PPL achieves largest ever Q1 distribution of international revenue

This has been distributed to 40,000 performers and recording rightsholders. The next largest Q1 distribution was in 2017, where £15.7m was allocated to 33,000 performers and recording rightsholders.

PPL’s international collections service collects monies from overseas CMOs for the playing in public and broadcast of its members’ recorded music on TV, radio, some online streaming services, as well as for private copying. These international collections are an increasingly important revenue stream for performers and recording rightsholders.

The continued success of this service is in part down to the breadth of PPL’s international relationships. Of the payments received from CMOs which were distributed this quarter, ten were more than half a million pounds each. The Q1 distribution also included the first ever payment from Albania following the completion of a bilateral agreement between PPL and Albania’s performer society, AKDIE, just last year. PPL now has 92 international collection agreements in place across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. PPL receives over a third of all performer neighbouring rights payments moving between CMOs globally.

Peter Leathem, PPL Chief Executive Officer said: “We are very proud to be paying over 40,000 performers and recording rightsholders in our first distribution of 2019. Today’s record Q1 distribution comes off the back of our announcement in January that our international collections grew by 40 per cent in 2018 to £70.9m. These achievements are made possible by the expertise and hard work of the staff throughout the company and we will be working hard throughout 2019 to maximise revenue for those are entitled to receive payments from PPL.”

Laurence Oxenbury, PPL Director of International said: “This record Q1 distribution is reflective of PPL’s position and specialist knowledge in the global music industry. Our agreements with other CMOs mean we cover 93 per cent of total global performance royalty value. We continue to invest, along with our fellow CMOs, in raising the quality of data and the efficiency with which it is exchanged around the world. This means we can be faster and more accurate in our identification of music use on a global scale, and therefore distribute more royalties to PPL performers and recording rightsholders.”