Paul McCartney, Elton John and Thom Yorke are among a group of U.K. artists who have written to collection society PRS For Music seeking clarity on how songwriters are paid through its royalty collection service, and have questioned the administrative costs of payment distribution.
As reported by Bloomberg, the music heavyweights were among 18 songwriters to add their names to the letter sent last week. The letter asks PRS to explain why it sets aside so much money out of royalty collections for business expenses.
“This request is prompted by growing concerns about the transparency, accuracy and overall representation of members’ interests” the songwriters wrote in the letter, Bloomberg reports. They asked for a review into how these expenses are calculated, adding that “songwriters’ livelihoods will depend on it.”
PRS For Music represents U.K. songwriters, composers and music publisher members’ performing rights and collects royalties on their behalf. This includes when their music is performed live — at concerts, bars, clubs and shops — or on TV, radio and other mediums.
In 2024, PRS paid out £1.02 billion ($1.3 billion) to its songwriters, composers and publishers. The annual transparency report said that PRS collected £287 million ($387 million) for public performances on behalf of songwriters, and the organization deducted £49 million for “distribution processes.”
In a statement to Billboard U.K., a PRS spokesperson said the letter “highlights the challenges of collecting data from hundreds of thousands of businesses and matching against millions of individual works to accurately pay royalties. We have met with representatives of these members and will continue to explore all practical changes which can achieve our shared goal, supporting the songwriter and composer community.”
Collection societies such as PRS generally issue blanket licenses that cover all their members’ work, and then distribute the money it receives onto the relevant songwriters and publishers depending on what music was used. However, that requires licensees – venues, pubs, restaurants – to provide accurate data on what music is used, something that is not always forthcoming. Societies then have to decide how to distribute income from those users of music from its ‘black box’, though this method is controversial with members of the creative community.
In April, Blur drummer Dave Rowntree attempted to launch a class action lawsuit against the society, saying this constitutes unfair trading. However, a judge dismissed this case due to concerns over litigation costs and ruled that the dispute would be better addressed through PRS’s internal systems.
