guide at
www.getpaidguide.co.uk