Applying to be a Performing Right Society (PRS) Council Member

First, in order to put yourself forward you need to be a Principal Voting Member. If you’re not sure if you are, check the top left of your monthly newsletter. If you’re still unsure, you can contact us.

You need to be nominated by ten other Principal Voting Members (writers or publishers).

If you’ve checked both points above, here’s what you’ll need to submit through our Nominations platform:

1. Email addresses of your ten supporters; Please first make sure you have their consent to share this information with Civica on the nomination form
2. A short biography (no more than 300 words)
3. A short manifesto statement (approximately 300 words)
4. A list of any current directorship and any directorships you have held in the last five years
5. A recent head and shoulder photograph of a high enough resolution for it to be reproduced without losing quality (ideally in landscape format)

The names of your ten supporters together with the information listed at points 2 to 5 above will be included in the 2024 Members’ Council Ballot booklet . The booklet will be shared with all members who are eligible to vote at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

All eligible members will have received an email with an invitation to confirm their interest in standing for a place on the Members’ Council.

Once you have expressed your interest to stand, our Governance team will be in touch soon afterwards with a link to the online nomination form and instructions on how to use it to complete and submit your nomination.

If you are interested in standing in the 2024 PRS Members’ Council Ballot, please respond to the email and submit your expression of interest to request the link to the online nomination form.

Complete the expression of interest form

The deadline to submit your nomination is 5pm on Wednesday 28 February.

For full information on criteria and eligibility visit our membership categories page.

In 2024, there are two writer and two publisher vacancies available.

If there are more candidates standing for the Members’ Council than there are positions available after the deadline for submission of nominations, then a ballot process will take place.

Candidates’ information and ballot papers are sent to Principal Voting and Voting members who can vote in the ballot. The results of the ballot decide who will be proposed for appointment as Council Members at the AGM on 4 June 2024.

In the ballot:

• Writer members and successor to writer members can vote for writer candidates only
• Publisher members and successors to publisher members can vote for publisher candidates only

Weighting of your votes:

• Voting members – each candidate selected will receive one vote
• Principal Voting members – each candidate selected will receive 10 votes
Principal Voting member with additional voting rights – each candidate selected will receive 20 votes

Once someone is elected, they sit on the Council for a term of three years. At the end of the term, they will retire or, if they want to, they can stand for re-election. Council Members can serve for a maximum of 5 terms in total, which are not required to be consecutive.

Council Members play a very important role in influencing how your society runs and makes sure that we continue to do the best we can for our entire membership.

The Council is focused on:

• Making sure that we are in close touch with your views, concerns and the needs of the wider membership.
• Oversight of its Audit, Nominations and Remuneration committees and overseeing the performance of its operating subsidiary, PRS for Music Limited (the “Board”).
• Approval of the corporate strategy, annual budget and accounts, progressing diversity and international issues.

As directors of PRS, Council Members have a number of duties as set down by law, that are owed to PRS. Key duties include:

• When making decisions, Council Members have a duty to promote the success of PRS for the benefit of all its members. In doing so, they should give consideration to other factors such as the long-term consequences of a decision and the impact on community, environment and reputation.
• Being a Council Member, there may be times when your personal business interests are at odds with what PRS is doing, e.g. you are a director of another company. All directors have duties to disclose their interests to other directors and to avoid conflicts.
• Council Members are also required to keep PRS information confidential, allocate time to prepare and read papers in advance of each meeting and attend meetings; and understand PRS’ purpose, code and vision and embrace PRS’ values.

There are at least three Members’ Council meetings a year, at which all Council Members are expected to be present in person at our London Bridge office. Council Members are also expected to attend the AGM each year.

Many Council Members also actively participate in committees or subgroups for which they attend meetings or they may sit on the board of PRS’s operating subsidiary, PRS for Music Limited (known as “the Board”) or its committees or joint ventures. In Council, Board and Committee papers are circulated in advance of each meeting via a secure digital board portal which Council Members are expected to utilise to prepare for meetings.

The average volume of reading materials for each meeting is approximately 165 pages.

Council Members are paid yearly to cover their attendance at the Council, Board and Committee meetings, plus any work outside of these meetings. The basic fee is approved by other members and changed each year by reference to the Retail Price Index (RPI).

The current yearly payment is £18,555. Expenses can be reimbursed if incurred in line with reference to our expenses policy.

Find out more about our Members' Council

The Council is currently made up of:

• 9 writer Council Members and 9 publisher Council Members (elected by our Principal Voting and Voting members)
• Four independent non-executive Council Members who bring valuable business expertise and skills
• One executive director (our CEO) 

To help maintain effective representation of our membership, we are proposing to increase the size of the Members’ Council to include 10 writers and 10 publishers. This proposal will be put to PRS members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 4 June 2024.

If approved, there will be vacancies for two writers and two publishers on the Members’ Council this year. Principal Voting members have been invited to stand for appointment and a conditional ballot will be held in the event there are more candidates than seats available.

Please contact us if you have questions that aren’t covered by our FAQ.