PPL delivers its largest ever annual international collection

Music licensing organisation PPL has announced that in 2018 it achieved its largest ever annual international collection of £70.9 million. This represented growth of 43 per cent on the total achieved in 2017 (£49.6 million). The growth in 2018 follows impressive and sustained longer-term growth for PPL’s international collections business; from fully launching its service in 2006, when it collected £6 million, PPL has now collected a total of £429.1 million of International monies since then.

PPL’s international collections business collects monies overseas for the playing in public and broadcast of recorded music on TV and radio, as well as for private copying. These international collections are an important revenue stream for performers and recording rightsholders. With 92 international collection agreements now in place around the world, PPL receives almost half (43 per cent) of all performer neighbouring rights payments moving between collective management organisations (CMOs) globally.

PPL’s significant international growth over the last decade can be attributed to a number of factors: the quality of the talent and repertoire that PPL represents; sustained investment in technology and data capabilities, which help to improve data exchange with other CMOs; collaborative working with other CMOs through direct and open relationships; a team of specialist experts with in-depth knowledge of the neighbouring rights landscape; and PPL’s scale and high level of collections, which enable, for example, PPL to have efficient currency management processes in place to deliver optimal revenues for members. Additionally PPL makes every effort to work with tax authorities around the world to minimise exposure to double taxation and was the first music licensing company to be given Qualified Intermediary status by the US tax authority. This status means that PPL can pay through up to 30 per cent of US monies that would otherwise be withheld in tax by US based CMOs.

International growth continues to be a key focus for PPL. Global engagement grew throughout 2018 with the company signing six new international collection agreements: AGATA (Lithuania), UPFR (Romania), Audiogest (Portugal) and Brumusic (Brunei) for recording rightsholders; and GCA (Georgia) and AKDIE (Albania) for performers. Other first-time payments in 2018 came from performer CMOs IPF (Slovenia) and SAMPRA (South Africa) and recording rightsholder CMO, Slovgram (Slovakia), all of which signed agreements with PPL in 2017.

Notable payments were received in 2018 from Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Canada. A significant payment was also received from GVL, the German CMO for performers and recording rightsholders.

“At PPL we are honoured by the trust our members place in us to manage their valuable rights.”

Laurence Oxenbury, Director of International, PPL said: “At PPL we are honoured by the trust our members place in us to manage their valuable rights. We are extremely proud that our collections play a vital role in helping recording rightsholders be in a position to continue investing in new music, and for playing our part in performers, including session musicians, having a real, tangible career in the music industry.

We will continue to hold ourselves to high standards and to drive forward efficiency and accuracy in this global, data-rich industry. We have a wealth of experience in our team and we want to ensure that we continue to deliver the best international collections service possible, both for our members, and for the recorded music industry as a whole.”

Tilo Gerlach, Guido Evers, Chief Executive Officers, GVL commented: “Working with our colleagues at PPL is an enjoyable challenge. They are committed and focused on ensuring the best for all performers and producers, our cooperation is solution driven and part of our mutual success.”

Peter Leathem, Chief Executive Officer, PPL said: “PPL has a responsibility to all of the performers and recording rightsholders that we represent to ensure that creative work is paid accurately and fairly. We are the most active CMO in the Neighbouring Rights market, and the largest collector of performers’ revenue internationally. I am proud that PPL has delivered a year of significant international growth with this record annual collection – this is testament to the specialist knowledge, experience, drive and determination of the team at PPL. As we edge closer to collecting half a billion pounds internationally since 2006, we want to acknowledge the sheer quality of musical output from the UK, and the industry’s level of consistency in developing talent that is in demand all over the world.”