Performing rights

PRS for Music represents our members’ performing rights, whenever a piece of music is performed or played in any public space or place outside of the home.

What’s changing?

PRS and MCPS-PRS Alliance will both cease to exist as brands and will be replaced by PRS for Music.

What will stay the same?

The Performing Right Society will continue to exist as a legal entity and company name. Cheques will still come from the Performing Right Society Limited, you can still send cheques to the Performing Right Society Limited and we’ll continue to be registered at Companies House.

Mechanical rights

MCPS represents our members’ mechanical rights, whenever a piece of music is reproduced as a physical product.

What’s changing?

The PRS for Music brand now represents our members’ mechanical rights whenever a piece of music is reproduced for broadcast or online. MCPS will continue to represent the mechanical rights for physical products at this stage.

What’s staying the same?

The Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society will continue to exist as a legal entity, company name and as a brand for physical products’ mechanical rights. Cheques will come from the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Limited, you can still send cheques to the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Limited and it will continue to be registered at Companies House.

FAQs

Q. Will our policies change?

We have no plans to change any company policies in terms of rights for members or licensees. There will be no change to rights for either mechanical usage or performing usage. To be absolutely clear, we are simply changing the brand identity to make it stronger, we are not changing the company structure in any way.

Q. Does MCPS still exist or is it a department of PRS?

Yes, the MCPS still exists as a legal entity and as a brand for physical products’ mechanical rights.

Q. Has PRS taken over MCPS?

No, the new brand is ‘PRS for Music’: This has replaced ‘PRS’ and ‘MCPS-PRS-Alliance’. The MCPS brand still exists for an interim period. All operational and commercial activity for ‘mechanical’ rights will continue unaffected. The ‘Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society’ legal entity will remain, as will the ‘Performing Right Society’.

Q. Will bank details change?

Customers will not need to change any bank details.

Q. Will contracts, licensee agreements or member agreements be affected?

No, the legal entity remains, which means that all contracts, licensee agreements or member agreements entered under ‘Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society’, ‘Performing Right Society’, or ‘MCPS-PRS Alliance’ will remain unaffected.